Ford Motor Company of Canada

Ford Motor Company of Canada Ltd.
Subsidiary
Industry Automotive
Founded 1904
Founder Henry Ford
Headquarters Oakville, Ontario, Canada
Area served
 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,[1] 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.[2]

The firm manufactures and sells automobiles in Canada, and also in the United States and other countries around the world.

History

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.[3] 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.[2] The Company had gained all Ford patent rights and selling privileges to all parts of the British Empire, except Great Britain and Ireland.[4] It eventually established and managed the following subsidiaries:[5]

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.

Historically Ford was one of the most powerful companies in Canada, and in the 1970s, Ford was the "largest" company in Canada.[6] Ford of Canada celebrated its Centennial in 2004, shortly after the Parent Company Ford in the United States did in 2003. That year also saw the compulsory acquisition by Ford Motor Company of the last of the shares held by minority shareholders, which had been originally proposed in 1995.[7] However, the last litigation in the matter, dealing with an oppression remedy claim by the Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System with respect to its shareholdings, was only resolved by the Ontario Court of Appeal in January 2006.[8]

In 2010, Ford was embroiled in a controversy surrounding a plan to construct a massive gas-fired power plant to be operated by TransCanada on a disused 13.5-acre (55,000 m2) portion of its Oakville assembly plant. Local residents and politicians pleaded with Ford not to continue with the plan, as residents believed it would negatively impact their health and safety. The province cancelled the generating station in October 2010 and both Ford and TransCanada withdrew their planned appeals to the Ontario Municipal Board the following January.[9] The plant was one of two involved in the Ontario power plant scandal, which contributed to the resignation of Premier Dalton McGuinty and Energy Minister Chris Bentley.

Key executives

Current CEO and president of Ford Motor Company of Canada is Dianne Craig who replaced David Mondragon effective November 1, 2011. Mondragon had served as president and CEO since September 1, 2008, when he replaced Barry Engle [10] who resigned to join New Holland America as its CEO. William H. Osborne had held the position since 2005 and was replaced by Engle in February 2008.[11]

Facilities

Current

Ford Oakville plant and Ford Canada Head Office
Plant Location Employees[12] Year opened Year closed Notes
Oakville Assembly Complex Oakville, Ontario 5000 1953 Still active also Canadian Headquarters
Windsor Engine Plant Windsor, Ontario 600 1978 Original engine plant opened in 1923 Will produce V8 5.8L engines at least till 2019 Produces Triton engines for Super Duty, Econoline, Expedition and Navigator
Essex Engine Plant Windsor, Ontario 800 1981; re-open late 2009 2007 Flexible engine plant produced engine for Mustang and F150
Nemak Windsor Aluminum Plant Windsor, Ontario 210 1992 Still active No longer a Ford Plant. Currently produces engine blocks for GM.

Former

Plant Location Year opened Year closed Notes
Windsor Casting Plant Windsor, Ontario 1934 May 30, 2007 Now Demolished
Essex Aluminum Plant Windsor, Ontario 1981 February 13, 2009 Built originally to make cylinder heads for Essex Engine Plant, later as joint venture with Alfa SA of Mexico subsidiary Nemak; once produced engines for Mustangs, E-series vans and F-series trucks
Ontario Truck Plant Oakville, Ontario 1965 2004 re-tooled and re-opened as part of Oakville Car Plant
Walkerville Plant Windsor, Ontario 1904 1953 near 3001 Riverside Drive East - former Canadian Headquarters and main assembly operations also known as Plant 1; demolished 1969 and now abandoned lands facing Fleming Channel
St. Thomas Assembly Plant Talbotville, Ontario 1968 September 2011 Only production facility for the Crown Victoria Police Interceptor for fleet orders, Grand Marquis and Lincoln Town Car for limo operators
Danforth Avenue Plant Toronto ? 1946 Sold to Nash Motors and then by American Motors Corporation 1954 to 1961. Converted as mall, Shoppers World Danforth.

Vehicles produced

The Ford Edge, Ford Flex, Lincoln MKX and Lincoln MKT are currently manufactured in Oakville.

Ford Canada has also produced the following models over the years:

Model Oakville St. Thomas Walkerville
Canadian Military Pattern truck (World War II) Green tick
Ford Crown Victoria[13] Green tick
Ford EconolineGreen tick
Ford F-150Green tick
Ford Fairmont Green tick
Ford FalconGreen tick
Ford FreestarGreen tick
Ford SVT Lightning (2nd Generation)Green tick
Ford Maverick Green tick
Ford Model-A Green tick
Ford Model-C Green tick
Ford Model-K Green tick
Ford Model-N Green tick
Ford Model-T Green tick
Ford Pinto/Mercury Bobcat Green tick
Ford Tempo/Mercury TopazGreen tick
Ford TorinoGreen tick
Ford WindstarGreen tick
Lincoln Town Car[14] Green tick
Mercury Grand Marquis Green tick
Mercury Marauder[15] Green tick
Mercury MeteorGreen tick Green tick
Mercury MonarchGreen tick
Mercury Monterey (Minivan)Green tick

Further reading

References

  1. ↑ Anastakis 2004, p. 218.
  2. 1 2 Anastakis 2004, p. 219.
  3. ↑ Anastakis 2004, p. 213.
  4. ↑ Anastakis 2004, pp. 223–224.
  5. ↑ Anastakis 2004, p. 221.
  6. ↑ The Top 200: Canada's Largest Companies (c 1973-74) at the Wayback Machine (archived February 23, 2008)
  7. ↑ "FORD OF CANADA BOARD OF DIRECTORS UNANIMOUSLY APPROVES BUYOUT OF SHAREHOLDERS AT (CDN) $185 PER SHARE". thefreelibrary.com. 1995-07-05. Retrieved 2012-06-28.
  8. ↑ Ford Motor Company of Canada, Ltd. v. Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement Board 2006 CanLII 15, 79 OR (3d) 81 (6 January 2006), Court of Appeal (Ontario, Canada); leave to appeal dismissed with costs, Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement Board and the Persons set out in Schedule "B" v. Ford Motor Company of Canada Limited, Ford Motor Company 2006 CanLII 29064 (24 August 2006), Supreme Court (Canada)
  9. ↑ "Proposed TransCanada Power Plant – Cancelled by the Province". Town of Oakville. 2014. Retrieved 2015-06-05.
  10. ↑ "General News » Ford of Canada names new president". CanadianDriver. 2008-09-01. Retrieved 2009-09-23.
  11. ↑ "Barry Engle, the new President of Ford Motor Company of Canada (video) - Car News | Page 1". Auto123. Retrieved 2009-09-23.
  12. ↑ "Facilities | Ford Motor Company Newsroom". Media.ford.com. Retrieved 2009-09-23.
  13. ↑ Includes livery and Police Interceptor models
  14. ↑ MY2008 to MY2011
  15. ↑ MY2003 to MY2004
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