Ford Motor Company of Canada
{{Short description|Automotive company}}
{{Infobox company
| name = Ford Motor Company of Canada, Limited
| logo = Ford_logo_flat.svg
| logo_size = 180
| image = Ford Oakville Assembly.JPG
| image_size =
| image_caption = Ford Canada head office with
the Oakville plant at right in 2009
| type = Subsidiary
| foundation = {{start date and age|1904}}
| founder = Gordon Morton McGregor
Henry Ford
| location_city = Oakville, Ontario
| location_country = Canada
| key_people =
| area_served = Canada, U.S.
| industry = Automotive
| products = Automobiles, pickups
| services = Automotive finance, Vehicle leasing, Vehicle service
| revenue = see Ford Motor Company for details
| operating_income =
| net_income =
| assets =
| equity =
| num_employees =
| parent = Ford Motor Company
| divisions = Lincoln Canada
| subsid =
| homepage = {{url|https://www.ford.ca/|ford.ca}}
| footnotes =
}}
Ford Motor Company of Canada, Limited (French: Ford du Canada Limitée) was founded on August 17, 1904, for the purpose of manufacturing and selling Ford cars in Canada. It was originally known as the Walkerville Wagon Works{{sfn|Anastakis|2004|p=218}} and was located in Walkerville, Ontario (now part of Windsor, Ontario). The founder, Gordon Morton McGregor, convinced a group of investors to invest in Henry Ford's new automobile, which was being produced across the river in Detroit, Michigan.{{sfn|Anastakis|2004|p=219}}
The firm manufactures and sells cars in Canada, and also in the United States and other countries around the world.
History
The Ford Motor Company of Canada is a wholly owned subsidiary of Ford Motor Company,{{Cite web|title=Archived — Automotive Innovation Fund Investment Announcement—Ford Motor Company of Canada|url=https://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/auto-auto.nsf/eng/am02389.html|last=Government of Canada|first=Innovation|website=www.ic.gc.ca|date=13 February 2003 |access-date=2020-05-04}} although it once had its own distinct group of shareholders.{{sfn|Anastakis|2004|p=213}} 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.{{sfn|Anastakis|2004|p=219}} The company had gained all Ford patent rights and selling privileges to all parts of the British Empire, except Great Britain and Ireland.{{sfn|Anastakis|2004|pp=223{{endash}}224}} It eventually established and managed the following subsidiaries:{{sfn|Anastakis|2004|p=221}}
- Ford Motor Company of Southern Africa
- Ford India Private Limited
- Ford Motor Company of Australia
- Ford Motor Company of New Zealand
File:Ford Motor Company of Canada, Ltd. 1904.jpg
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.{{cite web |url=http://www.lib.uwo.ca/business/200TopCompanies.html |title=The Top 200: Canada's Largest Companies (c 1973-74) |access-date=2008-04-08 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080223151834/http://www.lib.uwo.ca/business/200TopCompanies.html |archive-date=February 23, 2008 }}
By 1989, during a peak in the environmental movement, the Ford Motor Company of Canada (particularly its Oakville plant) was listed among the "dirty dozen" polluters in Ontario:
{{Quote |
"Ford broke lots of rules with the 13.8 million litres of waste it pumped into Lake Ontario every day until a few months ago, when it began a two-stage cleaning process.
"The company used to flush out an average of 392 kilograms (875 pounds) of solids with that waste water every day. It also poured out chemicals that sucked oxygen out of the lake. Ford also had on-and-off problems with the amounts of phosphorus (the chemical largely responsible for nearly killing Lake Erie decades ago) and phenols it discharged.
"The first stage of cleaning up this mess was a $6.8-million, upgraded version of the treatment system it already had on its site. The second stage sends waste water through Halton Region's sewers, so that no water is flowing directly into the lake."{{cite news|newspaper=The Toronto Star|date=March 11, 1989|page=D1 and D5|title=The Dirty Dozen|author=Tom Spears}}
}}
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.{{Cite web|title = FORD OF CANADA BOARD OF DIRECTORS UNANIMOUSLY APPROVES BUYOUT OF SHAREHOLDERS AT (CDN) $185 PER SHARE|url = http://www.thefreelibrary.com/FORD+OF+CANADA+BOARD+OF+DIRECTORS+UNANIMOUSLY+APPROVES+BUYOUT+OF...-a017184806|date = 1995-07-05|website= thefreelibrary.com|access-date = 2012-06-28}} 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.{{cite CanLII|litigants=Ford Motor Company of Canada, Ltd. v. Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement Board|link=|year=2006|court=onca|num=15|format=canlii|parallelcite=79 OR (3d) 81|date=2006-01-06|courtname=auto}}; leave to appeal dismissed with costs, {{cite CanLII|litigants=Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement Board and the Persons set out in Schedule "B" v. Ford Motor Company of Canada Limited, Ford Motor Company|link=|year=2006|court=scc-l|num=29064|format=canlii|pinpoint=|parallelcite=|date=2006-08-24|courtname=auto}}
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 {{convert|13.5|acre|m2|adj=on}} 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.{{Cite web|title = Proposed TransCanada Power Plant – Cancelled by the Province|url = http://www.oakville.ca/environment/proposed-transcanada-power-plant.html|date = 2014|publisher= Town of Oakville|access-date = 2015-06-05}} 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
In 2021, Bev Goodman became president/CEO of Ford Motor Company of Canada, replacing Dean Stoneley who has been appointed as general manager, North America truck, Ford Motor Company, a newly created position. Previous CEO's include Mark Buzzell who replaced Diane Craig effective January 1, 2017.
Before Craig, Mondragon had served as president and CEO since September 1, 2008, when he replaced Barry Engle{{cite web|url=http://www.canadiandriver.com/thenews/2008/08/25/ford-of-canada-names-new-president.htm |title=General News » Ford of Canada names new president |publisher=CanadianDriver |date=2008-09-01 |access-date=2009-09-23}} 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.{{cite web|url=http://www.auto123.com/en/news/car-news/barry-engle-the-new-president-of-ford-motor-company-of-canada-video?artid=94746 |title=Barry Engle, the new President of Ford Motor Company of Canada (video) - Car News | Page 1 |date=22 February 2008 |publisher=Auto123 |access-date=2009-09-23}}
Facilities
=Current=
| class="wikitable" |
| Plant
!Location !Year opened !Year closed !Notes |
|---|
| Oakville Assembly Complex
| 3550 | 1953 | Still active | Also Canadian Headquarters |
| Windsor Engine Plant
| 950 | 1978 (original engine plant opened in 1923) | Main building closed, annex still active | Produces 7.3L V8 engine for Super Duty pickups and commercial vehicles |
| Essex Engine Plant
| 930 | 1981–2007; reopened late 2009 | Still Active | Flexible engine plant, produces 5.0L V8 engine for Mustang and F-150 |
=Former=
| class="wikitable" |
| Plant
!Location !Year opened !Year closed !Notes |
|---|
| Windsor Casting Plant
| 1934 | May 30, 2007 | Now Demolished |
| Essex Aluminum Plant
| 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
| 1965 | 2004 | retooled and reopened as part of Oakville Car Plant |
| Ford Walkerville Plant|Walkerville Plant
| 1904 | 1954 | near 3001 Riverside Drive East; former Canadian Headquarters and main assembly operations also known as Plant 1; demolished 1969 and now abandoned lands facing the Detroit River |
| St. Thomas Assembly Plant
| 1968 | September 2011 | Only production facility for the Crown Victoria Police Interceptor for fleet orders, Grand Marquis and Lincoln Town Car for limo operators. |
| Niagara Falls glass plant
| 1961 | 1994 | The factory used to produce windshields, windows and lights for cars and trucks from plate and sheet glass provided by suppliers. The plant produced parts for the Canadian and American operations. |
| Dupont St Assembly Plant
| 1910 | 1927 | Assembly relocated to Danforth Plant. The building (672 Dupont St) now houses Condominiums |
| Danforth Avenue Plant
| 1922 | 1946 | Sold to Nash Motors and then by American Motors Corporation 1954 to 1961. Converted as mall, Shoppers World Danforth. |
| Portage Ave Assembly Plant
| 1915 | 1941 | Now known as the Robert Fletcher Building |
| Hamilton St Assembly Plant
| 1919 | 1938 | Production moved to Burnaby plant in 1938 |
| Burnaby Assembly Plant
| 1938 | 1968 | Building demolished in 1988 to build Station Square |
| Montreal Assembly Plant
| 1916 | 1932 | |
Vehicles produced
Ford Canada has produced the following models over the years:
References
{{Reflist|2}}
Further reading
- {{cite web | last=Austen | first=Ian | title=Ford Reaches Tentative Deal With Union in Canada | website=The New York Times | date=October 11, 2016 | url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/02/business/international/unifor-ford-motor-canada.html | access-date=July 31, 2017}}
- {{Cite journal|first = Dimitry|last= Anastakis|title = From Independence to Integration: The Corporate Evolution of the Ford Motor Company of Canada, 1904-2004|jstor = 25096866|journal = The Business History Review|date = 2004|volume=78|issue=2|pages=213{{endash}}253|doi= 10.2307/25096866|s2cid= 154176025}}
- {{cite book |last= Mays|first= James C.|author-link=James C. Mays|date= 2003|title= Ford and Canada : 100 years together|location= Montreal|publisher= Syam Publishing|isbn= 0-97338120-5}}
External links
{{commons cat}}
- {{official website}}
- [https://www.lincolncanada.com/ Lincoln Canada]
- [http://manuals-ebooks.blogspot.ro/search/label/Ford%20Motor Technical Information Software and PDF Manuals from Ford]
{{Ford Motor Company}}
{{Automotive industry in Canada}}
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Category:Car manufacturers of Canada
Category:Canadian subsidiaries of foreign companies
Category:Companies based in Oakville, Ontario
Category:Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 1904
Category:Automotive industry in Canada