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Subsidiary | |
Industry | Automotive |
Founded | 1904 |
Founder | Henry Ford |
Headquarters | Oakville, Ontario, Canada |
Area served
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Canada, United States |
Products |
Mainstream/Performance vehicles Automotive parts |
Services | Automotive finance, Vehicle leasing, Vehicle service |
Revenue | see Ford Motor Company for details |
Parent | Ford Motor Company |
Website | Ford Canada |
Ford Motor Company of Canada Ltd. (French: Ford du Canada Limitée) was founded on August 17, 1904 for the purpose of manufacturing and selling Ford automobiles in Canada and the British Empire. It was originally known as the Walkerville Wagon Works, and was located in Walkerville, Ontario (now part of Windsor, Ontario). The founder, Gordon McGregor, convinced a group of investors to invest in Henry Ford's new automobile which was being produced across the river in Detroit.
The firm manufactures and sells automobiles in Canada, and also in the United States and other countries around the world.
The Ford Motor Company of Canada was not a subsidiary or a branch plant of Ford Motor Company - rather, it was a separate organization and had its own distinct group of shareholders. At its formation, Ford Motor Company was not a shareholder of Ford Canada, but its twelve founding shareholders directly held 51% of Ford Canada's shares, and Henry Ford himself owned 13% of the new company. The Company had gained all Ford patent rights and selling privileges to all parts of the British Empire, except Great Britain and Ireland. It eventually established and managed the following subsidiaries:
The Model C, the first car to be produced in Canada, rolled out of the factory in late September 1904. The Company could produce two cars at a time and in its first full year of production, the Company was able to produce 117 automobiles. The Company's first export sales were to Calcutta, India. Ford is still an important manufacturing enterprise in Windsor.
With the growth in car sales after World War II, together with the acquisition of majority control by Ford Motor Company, Ford of Canada decided to move its head office and build a new assembly plant in Oakville, Ontario. The new Oakville assembly plant was opened in 1953. In order to meet ever increasing demand, the Company opened another assembly plant in Talbotville, Ontario in 1967.