RARE - 3 Photos- Ford Car Dealer & Mobil Gas Station Garage- Sacramento CA 1940s

£196.37 Buy It Now or Best Offer, £4.32 Shipping, eBay Money Back Guarantee
Seller: dalebooks ✉️ (8,797) 100%, Location: Rochester, New York, US, Ships to: WORLDWIDE & many other countries, Item: 304383336878 RARE - 3 Photos- Ford Car Dealer & Mobil Gas Station Garage- Sacramento CA 1940s.
SUPER Group of Photos 
 
 
 
Identified Ford Dealership - Garage, Mobil Gas Station, etc. 
Sacramento, California ca. 1940s
 

For offer, a nice old Photograph lot! Fresh from a prominent estate in Upstate NY. Never offered on the market until now. Vintage, Old, Original, Antique, NOT a Reproduction - Guaranteed !!

One of a kind - unique photos. Car dealership - all the men identified on back of photo, as well as the scenes. Automobile dealer - looks like it says Crescent Motors. This may have later become Dalton motors. More research is needed. Corner of J. Street and 2nd Street. Shows tow truck, cars, Mobil gas sign, etc. Snapshot photos. Each measures 4 1/2 x 2 3/4  inches. In very good condition. Please see photos. If you collect 20th century Americana history, advertising, auto dealer photography, American transportation, photography, etc. this is a treasure you will not see again! Add this to your image or paper / ephemera collection. Genealogy too. Combine shipping on multiple bid wins! 2760

Sacramento (/ˌsækrəˈmɛntoʊ/ SAK-rə-MEN-toh; Spanish: [sakɾaˈmento], Spanish for ''sacrament'') is the capital city of the U.S. state of California and the seat and largest city of Sacramento County. Located at the confluence of the Sacramento and American Rivers in Northern California's Sacramento Valley, Sacramento's 2020 population of 524,943[7] makes it the sixth-largest city in California and the ninth-largest capital in the United States.[9][10] Sacramento is the seat of the California Legislature and the Governor of California, making it the state's political center and a hub for lobbying and think tanks. It features the California State Capitol Museum.

Sacramento is also the cultural and economic core of the Greater Sacramento area, which at the 2020 census had a population of 2,397,382,[8] the fifth-largest metropolitan area in California.[11]

Before the arrival of the Spanish, the area was inhabited by the historic Nisenan, Maidu, and other indigenous peoples of California. Spanish cavalryman Gabriel Moraga surveyed and named the Río del Santísimo Sacramento (Sacramento River) in 1808, after the Blessed Sacrament, referring to the Eucharist in the Catholic Church. In 1839, Juan Bautista Alvarado, Mexican governor of Alta California, granted the responsibility of colonizing the Sacramento Valley to Swiss-born Mexican citizen John Augustus Sutter, who subsequently established Sutter's Fort and the settlement at the Rancho Nueva Helvetia. Following the American Conquest of California and the 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo, the waterfront developed by Sutter began to be developed, and incorporated in 1850 as the City of Sacramento.

Sacramento is the fastest-growing major city in California,[12] owing to its status as a notable political center on the West Coast and as a major educational hub, home of California State University, Sacramento and University of California, Davis. Similarly, Sacramento is a major center for the California healthcare industry, as the seat of Sutter Health, the world-renowned UC Davis Medical Center, and the UC Davis School of Medicine. It is a tourist destination, featuring the California Museum, Crocker Art Museum, California State Railroad Museum, California Hall of Fame, and Old Sacramento State Historic Park. Sacramento International Airport, located northwest of the city, is the city's major airport.

Sacramento is known for its evolving contemporary culture, and is dubbed the most "hipster city" in California.[13][14] In 2002, the Harvard University Civil Rights Project conducted for Time magazine ranked Sacramento as "America's Most Diverse City".[15]

Ford Motor Company (commonly known as Ford) is an American multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Dearborn, Michigan, United States. It was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. The company sells automobiles and commercial vehicles under the Ford brand, and luxury cars under its Lincoln luxury brand. Ford also owns Brazilian SUV manufacturer Troller, an 8% stake in Aston Martin of the United Kingdom and a 32% stake in China’s Jiangling Motors.[7] It also has joint-ventures in China (Changan Ford), Taiwan (Ford Lio Ho), Thailand (AutoAlliance Thailand), Turkey (Ford Otosan), and Russia (Ford Sollers). The company is listed on the New York Stock Exchange and is controlled by the Ford family; they have minority ownership but the majority of the voting power.[8][5]

Ford introduced methods for large-scale manufacturing of cars and large-scale management of an industrial workforce using elaborately engineered manufacturing sequences typified by moving assembly lines; by 1914, these methods were known around the world as Fordism. Ford's former UK subsidiaries Jaguar and Land Rover, acquired in 1989 and 2000 respectively, were sold to the Indian automaker Tata Motors in March 2008. Ford owned the Swedish automaker Volvo from 1999 to 2010.[9] In 2011, Ford discontinued the Mercury brand, under which it had marketed entry-level luxury cars in the United States, Canada, Mexico, and the Middle East since 1938.

Ford is the second-largest U.S.-based automaker (behind General Motors) and the fifth-largest in the world (behind Toyota, Volkswagen, Hyundai and General Motors) based on 2015 vehicle production. At the end of 2010, Ford was the fifth largest automaker in Europe.[10] The company went public in 1956 but the Ford family, through special Class B shares, still retain 40 percent voting rights.[11][5] During the financial crisis at the beginning of the 21st century, it struggled financially to the point of collapse which was in large part prevented by President George W. Bush announcing his emergency financial rescue plan to help Ford Motors as well as Chrysler LLC and General Motors, making immediately available $13.4 billion to the automaker.[12] Ford Motors has since returned to profitability.[13] Ford was the eleventh-ranked overall American-based company in the 2018 Fortune 500 list, based on global revenues in 2017 of $156.7 billion.[14] In 2008, Ford produced 5.532 million automobiles[15] and employed about 213,000 employees at around 90 plants and facilities worldwide.

History

Main article: History of Ford Motor Company

20th century

Henry Ford (ca. 1919)

A 1910 Model T, photographed in Salt Lake City

The Henry Ford Company was Henry Ford's first attempt at a car manufacturing company and was established on November 3, 1901. This became the Cadillac Motor Company on August 22, 1902, after Ford left with the rights to his name.[16] The Ford Motor Company was launched in a converted factory in 1903 with $28,000 (equivalent to $807,000 in 2020) in cash from twelve investors, most notably John and Horace Dodge (who would later found their own car company). The first president was not Ford, but local banker John S. Gray, who was chosen to assuage investors' fears that Ford would leave the new company the way he had left its predecessor. During its early years, the company produced just a few cars a day at its factory on Mack Avenue and later at its factory on Piquette Avenue in Detroit, Michigan. Groups of two or three men worked on each car, assembling it from parts made mostly by supplier companies contracting for Ford. Within a decade, the company would lead the world in the expansion and refinement of the assembly line concept, and Ford soon brought much of the part production in-house (vertical integration).

Henry Ford was 39 years old when he founded the Ford Motor Company, which would go on to become one of the world's largest and most profitable companies. It has been in continuous family control for over 100 years and is one of the largest family-controlled companies in the world.[citation needed]

The first gasoline-powered automobile had been created in 1885 by the German inventor Karl Benz (Benz Patent-Motorwagen). More efficient production methods were needed to make automobiles affordable for the middle class, to which Ford contributed by, for instance, introducing the first moving assembly line in 1913 at the Ford factory in Highland Park.[citation needed]

Between 1903 and 1908, Ford produced the Models A, B, C, F, K, N, R, and S. Hundreds or a few thousand of most of these were sold per year. In 1908, Ford introduced the mass-produced Model T, which totaled millions sold over nearly 20 years. In 1927, Ford replaced the T with the Model A, the first car with safety glass in the windshield.[17] Ford launched the first low-priced car with a V8 engine in 1932.[citation needed]

In an attempt to compete with General Motors' mid-priced Pontiac, Oldsmobile, and Buick, Ford created the Mercury in 1939 as a higher-priced companion car to Ford. Henry Ford purchased the Lincoln Motor Company in 1922, in order to compete with such brands as Cadillac and Packard for the luxury segment of the automobile market.[citation needed]

In 1929, Ford was contracted by the government of the Soviet Union to set up the Gorky Automobile Plant in Russia initially producing Ford Model A and AAs thereby playing an important role in the industrialization of that country.[18]

Ford Germany, Ford's subsidiary in Germany, produced military vehicles and other equipment for Nazi Germany's war effort. Some of Ford's operations in Germany at the time were run using forced labor.

The creation of a scientific laboratory in Dearborn, Michigan in 1951, doing unfettered basic research, led to Ford's unlikely involvement in superconductivity research. In 1964, Ford Research Labs made a key breakthrough with the invention of a superconducting quantum interference device or SQUID.[19]

Ford offered the Lifeguard safety package from 1956, which included such innovations as a standard deep-dish steering wheel, optional front, and, for the first time in a car, rear seatbelts, and an optional padded dash.[20] Ford introduced child-proof door locks into its products in 1957, and, in the same year, offered the first retractable hardtop on a mass-produced six-seater car.[citation needed]

In late 1955, Ford established the Continental division as a separate luxury car division. This division was responsible for the manufacture and sale of the famous Continental Mark II. At the same time, the Edsel division was created to design and market that car starting with the 1958 model year. Due to limited sales of the Continental and the Edsel disaster, Ford merged Mercury, Edsel, and Lincoln into "M-E-L," which reverted to "Lincoln-Mercury" after Edsel's November 1959 demise.[citation needed]

The Ford Mustang was introduced on April 17, 1964 during New York World's Fair (where Ford had a pavilion made by The Walt Disney Company.)[21][22] In 1965, Ford introduced the seat belt reminder light.[citation needed]

With the 1980s, Ford introduced several highly successful vehicles around the world. During the 1980s, Ford began using the advertising slogan, "Have you driven a Ford, lately?" to introduce new customers to their brand and make their vehicles appear more modern. In 1990 and 1994 respectively, Ford also acquired Jaguar Cars and Aston Martin.[23] During the mid- to late-1990s, Ford continued to sell large numbers of vehicles, in a booming American economy with a soaring stock market and low fuel prices.[citation needed]

With the dawn of the new century, legacy health care costs, higher fuel prices, and a faltering economy led to falling market shares, declining sales, and diminished profit margins. Most of the corporate profits came from financing consumer automobile loans through Ford Motor Credit Company.[24]

21st century

William Clay Ford Jr., great-grandson of Henry Ford, serves as the executive chairman at the board of Ford Motor Company

By 2005, both Ford and GM's corporate bonds had been downgraded to junk status[25] as a result of high U.S. health care costs for an aging workforce, soaring gasoline prices, eroding market share, and an overdependence on declining SUV sales. Profit margins decreased on large vehicles due to increased "incentives" (in the form of rebates or low-interest financing) to offset declining demand.[26] In the latter half of 2005, Chairman Bill Ford asked newly appointed Ford Americas Division President Mark Fields to develop a plan to return the company to profitability. Fields previewed the Plan, named The Way Forward, at the December 7, 2005, board meeting of the company and it was unveiled to the public on January 23, 2006. "The Way Forward" included resizing the company to match market realities, dropping some unprofitable and inefficient models, consolidating production lines, closing 14 factories and cutting 30,000 jobs.[27]

Ford moved to introduce a range of new vehicles, including "Crossover SUVs" built on unibody car platforms, rather than more body-on-frame chassis. In developing the hybrid electric powertrain technologies for the Ford Escape Hybrid SUV, Ford licensed similar Toyota hybrid technologies[28] to avoid patent infringements.[29] Ford announced that it will team up with electricity supply company Southern California Edison (SCE) to examine the future of plug-in hybrids in terms of how home and vehicle energy systems will work with the electrical grid. Under the multimillion-dollar, multi-year project, Ford will convert a demonstration fleet of Ford Escape Hybrids into plug-in hybrids, and SCE will evaluate how the vehicles might interact with the home and the utility's electrical grid. Some of the vehicles will be evaluated "in typical customer settings", according to Ford.[30][31]

William Clay Ford Jr., great-grandson of Henry Ford (and better known by his nickname "Bill"), was appointed executive chairman in 1998, and also became chief executive officer of the company in 2001, with the departure of Jacques Nasser, becoming the first member of the Ford family to head the company since the retirement of his uncle, Henry Ford II, in 1982. Ford sold motorsport engineering company Cosworth to Gerald Forsythe and Kevin Kalkhoven in 2004, the start of a decrease in Ford's motorsport involvement. Upon the retirement of president and chief operations officer Jim Padilla in April 2006, Bill Ford assumed his roles as well. Five months later, in September, Ford named Alan Mulally as president and CEO, with Ford continuing as executive chairman. In December 2006, the company raised its borrowing capacity to about $25 billion, placing substantially all corporate assets as collateral.[32] Chairman Bill Ford has stated that "bankruptcy is not an option".[33] Ford and the United Auto Workers, representing approximately 46,000 hourly workers in North America, agreed to a historic contract settlement in November 2007 giving the company a substantial break in terms of its ongoing retiree health care costs and other economic issues. The agreement included the establishment of a company-funded, independently run Voluntary Employee Beneficiary Association (VEBA) trust to shift the burden of retiree health care from the company's books, thereby improving its balance sheet. This arrangement took effect on January 1, 2010. As a sign of its currently strong cash position, Ford contributed its entire current liability (estimated at approximately US$5.5 billion as of December 31, 2009) to the VEBA in cash, and also pre-paid US$500 million of its future liabilities to the fund. The agreement also gives hourly workers the job security they were seeking by having the company commit to substantial investments in most of its factories.

The automaker reported the largest annual loss in company history in 2006 of $12.7 billion,[34] and estimated that it would not return to profitability until 2009.[35] However, Ford surprised Wall Street in the second quarter of 2007 by posting a $750 million profit. Despite the gains, the company finished the year with a $2.7 billion loss, largely attributed to finance restructuring at Volvo.[36]

On June 2, 2008, Ford sold its Jaguar and Land Rover operations to Tata Motors for $2.3 billion.[37][38]

During congressional hearings held in November 2008 at Washington D.C., and in a show of support, Ford's Alan Mulally stated that "We at Ford are hopeful that we have enough liquidity. But we also must prepare ourselves for the prospect of further deteriorating economic conditions". Mulally went on to state that "The collapse of one of our competitors would have a severe impact on Ford" and that Ford Motor Company supports both Chrysler and General Motors in their search for government bridge loans in the face of conditions caused by the 2008 financial crisis.[39][40] Together, the three companies presented action plans for the sustainability of the industry. Mulally stated that "In addition to our plan, we are also here today to request support for the industry. In the near-term, Ford does not require access to a government bridge loan. However, we request a credit line of $9 billion as a critical backstop or safeguard against worsening conditions as we drive transformational change in our company"[41] GM and Chrysler received government loans and financing through T.A.R.P. legislation funding provisions.[42]

On December 19, the cost of credit default swaps to insure the debt of Ford was 68 percent the sum insured for five years in addition to annual payments of 5 percent. That meant $6.8 million paid upfront to insure $10 million in debt, in addition to payments of $500,000 per year.[43] In January 2009, Ford reported a $14.6 billion loss in the preceding year, a record for the company. The company retained sufficient liquidity to fund its operations. Through April 2009, Ford's strategy of debt for equity exchanges erased $9.9 billion in liabilities (28% of its total) in order to leverage its cash position.[44] These actions yielded Ford a $2.7 billion profit in fiscal year 2009, the company's first full-year profit in four years.[45] In 2012, Ford's corporate bonds were upgraded from junk to investment grade again, citing sustainable, lasting improvements.[46]

On October 29, 2012, Ford announced the sale of its climate control components business, its last remaining automotive components operation, to Detroit Thermal Systems LLC for an undisclosed price.[47]

On November 1, 2012, Ford announced that CEO Alan Mulally will stay with the company until 2014. Ford also named Mark Fields, the president of operations in Americas, as its new chief operating officer[48] Ford's CEO Mulally was paid a compensation of over $174 million in his previous seven years at Ford since 2006. The generous amount has been a sore point for some workers of the company.[49]

In April 2016, Ford announced a plan to modernize its Dearborn engineering and headquarters campuses through a ten-year building project. The end result would see the number of Ford employees working in these areas doubling, to 24,000. During construction, some 2000 of the employees were relocated out of the campus to a temporary location in a disused section of the local shopping mall.[50] Facilities would also be altered to allow ride-sharing and electric and self-driving vehicles.[51] Estimates of the construction cost were $1.2 billion.[52]

The historic, once abandoned Michigan Central Station was purchased by Ford Motor Company in May 2018 and is expected to undergo a significant four-year renovation

On January 3, 2017, Ford CEO Mark Fields announced that in a "vote of confidence" because of the pro-business climate being fostered in part by President-elect Donald Trump, Ford has canceled plans to invest $1.6 billion in a new plant in Mexico to manufacture the Ford Focus. The Ford Focus will now be manufactured in the existing plant in Mexico. Instead, Fields announced that Ford will be investing $700 million in Michigan, which it plans to use to create 700 new jobs.[53] Also in 2017, Ford began development of a new mixed-use urban campus in the Corktown neighborhood of Detroit, with its purchase, renovation, and occupation of The Factory at Michigan and Rosa Parks. The new site was expected to have a major focus on the development of autonomous vehicle and electric vehicle technology.[54] Ford later began buying up other parcels of land in Corktown including a very high-profile purchase of Michigan Central Station which is planned to become the hub of their Corktown campus, and the adjacent Roosevelt Warehouse.[55] Ford expects to move 2,500 of its employees, roughly 5 percent of its southeast Michigan workforce, to the campus with space for an additional 2,500 entrepreneurs, technology companies and partners.[56] Bill Ford envisioned the first-floor concourse of the train station to be a public gathering place with retail outlets and restaurants.[57]

In February 2017, Ford Motor Co. acquired majority ownership of Argo AI, a self-driving car startup.[58]

In May 2017, Ford announced cuts to its global workforce amid efforts to address the company's declining share price and to improve profits. The company is targeting $3 billion in cost reduction and a nearly 10% reduction in the salaried workforce in Asia and North America to enhance earnings in 2018.[59][60] Jim Hackett was announced to replace Mark Fields as CEO of Ford Motor. Mr. Hackett most recently oversaw the formation of Ford Smart Mobility, a unit responsible for experimenting with car-sharing programs, self-driving ventures and other programs aimed at helping Ford better compete with Uber, Alphabet Inc. and other tech giants looking to edge in on the auto industry.[61][62]

On April 25, 2018, Ford announced that it will discontinue passenger cars in the North American market in the next four years, except for the Mustang, due to declining demand and profitability.[63] The Focus Active, a crossover SUV based on the newly unveiled fourth-generation Focus, was also intended to be marketed in the United States. Due to the vehicle being manufactured in China, Ford later announced that it would not release the Focus Active in the United States, due to tariffs imposed by the Trump administration on Chinese exports.[64][65]

In March 2020, the Detroit United Auto Workers union announced that after discussion with the leaders of General Motors, Ford, and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, the carmakers would partially shut down factories on a "rotating" basis to mitigate the .[66] On March 24, representatives of Ford announced that production in the US, Canada, and Mexico will not resume on March 30 as it was originally planned amid the further andemic spread.[67] In the first quarter of 2020, Ford's sales dropped by 15%, entailing the loss of $2 billion.[68]

With the change in the demand for the sport vehicles, on January 6, 2021, Ford reported a sales fall of 9.8% in the fourth quarter. In fact, Ford sold 542,749 vehicles comparing to 601,862 in 2019.[69]

In April 2021, Ford said that it will provide vaccines for its employees who will get them at the company, at the beginning the vaccination program will be in Southeast Michigan, Missouri and Ohio, but will be expanded later on to other locations.[70]

Logo evolution

1903

 

1907

 

1909

 

1911

 

1912

 

1912 variant

 

1927

 

1957

 

1976

 

2003

 

2017–

Corporate affairs

Executive management

Members of the Ford board as of October 2018 are: Stephen Butler, Kimberly Casiano, Anthony F. Earley, Jr., Edsel Ford II, William Clay Ford Jr. (executive chairman), Jim Hackett (president and CEO), William W. Helman IV, William E. Kennard, John C. Lechleiter, Ellen Marram, John L. Thornton, John Veihmeyer, Lynn Vojvodich, and John S. Weinberg.[71]

In August 2020, it was revealed that Jim Farley is to become the new chief executive officer of the company; he previously served as Ford's chief operating officer. The company's former CEO, Hackett, will stay in the company as an advisor until the second quarter of 2021.[72]

Ford Motor Company Fund

The Ford Motor Company Fund (also known as Ford Fund, not affiliated with the Ford Foundation), based in Dearborn, Michigan, is the philanthropic arm of the Ford Motor Company.[73] Established in 1949[74] by Henry Ford II[citation needed], Ford Fund is a nonprofit corporate foundation[75] financed by contributions from Ford Motor Company. In 2017, Ford Fund contributed $63 million[76] to various causes[73] with a focus on education, driving safely and community building.

The Ford Driving Skills for Life program is a driver safety program aimed at teens that were developed together with the Governors Highway Safety Association and safety experts.[77] The Ford Volunteer Corps allows Ford employees and retirees to sign up for volunteering work on local projects in more than 40 countries.[78] The Ford Fund invests $18 million annually in education in the United States and around the world, but accepts applications only from nonprofit organizations registered in the U.S.[79] Education programs and scholarships include Alan Mulally Engineering Scholarship, Ford Blue Oval Scholars Program, Ford College Community Challenge (Ford C3), Ford Driving Dreams Tour, Ford Fund/Detroit Free Press Journalism Scholarship, Ford Next Generation Learning (Ford NGL), Grants to Individuals Program, HBCU Community Challenge, Smithsonian Latino Center Young Ambassadors Program, and William Clay Ford Automotive Design Scholarship.

Operations

Ford has had manufacturing operations worldwide, including in the United States, Canada, Mexico, China, India, the United Kingdom, Germany, Turkey, Brazil, Argentina, Australia, and South Africa. Ford also has a cooperative agreement with Russian automaker GAZ.

North America

Ford dealer in Garden City, New York, ca. 1930–1945

In May 2010, Ford reported that its sales increased 23% for the month, and that 37% of its sales came from fleet sales.[80] In June 2010, Sales to individual customers at dealerships increased 13% while fleet sales rose by 32%.[81] In the first seven months of 2010, fleet sales of Ford for the same period rose 35% to 386,000 units while retail sales increase 19%.[82] Fleet sales account for 39 percent of Chrysler's sales and 31 percent for GM's.[82]

Europe

Main article: Ford of Europe

Ford's Dunton Technical Centre in Laindon, United Kingdom, the largest automotive research and development facility in the country[83]

The Ford Research Center in Aachen, Germany

At first, Ford in Germany and Ford in Britain built different models from one another until 1965, when the Ford Transit and later the Ford Escort and the Ford Capri became common to both companies. In 1970, the Ford Taunus and the Ford Cortina came into production with a common base construction, both models being produced in left hand drive and right hand drive. Later on, the models became identical and the respective models right- and left-hand-drive exclusively. Rationalisation of model ranges meant that production of many models in the UK switched to elsewhere in Europe, including Belgium and Spain as well as Germany. The Ford Sierra replaced the Taunus and Cortina in 1982, drawing criticism for its radical aerodynamic styling, which was soon given nicknames, the "Jellymould" and "The Salesman's Spaceship."

In February 2002, Ford ended car production in the UK. It was the first time in 90 years that Ford cars had not been made in Britain, although production of the Transit van continued at the company's Southampton facility until mid-2013, engines at Bridgend and Dagenham, and transmissions at Halewood. Development of European Ford is broadly split between Dunton in Essex (powertrain, Fiesta/Ka, and commercial vehicles) and Cologne (body, chassis, electrical, Focus, Mondeo) in Germany. Ford also produced the Thames range of commercial vehicles, although the use of this brand name was discontinued circa 1965. Elsewhere in continental Europe, Ford assembles the Mondeo, Galaxy, S-Max[84] and Kuga[85] in Valencia (Spain), Fiesta in Cologne (Germany), Focus in Saarlouis (Germany), Ecosport[86] and Puma[87] in Craiova (Romania).

Ford also owns a joint-venture production plant in Turkey. Ford Otosan, established in the 1970s, manufactures the Transit Connect compact panel van as well as the "Jumbo" and long-wheelbase versions of the full-size Transit. This new production facility was set up near Kocaeli in 2002, and its opening marked the end of Transit assembly in Genk.

Another joint venture plant near Setúbal in Portugal, set up in collaboration with Volkswagen, formerly assembled the Galaxy people-carrier as well as its sister ships, the VW Sharan and SEAT Alhambra. With the introduction of the third generation of the Galaxy, Ford has moved the production of the people-carrier to the Genk plant, with Volkswagen taking over sole ownership of the Setúbal facility.

In 2008, Ford acquired a majority stake in Automobile Craiova, Romania. Starting 2009, the Ford Transit Connect was Ford's first model produced in Craiova, followed, in 2012, by low-capacity car engines and a new small class car, the B-Max.[88]

Its 1959 Anglia two-door saloon was one of the most quirky-looking small family cars in Europe at the time of its launch, but buyers soon became accustomed to its looks and it was hugely popular with British buyers in particular. It was still selling well when replaced by the more practical Escort in 1967.

The third incarnation of the Ford Escort was launched in 1980 and marked the company's move from rear-wheel drive saloons to front-wheel drive hatchbacks in the small family car sector.

The fourth-generation Escort was produced from 1990 until 2000, although its successor – the Focus – had been on sale since 1998. On its launch, the Focus was arguably the most dramatic-looking and fine-handling small family cars on sale and sold in huge volumes right up to the launch of the next-generation Focus at the end of 2004.

The 1982 Ford Sierra – replacement for the long-running and massively popular Cortina and Taunus models – was a style-setter at the time of its launch. Its ultramodern aerodynamic design was a world away from a boxy, sharp-edged Cortina, and it was massively popular just about everywhere it was sold. A series of updates kept it looking relatively fresh until it was replaced by the front-wheel-drive Mondeo at the start of 1993.

The rise in popularity of small cars during the 1970s saw Ford enter the mini-car market in 1976 with its Fiesta hatchback. Most of its production was concentrated at Valencia in Spain, and the Fiesta sold in huge figures from the very start. An update in 1983 and the launch of an all-new model in 1989 strengthened its position in the small car market.

On October 24, 2012, Ford announced that it would be closing its Genk assembly plant in eastern Belgium by the end of 2014.[89]

In 2015, Ford announced that it took control of Ford Sollers, Ford's joint venture with Russian company Sollers.[90][91]

In September 2018, at the IAA Commercial Vehicles show in Hannover, Germany, Ford introduced an electric tractor-trailer concept vehicle dubbed the F-Vision, which would have Level 4 autonomous driving capability.[92]

On March 1, 2022, Ford announced that it was suspending its Sollers joint venture operation in Russia, in response to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.[93]

East and Southeast Asia

Ford formed its first passenger-vehicle joint venture in China in 2001, six years behind GM and more than a decade after VW. It has spent as of 2013 $4.9 billion to expand its lineup and double production capacity in China to 600,000 vehicles. This includes Ford's largest-ever factory complex in the southwestern city of Chongqing. Ford had 2.5% of the Chinese market in 2013, while VW controlled 14.5% and GM had 15.6%, according to consultant LMC Automotive. GM outsells Ford in China by more than six-to-one.[94] Ford's presence in Asia has traditionally been much smaller, confined to Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong, the Philippines, and Taiwan, where Ford has had a joint venture with Lio Ho since the 1970s. Ford began assembly of cars in Thailand in 1960, but withdrew from the country in 1976, and did not return until 1995 when it formed a joint venture with Mazda called Auto Alliance.[95] Now based in the Bo-win Sub District of the Sriracha District in Chonburi, the factory still produces passenger automobiles. The factory, built in 1941 in Singapore, was soon taken over by the Japanese during the war and was the site of a surrender of the British to the Japanese, at the factory site which is now a national monument in Singapore. On April 30, 2013, Ford Motor Co. launched their car and truck line in Myanmar. Previously, heavy importation taxes had stifled imported car purchases in Myanmar, but due to currency reform, lifting of previous import restrictions, and the abolishment of shadow currency, Myanmar's car market had grown in demand.[96]

South Korea

In 1967, Ford partnered with the South Korean company Hyundai, and at the new factory in Ulsan, South Korea, built the European Ford Cortina until 1974 when Hyundai introduced their all-new Hyundai Pony in 1975. Ford then developed a relationship with Korea's oldest car manufacturer Kia which built vehicles co-engineered with Mazda, later selling the Ford Festiva from 1988 to 1993, and the Ford Aspire from 1994 to 1997 for export to the United States. With the acquisition of a stake in Japanese manufacturer Mazda in 1979, Ford began selling Mazda's Familia and Capella as the Ford Laser and Telstar throughout the region, replacing the European-sourced Escort and Cortina. From 1989 to 1996, Kia imported the Mercury Sable from Ford in the U.S. and sold them in South Korea as the Kia Sable. Though the Sable was branded and marketed as a Kia, it retained the Mercury badges and emblem. Ford lost their Kia interest to Hyundai in 1998 during the Asian financial crisis. Kia had declared bankruptcy in 1997; in 1998, Hyundai Motor Company acquired 51% of the company, outbidding Ford which had owned an interest in Kia Motors since 1986.[97] After subsequent divestments,[98] Hyundai Motor Company owns less than 50% of the company but remains Kia's largest stakeholder.

As of 2020, Ford sells the Explorer, Mondeo, and Mustang,[99] as well as the Lincoln Aviator, Continental, Corsair, MKZ, and Nautilus in South Korea.[100]

South and West Asia

Ford India began production in 1998 at Chennai, Tamil Nadu, with its Ford Escort model, which was later replaced by the locally produced Ford Ikon in 2001. It has since added the Fusion, Fiesta, Mondeo and Endeavour models to its product line.

On March 9, 2010, Ford launched its first made-for-India compact car. Starting at ₹349,900, the Figo was Ford's first car designed and priced for the mass Indian market.[101] On July 28, 2011, Ford India signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the State of Gujarat for the construction of an assembly and engine plant in Sanand and planned to invest approximately US$1 billion on a 460-acre site.[102] In 2019, the company and Mahindra & Mahindra formed a joint venture to develop, market and distribute Ford-branded vehicles in India.[103] In September 2021 Ford India announced plans to shut down both it's assembly plants. The company said that it intends to maintain its parts and service network.[104]

Ford's market presence in the Middle East has traditionally been small, partly due to previous Arab boycotts of companies dealing with Israel. Ford and Lincoln vehicles are currently marketed in ten countries in the region.[105] Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and the United Arab Emirates are the biggest markets. Ford also established itself in Egypt in 1926 but faced an uphill battle during the 1950s due to the hostile nationalist business environment.[106] Ford's distributor in Saudi Arabia announced in February 2003 that it had sold 100,000 Ford and Lincoln vehicles since commencing sales in November 1986. Half of the Ford and Lincoln vehicles sold in that country were Ford Crown Victorias.[107] In 2004, Ford sold 30,000 units in the region, falling far short of General Motors' 88,852 units and Nissan Motors' 75,000 units.

South America

In South America, Ford's primary operations are in Brazil, Argentina, and Ford Andina[108] (Colombia, Ecuador, and Venezuela). Ford employs over 18,000 people and operates seven assembly or other plants in the region.[109] In 1987, Ford Brasil and Ford Motor Argentina merged their operations with the Brazilian and Argentine operations of Volkswagen Group, forming a new joint-venture company called Autolatina with a shared model range.[110] Autolatina was dissolved in 1995.[110]

In early 2021, Ford's Brazil branch announced it would end completely cease production in the country over the course of a few months.[111]

Africa

In Africa, Ford's market presence has traditionally been strongest in South Africa and neighbouring countries, with only trucks being sold elsewhere on the continent. Ford in South Africa began by importing kits from Canada to be assembled at its Port Elizabeth facility. Later Ford sourced its models from the UK and Australia, with local versions of the Ford Cortina including the XR6, with a 3.0 V6 engine, and a Cortina-based 'bakkie' or pick-up, which was exported to the UK. In the mid-1980s, Ford merged with a rival company, owned by Anglo American, to form the South African Motor Corporation (Samcor).[112]

Following international condemnation of apartheid, Ford divested from South Africa in 1988, and sold its stake in Samcor, although it licensed the use of its brand name to the company.[113] Samcor began to assemble Mazdas as well, which affected its product line-up and saw the European Fords like the Escort and Sierra replaced by the Mazda-based Laser[114] and Telstar.[115] Ford bought a 45 per cent stake in Samcor following the demise of apartheid in 1994, and this later became, once again, a wholly owned subsidiary, the Ford Motor Company of Southern Africa. Ford now sells a local sedan version of the Fiesta (also built in India and Mexico), and the Focus. The Falcon model from Australia was also sold in South Africa but was dropped in 2003 while the Mondeo, after briefly being assembled locally, was dropped in 2005. The Mondeo was later reintroduced in 2015, badged as the Fusion but was dropped in 2017.[116]

Research

Ford Research and Innovation Center is the name of the technology research facilities of Ford Motor Company in

Dearborn, Michigan

Palo Alto, California

Aachen, Germany

Nanjing, China

The Ford Research and Innovation Center in Palo Alto was first opened in 2012, and in January 2015, announced plans to significantly expand its operations.[117][118][119][120]

Former operations

East and Southeast Asia

Ford decided to shut down their entire operations in Indonesia, including their dealer network by second half of 2016.[121][122]

Ford of Japan

Main article: Ford Motor Company of Japan

Ford established a manufacturing facility in the port city of Yokohama in February 1925, where Model T vehicles were assembled using imported knock-down kits.[123] The factory subsequently produced 10,000 Model A's up to 1936. Production ceased in 1940 as a result of political tensions between Japan and the United States.

After World War II, Ford did not have a presence in Japan, as the Ford facility was appropriated by the Japanese Government until 1958 when property was returned as a possession of the Ford Motor Company and became a research and development location for Ford partner Mazda. In 1979, Ford acquired a 24.5% ownership stake in Mazda, and in 1982, Ford and Mazda jointly established a sales channel to sell Ford products in Japan, including vehicles manufactured in North America, at a dealership called Autorama (Japanese). The Autorama sales channel was renamed Ford Sales of Japan in 1997.[124]

Vehicles sold at Autorama locations were the North American assembled Ford Explorer, Probe (1989–1998), Mustang, Taurus (1989–1997), Thunderbird (1990–1993), Lincoln Continental, and Lincoln LS. Ford products manufactured in Europe that were sold in Japan were the Ford Mondeo, Ka, Focus, Focus C-MAX, Fiesta, and the Galaxy. Mazda manufactured Ford vehicles in Japan and sold them as Fords at the Autorama locations. They were the Ford Telstar (Mazda Capella), Laser, Festiva, Festiva Mini Wagon, Ixion (Mazda Premacy), Freda (Mazda Bongo Friendee), Spectron (Mazda Bongo), and commercial trucks J80 and the J100 (Mazda Bongo truck).

Ford increased its shareholding in Mazda to 33.4% in 1996, but as of July 2016, it is listed at 11%.[125] Ford did sell a small range of vehicles in Japan; as of October 2010, the Ford Mustang, Escape, Explorer (and Explorer truck), Ford Kuga, Lincoln Navigator, Lincoln MKX, and more recently, the Ford Ecosport were available in Japan. As of February 2016, Ford no longer maintains a regional office in Minato, Tokyo, Japan, and sales of new cars in Japan have ended.[126][127]

Oceania

Ford FG X Falcon (Australia) (2014–2016; 2014 model shown)

The Ford stamping plant in Geelong, Victoria, Australia. It closed in 2016.

In Australia and New Zealand, the popular Ford Falcon (1960–2016) had long been considered the average family car and is considerably larger than the Mondeo, Ford's largest car sold in Europe. Between 1960 and 1972, the Falcon was based on a U.S. model of the same name, but since then has been entirely designed and manufactured in Australia until 2016, occasionally being manufactured in New Zealand. Like its General Motors rival, the Holden Commodore, the Falcon used a rear-wheel-drive layout. High-performance variants of the Falcon running locally built engines produce up to 362 hp (270 kW). A ute (short for "utility", known in the US as pickup truck) version is also available with the same range of drivetrains. In addition, Ford Australia sold highly tuned limited-production Falcon sedans and utes through its performance car division, Ford Performance Vehicles until it closed in 2014.

In Australia, the Commodore and Falcon had traditionally outsold all other cars and constituted over 20% of the new car market. In New Zealand, Ford was second in market share in the first eight months of 2006 with 14.4%.[128] More recently, Ford has axed its Falcon-based LWB variant of its lineup– the Fairlane and LTD ranges. Ford discontinued the Fairlane in 2007 and LTD in 2008. Ford had announced that their Geelong engine manufacturing plant would be shut down between 2013 and 2016. They had earlier announced local manufacturing of the Focus small car starting from 2011, but instead decided to import the model from Ford's plant in Thailand.[129]

In Australia, the Laser was one of Ford Australia's most successful models and was manufactured in Ford's Homebush West plant from 1981 until the plant's closure in September 1994. It outsold the Mazda 323, despite being almost identical to it because the Laser was manufactured in Australia and Ford was perceived as a local brand.[130] According to research carried out by Ford Australia in 1984, a third of Laser buyers were unaware that the Ford model was based on the Mazda 323.[131]

In New Zealand, the Ford Laser and Telstar were assembled alongside the Mazda 323 and 626 until 1997, at the Vehicle Assemblers of New Zealand (VANZ) plant in Wiri, Auckland.[132] The Sierra wagon was also assembled in New Zealand, owing to the popularity of station wagons in that market.[133]

The scheduled closure of Ford's Australian manufacturing base in 2016 was confirmed on May 23, 2013. Headquartered in the Victorian suburb of Broadmeadows, the company had registered losses worth AU$600 million over the five years prior to the announcement. It was noted that the corporate fleet and government sales that account for two-thirds of large, local car sales in Australia are insufficient to keep Ford's products profitable and viable in Australia. The decision will affect 1200 Ford workers—over 600 employees in Geelong and more than 500 in Broadmeadows—who will lose their jobs by October 2016. The closure of Ford's plants in Norlane Geelong and Broadmeadows Melbourne occurred on October 7, 2016.[134]

Products and services

Automobiles

See also: List of Ford vehicles, List of Lincoln vehicles, and List of Mercury vehicles

The 2017 model year F-150

Ford Motor Company sells a broad range of automobiles under the Ford marque worldwide, and an additional range of luxury automobiles under the Lincoln marque in the United States. The company has sold vehicles under a number of other marques during its history. The Mercury brand was introduced by Ford in 1939, continuing in production until 2011 when poor sales led to its discontinuation.[135] In 1958, Ford introduced the Edsel brand, but poor sales led to its discontinuation in 1960. In 1985, the Merkur brand was introduced in the United States to market products produced by Ford of Europe; it was discontinued in 1989.

Ford acquired the British sports car maker Aston Martin in 1989, later selling it on March 12, 2007,[136] although retaining an 8% stake.[137][138] Ford purchased Volvo Cars of Sweden in 1999,[139] selling it to Zhejiang Geely Holding Group in 2010.

In November 2008, it reduced its 33.4% controlling interest in Mazda of Japan to a 13.4% non-controlling interest.[140] On November 18, 2010, Ford reduced their stake further to just 3%, citing the reduction of ownership would allow greater flexibility to pursue growth in emerging markets. Ford and Mazda remain strategic partners through exchanges of technological information and joint ventures, including an American joint venture plant in Flat Rock, Michigan called Auto Alliance.[141] In 2015, Ford sold its remaining 3% stake in Mazda.[142]

Ford sold the United Kingdom-based Jaguar and Land Rover companies and brands to Tata Motors of India in March 2008.

On April 25, 2018, Ford announced that it planned to phase out all but one of its North American automobile models (the Mustang will be the sole surviving model) to focus primarily on trucks and SUVs. Ford had also planned to introduce an "Active" crossover version of the next-generation Focus, but canceled those plans due to tariff issues between the United States and China.[143]

Current marques

Marque Country of origin Years used/owned Markets

Ford United States 1903–present Global

Lincoln United States 1922–present North America, Middle East, China, South Korea

Former marques

Marque Country of origin Years used/owned Markets

Mercury United States 1939–2011 North America, Middle East

Continental United States 1956–1960 North America

Edsel United States 1957–1960 North America

Merkur United States 1985–1989 North America

Jaguar United Kingdom 1989–2008 Global

Aston Martin United Kingdom 1989–2007 Global

Volvo Sweden 1999–2010 Global

Land Rover United Kingdom 2000–2008 Global

Mazda Japan 1974–2015 Global

FPV Australia 2002–2014 Australia

Troller Brazil 2007–2021 Brazil

Trucks

An advertisement for the 1939 Ford V-8 pick-up truck

An advertisement for the 1961 Ford H-Series truck

Ford has produced trucks since 1908, beginning with the Ford Model TT, followed by the Model AA, and the Model BB. Countries where Ford commercial vehicles are or were formerly produced include Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada (also badged as Mercury), France, Germany, India, Netherlands, Philippines, Spain (badged Ebro too), Turkey, UK (badged also Fordson and Thames), and the United States.

From the 1940s to the late 1970s, Ford's Ford F-Series was used as the base for light trucks for the North American market.

Most of these ventures are now extinct. The European one that lasted longest was the lorries arm of Ford of Britain, which became part of the Iveco group in 1986. Ford had a minority share in the new company and Iveco took over sales and production of the Ford Cargo range.[144] Ford's last significant European truck models were the Transcontinental and the Cargo. At the end of 1996, Ford sold the rights to its heavy trucks division to the Freightliner Trucks division of Daimler AG, with Ford producing the Cargo, Louisville, and Aeromax, through the 1998 model year. During the 1998 model year, Freightliner began production of its own versions of Ford-developed trucks in St. Thomas, Ontario, launching the Sterling truck brand.[145][146] Slotted between Freightliner and Western Star, Sterling trucks were produced through 2009.

Line of heavy trucks made by Ford for the North American market:

Ford F-Series

"Super Duty/Extra Heavy Duty (1958-1962)

"Big Job" (1951-1957)

Ford N-Series (1963-1969)

Ford L-Series trucks (1970-1998)

aka Ford "Louisville Line"

Ford Aeromax (1988-1998)

Ford Louisville (1996-1998)

Sterling (1998-2009)

Ford C-Series (1957-1990)

Ford Cargo/CF-Series (1986-1997)

Ford H-Series (1961-1966)

aka "Two-story Falcon"

Ford W-Series (1966-1977)

Ford CL-Series (1978-1995)

For 1999, Ford briefly withdrew from production of medium-duty trucks. For the 2001 model year, the company entered into a joint venture with Navistar International (the supplier of diesel engines for 1-ton F-Series trucks), named Blue Diamond Truck Company LLC.[147] As part of the joint venture, sharing a common truck chassis, the two companies would produce medium-duty (Class 6–7) trucks in a Navistar facility in Mexico, with each manufacturer supplying its own powertrain and bodywork, with the Ford F-650/F-750 Super Duty and International 4000/DuraStar sharing an assembly line. In 2006, the joint venture debuted the Ford LCF/International CityStar.[148] Using a modified F-Series chassis adopted to fit a Mazda Titan cab, the LCF was a low-cab forward truck that was sold through 2009.[149]

In Europe, Ford manufactures the Ford Transit jumbo van which is classed as a Large Goods Vehicle and has a payload of up to 2,265 kg, there are options of a panel van, pickup or chassis cab. The Ford Transit is also available as a light van called the Ford Transit Connect and the Ford Ranger pickup is available.[150]

Buses

A Ford B700 bus chassis, with a body by Thomas Built

Ford manufactured complete buses in the company's early history, but today the role of the company has changed to that of a second stage manufacturer. In North America, the E-Series is still used as a chassis for small school buses and the F-650 is used in commercial bus markets. In the 1980s and 1990s, the medium-duty B700 was a popular chassis used by school bus body manufacturers including Thomas Built, Ward, and Blue Bird, but Ford lost its market share due to industry contraction and agreements between body manufacturers. Older bus models included:

Prior to 1936, Ford buses were based on truck bodies:

Model B – 1930s

Model T – 1920s

F-105 school bus

A 1937 Ford Transit Bus in Seattle

In 1936, Ford introduced the Ford Transit Bus, a series of small transit buses with bodies built by a second party. Originally a front-engine design, it was modified to a rear-engine design in 1939. About 1,000 to 1,200 of the original design were built, and around 12,500 of the rear-engine design, which was in production until 1947[151] (rebranded as the Universal Bus in 1946).

Rear-engine Transit Bus chassis model numbers:[152]

09-B/19-B City transit bus – 1939–1941

19-B/29-B City transit bus – 1941–1942

49-B/79-B City transit bus – 1944–1947

69-B City transit bus – 1946–1947

29-B City transit bus – 1946–1947

72-T transit bus – 1944–1945

After 1946 the Transit City bus was sold as the Universal Bus with the roof changed from fabric/wood to all-metal:

79-B Universal transit bus – 1946–1947

Succeeding the Ford Transit Bus was the Ford 8M buses:

8MB transit bus – with Wayne Works 1948–?

Following World War II and from the 1950s onwards, Ford lost out to General Motors.[152] This led to the end of transit buses for Ford in North America.

B500 or B-series – 1950–1990s based on Ford F-series truck chassis used by school bus body manufacturers

In Europe, Ford manufactures the Ford Transit Minibus which is classed in Europe as a Passenger Carrying Vehicle and there are options of 12-, 15-, or 17-seaters.[153] In the past, European models included:

EM

N-138

D series buses (Australia)

Tractors

A Ford N series tractor

The "Henry Ford and Son Company" began making Fordson tractors in Henry's hometown of Springwells (later part of Dearborn), Michigan from 1907 to 1928, from 1919 to 1932, at Cork, Ireland, and 1933–1964 at Dagenham, England, later transferred to Basildon. They were also produced in Leningrad beginning in 1924.

Ford reentered the tractor market in 1939 with the Ford N-series tractors. The Ford N8, introduced in 1947, became the most popular tractor of all time in North America. Production of the N line of models ended in 1952.

The Ford NAA tractor was introduced as an entirely new model in 1953. It was a replacement for the Ford N-Series tractors. Larger than the 8N, with a four-cylinder engine, and streamlined styling.

In 1986, Ford expanded its tractor business when it purchased the Sperry-New Holland skid-steer loader and hay baler, hay tools and implement company from Sperry Corporation and formed Ford-New Holland which bought out Versatile tractors in 1988. This company was bought by Fiat in 1993 and the name changed from Ford New Holland to New Holland. New Holland is now part of CNH Global.

Financial services

Ford offers automotive finance through Ford Motor Credit Company.

Automotive components

Ford's FoMoCo parts division sells aftermarket parts under the Motorcraft brand name. It has spun off its parts division under the name Visteon.

Motorsport

Main article: Ford Performance

Along with Shelby and Chevrolet, Ford is one of only three American constructors to win titles on the international scene at the FIA World Championships. As a constructor, Ford won the World Sportscar Championship three times in 1966, 1967, and 1968, and the World Rally Championship three times in 1979, 2006 and 2007.

Open-wheel car racing

IndyCar

Arie Luyendyk's record-setting Ford Cosworth-powered IndyCar from 1996

IndyCars with Ford engines first competed in 1935 using a production-based Ford V8 in the Miller-Ford racer.[154][155] A pushrod Ford V8 raced with Lotus in 1963, and Ford's first Indy win was in 1965 with a DOHC V8.[156][157] Ford motors, including the Ford-sponsored DFX engine developed by Cosworth, have won the Indianapolis 500 eighteen times.[158] On May 12, 1996, Arie Luyendyk, while driving an IndyCar powered by a Ford Cosworth XB engine, broke the Indianapolis 500 records for fastest qualification lap (237.498 mph (382.216 km/h)) and fastest qualification four-lap average (236.986 mph (381.392 km/h)).[159][160] These speed records still stand as of 2018.[161]

Formula Ford

Formula Ford, conceived in the UK in 1966, is an entry-level type of formula racing with wingless single-seater cars. Many of today's formula racing drivers started their car racing careers in this category.

Formula One

Ford was heavily involved in Formula One for many years and supplied engines to a large number of teams from 1967 until 2004. These engines were designed and manufactured by Cosworth, the racing division that was owned by Ford from 1998 to 2004. Ford-badged engines won 176 Grands Prix between 1967 and 2003 for teams such as Team Lotus and McLaren. Ford entered Formula One as a constructor in 2000 under the Jaguar Racing name, after buying the Stewart Grand Prix team which had been its primary 'works' team in the series since 1997. Jaguar achieved little success in Formula One, and after a turbulent five seasons, Ford withdrew from the category after the 2004 season, selling both Jaguar Racing (which became Red Bull Racing) and Cosworth (to Gerald Forsythe and Kevin Kalkhoven).[162]

Stock car racing

Ryan Blaney driving the iconic No. 21 Wood Brothers Ford in 2016 at Michigan International Speedway

Ford is one of three manufacturers in NASCAR's three major series: the Cup Series, Xfinity Series, and Truck Series. Major teams include Roush Fenway Racing, Team Penske, Stewart-Haas Racing, and Wood Brothers Racing. Ford is represented by the Mustang GT in the Cup Series, and the Xfinity Series and by the F-150 in the Truck Series. Some of the most successful NASCAR Fords were the aerodynamic fastback Ford Torino, Ford Torino Talladega, Mercury Cyclone Spoiler II, and Mercury Montegos, and the aero-era Ford Thunderbirds. The Ford nameplate has won eight manufacturer's championships in Sprint Cup while Mercury has won one. In the Sprint Cup Series, Ford earned its 1,000th victory in the 2013 Quicken Loans 400.[163] The Ford Fusion is also used in the ARCA Racing Series. Ford had last won a drivers' championship in the Cup Series with Joey Logano in 2018.

Rally

Jari-Matti Latvala driving the Ford Focus RS WRC 09 in 2010

Main article: Ford World Rally Team

Ford has a long history in rallying and has been active in the World Rally Championship since the beginning of the world championship, the 1973 season. Ford took the 1979 manufacturers' title with Hannu Mikkola, Björn Waldegård, and Ari Vatanen driving the Ford Escort RS1800. In the Group B era, Ford achieved success with Ford RS200. Since the 1999 season, Ford has used various versions of the Ford Focus WRC to much success. In the 2006 season, BP-Ford World Rally Team secured Ford its second manufacturers' title, with the Focus RS WRC 06 built by M-Sport and driven by "Flying Finns" Marcus Grönholm and Mikko Hirvonen.[164] Continuing with Grönholm and Hirvonen, Ford successfully defended the manufacturers' world championship in the 2007 season. Ford is the only manufacturer to score in the points for 92 consecutive races; since the 2002 season opener Monte Carlo Rally.[165]

Rallycross

Ford has competed in rallycross with its Ford Fiesta and Ford Focus. Tanner Foust won the Global RallyCross Championship in 2011 and 2012 and was runner-up in the FIA European Rallycross Championship in 2011 and 2012. Toomas Heikkinen won the Global RallyCross Championship title in 2013 and Joni Wiman won it in 2014. Other notable Ford drivers include Marcus Grönholm, Ken Block, and Brian Deegan.

Sports cars

Main article: Ford GT § Racing

Ford sports cars have been visible in the world of sports car racing since 1964. Most notably the GT40 won the 24 Hours of Le Mans four times in the 1960s and is the only American car to ever win overall at this prestigious event. Ford also won the 1968 International Championship for Makes with the GT40. Swiss team Matech GT Racing, in collaboration with Ford Racing, opened a new chapter with the Ford GT, winning the Teams title in the 2008 FIA GT3 European Championship.

A GT racing version of the Ford Mustang, competing in the Koni Challenge in 2005

Main article: Ford Mustang § Racing

The Ford Mustang has arguably been Ford's most successful sports car. Jerry Titus won the 1965 SCCA Pro B National Championship with a Mustang and the model went on to earn Ford the SCCA Trans-Am Championship title in both 1966 and 1967. Ford won the Trans-Am Championship again in 1970 with Parnelli Jones and George Follmer driving Boss 302 Mustangs for Bud Moore Engineering. Ford took the 1985 and 1986 IMSA GTO Championship with Mustangs driven by John Jones and Scott Pruett before returning to Trans-Am glory with a championship in 1989 with Dorsey Schroeder. Ford dominated Trans-Am in the 1990s with Tommy Kendall winning championships in 1993, 1995, 1996, and 1997 with Paul Gentilozzi adding yet another title in 1999. In 2005 the Ford Mustang FR500C took the championship in the Rolex Koni Challenge Series in its first year on the circuit. In 2007, Ford added a victory in the GT4 European Championship. 2008 was the first year of the Mustang Challenge for the Miller Cup, a series that pits a full field of identical factory-built Ford Mustang race cars against each other. Also, in 2008, Ford won the manufacturers championship in the Koni Challenge Series and HyperSport drivers Joe Foster and Steve Maxwell won the drivers title in a Mustang GT.

Ford and Michelin teamed up to provide custom-engineered tires for the Ford Performance vehicle lineup. Ford Performance director Dave Pericak said: "That confidence extends from our upcoming racing effort at Le Mans in 2016 with the all-new Ford GT, to the Ford Performance vehicle lineup, including the Shelby GT350 and F-150 Raptor".[166]

Touring cars

Ford Performance Racing Ford Falcon V8 Supercar at Eastern Creek in Australia in 2008

Ford has campaigned touring cars such as the Focus, Falcon, and Contour/Mondeo and the Sierra Cosworth in many different series throughout the years. Notably, Mondeo drivers finished 1,2,3 in the 2000 British Touring Car Championship and Falcon drivers placed 1,2,3 in the 2005 V8 Supercar Championship Series.

Drag racing

In drag racing, John Force Racing drivers John Force, Tony Pedregon, and Robert Hight have piloted Ford Mustang Funny Cars to several NHRA titles in recent seasons. Teammates Tim Wilkerson and Bob Tasca III also drive Mustangs in Funny Car.

Drifting

Ford has branched out into drifting with the introduction of the new model Mustang. Most noticeable is the Turquoise and Blue Falken Tires Mustang driven by Vaughn Gittin, Jr., (A.K.A. "JR") that produces 750 RWHP (Rear Wheel Horsepower).

Environmental initiatives

Compressed natural gas

The alternative fossil fuel vehicles, such as some versions of the Crown Victoria especially in fleet and taxi service, operate on compressed natural gas—or CNG. Some CNG vehicles have dual fuel tanks – one for gasoline, the other for CNG – the same engine can operate on either fuel via a selector switch.

Flexible fuel vehicles

The Ford Focus Flexifuel was the first E85 flexible fuel vehicle commercially available in the European market.

Flexible fuel vehicles are designed to operate smoothly using a wide range of available ethanol fuel mixtures—from pure gasoline to bioethanol-gasoline blends such as E85 (85% ethanol and 15% gasoline) or E100 (neat hydrous ethanol) in Brazil. Part of the challenge of successful marketing alternative and flexible fuel vehicles in the U.S. is the general lack of establishment of sufficient fueling stations, which would be essential for these vehicles to be attractive to a wide range of consumers. Significant efforts to ramp up production and distribution of E85 fuels are underway and expanding.[167] Current Ford E100 Flex sold in the Brazilian market are the Courier, Ford EcoSport, Ford Fiesta, Ford Focus, and Ford Ka.

Electric drive vehicles

Ambox current red Asia Australia.svg

This section needs to be updated. The reason given is: this section did not include newer electric and hybrid models. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information. (January 2021)

Hybrid electric vehicles

Ford Escape plug-in hybrid test vehicle

Mulally (second from left) with then-President George W. Bush at the Kansas City Assembly plant in Claycomo, Missouri on March 20, 2007, touting Ford's new hybrid cars

See also: Hybrid electric vehicle

In 2004, Ford and Toyota agreed a patent sharing accord which granted Ford access to certain hybrid technology patented by Toyota; in exchange, Ford licensed Toyota some of its own patents.[168][169][170] In 2004, Ford introduced the Escape Hybrid. With this vehicle, Ford was third to the automotive market with a hybrid electric vehicle and the first hybrid electric SUV to market. This was also the first hybrid electric vehicle with a flexible fuel capability to run on E85.[171] The Escape's platform mate Mercury Mariner was also available with the hybrid-electric system in the 2006 model year—a full year ahead of schedule. The similar Mazda Tribute will also receive a hybrid-electric powertrain option, along with many other vehicles in the Ford vehicle line.

In 2005, Ford announced a goal to make 250,000 hybrids a year by 2010, but by mid-2006 announced that it would not meet that goal, due to excessively high costs and the lack of sufficient supplies of the hybrid-electric batteries and drivetrain system components.[172] Instead, Ford has committed to accelerating development of next-generation hybrid-electric power plants in Britain, in collaboration with Volvo. This engineering study is expected to yield more than 100 new hybrid-electric vehicle models and derivatives.

In September 2007, Ford announced a partnership with Southern California Edison (SCE) to examine how plug-in hybrids will work with the electrical grid. Under the multimillion-dollar, multi-year project, Ford will convert a demonstration fleet of Ford Escape Hybrids into plug-in hybrids, and SCE will evaluate how the vehicles might interact with the home and the utility's electrical grid. Some of the vehicles will be evaluated "in typical customer settings", according to Ford.[30][31]

On June 12, 2008, USDOE expanded its own fleet of alternative fuel and advanced technology vehicles with the addition of a Ford Escape Plug-In Hybrid Flex-Fuel Vehicle. The vehicle is equipped with a 10-kilowatt (13 hp) lithium-ion battery supplied by Johnson Controls-Saft that stores enough electric energy to drive up to 30 miles (48 km) at speeds of up to 40 mph (64 km/h).[173] In March 2009, Ford launched hybrid versions of the Ford Fusion Hybrid and the Mercury Milan Hybrid in the United States, both as 2010 models.[174]

As of November 2014, Ford has produced for retail sales the following hybrid electric vehicles: Ford Escape Hybrid (2004–2012), Mercury Mariner Hybrid (2005–2010), Mercury Milan Hybrid (2009–2010), Ford Fusion Hybrid (2009–present), Lincoln MKZ Hybrid (2010–present), Ford C-Max Hybrid (2012–present), and Ford Mondeo Hybrid (2014–present). By June 2012, Ford had sold 200,000 full hybrids in the US since 2004,[175] and, as of September 2014, the carmaker has sold over 344 thousand hybrids in the United States.[175][176][177][178] The top selling hybrids in the U.S. market are the Fusion Hybrid with 127,572 units, followed by Escape Hybrid with 117,997 units, and the C-Max Hybrid with 54,236.[176][177][178][179][180] As of November 2014, Ford is the world's second largest manufacturer of hybrids after Toyota Motor Corporation, with 400,000 hybrid electric vehicles produced since their introduction in 2004.[181]

Plug-in electric vehicles

See also: Plug-in electric vehicle

As of October 2014, Ford has produced the following plug-in electric vehicles: the all-electric Ford Ranger EV (1997–2002), Ford TH!NK (1999–2003), Transit Connect (2010–2012), and Ford Focus Electric (December 2011–present); and the plug-in hybrids C-MAX Energi (October 2012–present) and the Fusion Energi (February 2013–present), sold under the Mondeo nameplate in Europe.[182][183] Since the launch of the Focus Electric in 2011, combined sales of all Ford plug-in electric models amounted to just over 56,000 through October 2015.[184]

The Azure Transit Connect Electric was produced between 2010 and 2012 as a collaboration between Azure Dynamics and Ford Motor Company.

Bill Ford was one of the first top industry executives to make regular use of a battery electric vehicle, a Ford Ranger EV, while the company contracted with the United States Postal Service to deliver electric postal vans based on the Ranger EV platform. Ford discontinued a line of electric Ranger pickup trucks and ordered them destroyed, though it reversed in January 2005, after environmentalist protest.[185] The all-electric pickup truck leased 205 units to individuals and 1,500 units to fleets in the U.S. from 1998 to 2002.[186][187]

From 2009 to 2011, Ford offered the Ford TH!NK car. Ford ended production and ordered all the cars repossessed and destroyed, even as many of the people leasing them begged to be able to buy the cars from Ford. After an outcry from the lessees and activists in the US and Norway, Ford returned the cars to Norway for sale.[188] 440 units were leased in the U.S. from 1999 until 2003.[187]

In 2017, CEO of Ford Mark Fields announced that the company will invest $4.5 billion in further development of plug-in electric vehicles by 2020.[189]

The Azure Transit Connect Electric was an all-electric van developed as a collaboration between Azure Dynamics and Ford Motor Company, but Azure was the official manufacturer of record.[190] The Transit Connect Electric had an official US Environmental Protection Agency all-electric range of 56 mi (90 km).[191] The EPA rated the combined city/highway fuel economy at 62 miles per gallon gasoline equivalent (3.8 L/100 km equivalent).[191] Deliveries for fleet customers in the U.S. and Canada began in December 2010.[192] Production of the electric van was stopped in March 2012 as a result of Azure's bankruptcy protection filing. Ford continues to provide servicing.[193] Around 500 units were sold before Azure stopped production.[194]

The Ford Fusion Energi plug-in hybrid shares its powertrain with the Ford C-Max Energi.

The Ford Focus Electric is based on the next generation Focus internal combustion vehicle, converted to an all-electric propulsion system as a production electric car by Magna International, and retail sales began in the U.S. in December 2011.[195][196] The Focus Electric has an EPA rated range of 76 mi (122 km) and a combined city/highway fuel economy of 105 miles per gallon gasoline equivalent (2.2 L/100 km).[197] Available also in Canada and several European countries, 3,965 units have been sold in the U.S. through September 2014.[176][177][178][198]

The Ford C-Max Energi is a plug-in hybrid released in the U.S. in October 2012. The C-Max Energi has an EPA rated all-electric range of 20 mi (32 km) and a combined city/highway fuel economy in all-electric mode at 88 MPG-e (2.7 L/100 km).[199] U.S. sales totaled 33,509 units through December 2016.[176][177][200][201][202] Deliveries of the Ford Fusion Energi began in the United States in February 2013.[203][204] The Fusion Energi has an all-electric range of 20 mi (32 km) and an equivalent fuel economy EPA rating of 88 MPG-e (2.7 L/100 km).[199] As of December 2016, a total of 43,327 units have been delivered in the U.S. since its inception.[177][200][201][202]

Both Energi models share the same powertrain technology and have the same EPA combined city/highway fuel economy in hybrid operation of 38 mpg‑US (6.2 L/100 km; 46 mpg‑imp).[199] When asked about a battery-electric vehicle with a 200-mile (320 km) range, Fields said in April 2016 "Clearly that's something we're developing for". Ford has a pending trademark application on the "Model E" name,[205] preventing the Tesla Model 3 in using the name.[206]

In October 2017, Ford announced its Team Edison battery-electric vehicle group to lead the company's renewed efforts into the EV market, in which it currently offers only the Focus subcompact and has plans for a small 300-mile SUV by 2020.[207] The new team will be headquartered in Detroit and have offices in Europe and Asia.[208]

In 2022, Ford began manufacturing its E-Transit electric cargo vans at its plant in Kansas City, Missouri. The first deliveries of the new vehicles are expected in the next few weeks.[209]

a photograph showing the front-left quarter of a grey automobile

Mustang Mach-E

Hydrogen

Ford also continues to study fuel cell-powered electric powertrains and has demonstrated hydrogen-fueled internal combustion engine technologies, as well as developing the next-generation hybrid-electric systems. Compared with conventional vehicles, hybrid vehicles and/or fuel cell vehicles decrease air pollution emissions as well as sound levels, with favorable impacts upon respiratory health and decrease of noise health effects.

Ford has launched the production of hydrogen-powered shuttle buses, using hydrogen instead of gasoline in a standard internal combustion engine, for use at airports and convention centers.[210] At the 2006 Greater Los Angeles Auto Show, Ford showcased a hydrogen fuel cell version of its Explorer SUV. The Fuel cell Explorer has a combined output of 174 hp (130 kW). It has a large hydrogen storage tank which is situated in the center of the car taking the original place of the conventional model's automatic transmission. The centered position of the tank assists the vehicle reach a notable range of 350 miles (563 km), the farthest for a fuel cell vehicle so far. The fuel cell Explorer the first in a series of prototypes partly funded by the United States Department of Energy to expand efforts to determine the feasibility of hydrogen-powered vehicles. The fuel cell Explorer is one of several vehicles with green technology being featured at the L.A. show, including the 2008 Ford Escape Hybrid, PZEV emissions compliant Fusion and Focus models and a 2008 Ford F-Series Super Duty outfitted with Ford's clean diesel technology.

Increased fuel efficiency

In July 2008 Ford Motor Company announced that it would accelerate its plans to produce more fuel-efficient cars, changing both its North American manufacturing plans and its lineup of vehicles available in the United States. In terms of North American manufacturing, the company planned to convert three existing truck and sport utility vehicle (SUV) plants for small car production, with the first conversion at its Michigan Truck Plant. In addition, Ford's assembly plants near Mexico City, Mexico, and in Louisville, Kentucky, were to be converted from pickups and SUVs to small cars, including the Ford Fiesta, by 2011. Ford then also planned to introduce to North America six of its European small vehicles, including two versions of the Ford Fiesta, by the end of 2012.[211]

Ford of Europe developed the ECOnetic programme to address the market and legislative need for higher fuel efficiency and lower CO2 emissions. As opposed to the hybrid engine technology used in competitor products such as the Toyota Prius, ECOnetic improves existing technology. Using lower consuming Duratorq TDCi diesel engines, and based on a combination of improved aerodynamics, lower resistance, and improved efficiency, the Ford Fiesta was the lowest emitting mass-produced car in Europe[212] while the 2012 Ford Focus ECOnetic will have better fuel consumption than the Prius or the Volkswagen Golf BlueMotion.[213] ECOnetic is not presently planned to be sold in North American due to current perceived lower consumer demand.[214]

Ford has challenged University teams to create a vehicle that is simple, durable, lightweight, and come equipped with a base target price of only $7,000. The students from Aachen University created the "2015 Ford Model T".[215][216]

In 2000, under the leadership of the current Ford chairman, William Clay Ford, the company announced[217] a planned 25 percent improvement in the average mileage of its SUVs – to be completed by the 2005 calendar year. In 2003, Ford announced that competitive market conditions and technological and cost challenges would prevent the company from achieving this goal.[218]

For the 2007 model year, Ford had thirteen U.S. models that achieve 30 miles per gallon or better (based on the highway fuel economy estimates of the EPA) and several of Ford's vehicles were recognized in the EPA and Department of Energy Fuel Economy Guide for best-in-class fuel economy. Ford claimed to have eliminated nearly three million pounds of smog-forming emissions from their U.S. cars and light trucks over the 2004 to 2006 model years.[219] However, the United States Environmental Protection Agency has linked Ford to 54 Superfund toxic waste sites, twelve of which have been cleaned up and deleted from the list.[220]

Efficient Buildings

As part of a renovation of the Ford River Rouge Complex, in 2010 Ford unveiled a 10.4 acre (4047 m2) living roof covering part of the Dearborn Truck plant, consisting of sedum, a low-growing groundcover. The sedum retains and cleanses rainwater and moderates the internal temperature of the building, saving energy.[221]

In 2016, Ford announced a 10 year renovation plan for its Dearborn campus. [222] The plan features consolidation of office and lab spaces in to fewer and much larger buildings, which will be built to LEED standards, and will feature extensive use of wetlands and park spaces.[223] [224] The new campus features new multi-story parking decks with solar power generating roofs,[225] and a new natural gas power plant. The DTE Ford Central Energy Plant is a 34MW combined heat-and-power plant which features a high efficiency design and LEED Gold buildings.[226]

Sponsorships

Ford sponsors numerous events and sports facilities around the US, most notably the Ford Center in downtown Evansville, Indiana, and Ford Field in downtown Detroit.[227]

Ford has also been a major sponsor of the UEFA Champions League for over two decades and is also a longtime sponsor of the Sky media channel's coverage of Premier League football.

Sales numbers

Calendar Year US sales Market share

of US sales[228]

1997 3,877,458[229] 25.02%

1998 3,922,604[230] 24.52%

1999 4,163,369[231] 23.91%

2000 4,202,820 23.61%

2001 3,971,364 22.69%

2002 3,623,709[232] 21.19%

2003 3,483,719 20.53%

2004 3,331,676[233] 19.26%

2005 3,153,875 18.08%

2006 2,901,090[234] 17.02%

2007 2,507,366 15.23%

2008 1,988,376[235] 14.74%

2009 1,620,888[236] 15.29%

2010 1,935,462[237] 16.44%

2011 2,143,101[238] 16.42%

2012 2,250,165[239] 15.22%

2013 2,493,918[240] 15.70%

2014 2,480,942[241] 14.72%

2015 2,613,162[242] 14.64%

2016 2,614,697[243][244] 14.63%

2017 2,586,715[245] 14.74%

2018 2,497,318[245] 14.13%

2019 2,422,698[246] 13.8%

2020 2,044,744[247] 13.7%

2021 1,905,955[248] 12.4%

Mobil Corporation (originally Standard Oil Company of New York and then Socony-Vacuum Oil Company) was an American oil company that merged with Exxon in 1999 to form ExxonMobil. Prior to its merger with Exxon, Mobil was one of the Seven Sisters that dominated the global petroleum industry from the mid-1940s until the 1970s. As one of the 34 original companies to descend from the breakup of Standard Oil, Mobil was originally known as the Standard Oil Company of New York (Socony). Mobil credits itself with being the first company to introduce paying at the pump at its gas stations, as well as the first company to introduce a mobile payment device, today known as Speedpass.[1]

Today, Mobil continues as a brand name within the combined company, as well as still being a gas station sometimes paired with its own store or On the Run. Mobil's brand name is primarily used to market motor oils, such as Mobil 1. The former Mobil headquarters in Fairfax County, Virginia, was used as ExxonMobil's downstream headquarters[2] until 2015 when ExxonMobil consolidated employees into a new corporate campus in Spring, Texas.[3]

History

"Socony Gasoline", Standard Oil of New York plant in New Bedford, Massachusetts, c. 1917

Socony gas station between Norwich and New London on Route 32 in Connecticut, 1916

Following the break-up of Standard Oil in 1911, the "Standard Oil Company of New York" (or 'Socony') was founded, along with 33 other successor companies. In 1920, the company registered the name "Mobiloil" as a trademark.

Henry Clay Folger was head of the company until 1923, when he was succeeded by Herbert L. Pratt. Beginning February 29, 1928 on NBC, Socony Oil reached radio listeners with a comedy program, Soconyland Sketches, scripted by William Ford Manley and featuring Arthur Allen and Parker Fennelly as rural New Englanders. Socony continued to sponsor the show when it moved to CBS in 1934. In 1935, it became the Socony Sketchbook, with Christopher Morley and the Johnny Green orchestra.

Socony petrol station in the Dutch East Indies, 1931

In 1931, Socony merged with Vacuum Oil to form Socony-Vacuum.[4]

In 1933, Socony-Vacuum and Jersey Standard (which had oil production and refineries in Indonesia) merged their interests in the Far East into a 50–50 joint venture. Standard-Vacuum Oil Co., or "Stanvac", operated in 50 countries, including New Zealand, China, and the region of East Africa, before it was dissolved in 1962. In 1935, Socony Vacuum Oil opened the huge Mammoth Oil Port on Staten Island which had a capacity of handling 250 million gallons of petroleum products a year and could transship oil from ocean-going tankers and river barges.[5]

Mobiloil Ad (1950)

In 1940, Socony-Vacuum's gasoline buying practices led to the major antitrust law case United States v. Socony-Vacuum Oil Co. The case originated with Socony-Vacuum's practices of organizing a cartel among the "major" oil companies in which they bought oil—known as "hot oil"—from independent producers and stored the surplus in tanks to limit the supply of oil available on the market and keep the price of oil artificially high. In its decision, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that regardless of the purpose of the price fixing or if the prices varied, such conduct was illegal in and of itself: "Under the Sherman Act a combination formed for the purpose and with the effect of raising, depressing, fixing, pegging, or stabilizing the price of a commodity in interstate or foreign commerce is illegal per se..." This rule remains in use today for agreements that appear on their face to always or almost always restrict competition and reduce output.

The Mobil Economy Run generated publicity and promotions such as this 1962 advertisement by Champion spark plugs with a Rambler American, 1962

In 1955, Socony-Vacuum was renamed Socony Mobil Oil Company. In 1963, it changed its trade name from "Mobiloil" to simply "Mobil", introducing a new logo (created by New York graphic design firm Chermayeff & Geismar). To celebrate its 100th anniversary in 1966, "Socony" was dropped from the corporate name.

From 1936 to 1968, Mobil sponsored an economy run each year (except during World War II) in which domestic automobiles of various manufacturers in a number of price and size classes were driven by light-footed drivers on cross-country runs. The Economy Run originated with the Gilmore Oil Company of California in 1936 (which was purchased by Socony-Vacuum in 1940) and later became the Mobilgas Economy Run, and still later the Mobil Economy Run. The cars driven in the economy run were fueled with Mobil gasoline, and Mobiloil and lubricants were also used. The vehicles in each class that achieved the highest fuel economy numbers were awarded the coveted title as the Mobilgas Economy Run winner.

During American involvement in World War II, April 29, 1942, Socony's unescorted tanker, named Mobiloil, was sunk by a German U-boat (German Type IX submarine U-108 captained by Klaus Schlotz), and all 52 people survived after 86 hours adrift in lifeboats. Socony-Mobil ranked 86th among United States corporations in the value of World War II military production contracts.[6]

Former Mobil station in Michigan, displaying several pumps and a Mobil Pegasus sign, pictured in 2008

Old Mobilgas pump displayed on the grounds of the Scurry County Coliseum in Snyder, Texas, 2010

Through the years, Mobil was among the largest sellers of gasoline and motor oils in the United States and even held the top spot during the 1940s and much of the 1950s. Various Mobil products during the Socony-Vacuum and Socony-Mobil years included Metro, Mobilgas and Mobilgas Special gasolines; Mobilfuel Diesel, MobilHeat and Mobil-flame heating oil, Mobil Kerosine, Lubrite,[7] Gargoyle, Mobiloil and Mobiloil Special motor oils; Mobilgrease, Mobillubrication, Mobil Upperlube, Mobil Freezone and Permazone antifreezes, Mobilfluid automatic transmission fluid, Mobil Premiere tires, Mobil Stop-Leak, and Mobil Lustrecloth, among many others.

In 1954, Mobil introduced a new and improved Mobilgas Special in response to trends toward new automobiles powered by high-compression engines that demanded higher and higher octane gasolines. The newest formulas of Mobilgas Special were advertised as offering "A Tune-Up in Every Tankful" due to a combination of chemicals known as the "Mobil Power Compound" which was designed to increase power, check pre-ignition ping, correct spark plug misfiring, control stalling and combat gumming up of carburetors. Later Mobil campaigns advertised Mobilgas as the "New Car Gasoline" following extensive testing during the annual Mobilgas Economy Run.

In 1958, Mobil fueled the first transatlantic Boeing 707 commercial flight using its aviation fuel. The flight was operated by Pan Am, and the flight flies from New York City to London.[8]

Vintage pumps, manufactured by Tokheim, using the pre-1962 "Mobilgas" product name

In 1962, the gasoline product lines marketed as Mobilgas and Mobilgas Special were rebranded as Mobil Regular and Mobil Premium in a move to emphasize the shortened brand name "Mobil" in promotional efforts, although Mobiloil continued as a single-word term until the 1970s. After a few years of advertising Mobil gasolines as "Megatane"-rated and as "High Energy" gasolines, Mobil began, in 1966, to promote both its Regular and Premium fuels as "Detergent Gasolines", due to the inclusion of additives designed to clean carburetors and various internal engine parts. During the early 1970s, Mobil ran a TV commercial featuring a character known as "Mr. Dirt" to show the ruinous effects that dirt had on automotive engines for which a tank of Mobil Detergent Gasoline could provide a cure and preventive medicine against damage that could lead to costly repairs.

1975 saw Mobil Oil construct Beryl A, the first offshore oil production platform made out of concrete. Mobil credits Beryl A with being the prototype for other concrete-based deepwater oil platforms in the North Sea.[8]

As automakers were switching en masse from carbureted to fuel-injected engines during the early to mid-1980s, and the detergent additives that existed in most available gasolines proved not to be enough to prevent injection clogging, leading to drivability problems, Mobil received accolades from General Motors and other automakers for increasing the detergency of its Super Unleaded gasoline in 1984 to prevent formation or deposit build-ups of the injectors but also remove existing deposits as well in normal driving. At the end of the 1980s Mobil sold its fuel stations in Norway, Sweden, and Denmark to Norsk Hydro, who converted them into Hydro stations.

In October 1983, Howard B. Keck stepped down as a director, while still controlling 18.4 percent of the company, saying he wanted to sell his stake in Superior Oil Company.[9] In late 1983, an "uneasy truce" was reached between two major stockholders, former chairman Howard B. Keck and his sister Willametta Keck Day.[10] Day had in April of that year[9] "led a stockholder revolt" leading to changes in Superior's bylaws, requiring the company's management to consider takeover bids. Howard Keck had opposed the bylaw change. He reversed his position on the bylaws November 1983[10] and disclosed his intention to sell his stake.[11] Several months before March 1984, the Keck family, which owned a total of about 22 percent of the stock of Superior, approached Mobil Corporation (now part of ExxonMobil) with an offer to sell the family stock.[10]

In March 1984, Mobil announced that it had "secretly" agreed to buy the 22 percent, and would offer the company's remaining stockholders the same price, at $45 a share.[9] In March 1984, Superior Oil was in the process of being acquired by Mobil for $5.7 billion.[12][10] At that time the company was the nation's largest independent oil producer.[13] The takeover was completed in September 1984, with Superior, then based in Houston, becoming a wholly owned subsidiary of Mobil.[14] It was the fifth-largest oil merger in history, with the combined companies having over $60 billion in combined sales.[9] Among other changes, in February 1985 it was reported that Mobil was planning on selling an unprofitable Idaho gold mine it had acquired when it purchased Superior.[15]

William P. Tavoulareas was President of Mobil Corporation until succeeded by Allen E. Murray in 1984. Mobil moved its headquarters from 150 East 42nd Street, New York City to Fairfax County, Virginia, in 1987.[16] That same year, Mobil sold nearly all of its stations in Western Pennsylvania (including Pittsburgh) to Standard Oil of Ohio (which had just been fully acquired by BP) and terminated franchise contracts with the rest of the stations in the area, withdrawing the Mobil brand from the area for 29 years until a Uni-Mart location in Coraopolis, Pennsylvania started selling Mobil gasoline in 2016.[17]

In 1998, Mobil and Exxon agreed on a merger to create ExxonMobil, which was completed on November 30, 1999. Lou Noto was Chairman of Mobil at the time of the merger, and Walter Arnheim was treasurer.[18]

Brands

Map of Mobil stores in the continental United States

Mobil continues to operate as a major brandname of ExxonMobil within the ExxonMobil Fuels, Lubricants & Specialties division.[19] Many of its products feature the Mobil symbol of a winged red horse, Pegasus, which has been a company trademark since its affiliation with Magnolia Petroleum Company in the 1930s.

The Mobil brand now mainly covers a wide range of automotive, industrial, aviation and marine lubricants.[20] For historic reasons, the Mobil brand is still used by Mobil service stations and for fuel (gasoline, diesel, heating oil, kerosene, aviation fuels and marine fuel) products.

There are four main Mobil sub-brands:

Mobil Gasoline

A typical Mobil gas station

Mobil is ExxonMobil's primary retail gasoline brand in California, Florida, New York, New England, the Great Lakes and the Midwest. The Mobil brand is also used to market gasoline in Australia, Canada (since 2017), Colombia, Egypt, Guam, Japan (until 2019), Malaysia (until 2012), Mexico (starting about first quarter of 2018), New Zealand and Nigeria.

The Mobil brand has a significant market presence in the following metropolitan areas:

New York metropolitan area (including New Jersey since 2014)

Detroit

Chicago

Los Angeles

Minneapolis-St. Paul

Boston

Buffalo

St. Louis

Tampa-St. Petersburg

Miami-Fort Lauderdale

Rochester-Syracuse

Orlando

Milwaukee

Providence

Albany

Hartford

Mobil stores have made an increased presence in Arizona. Growing in size in the Phoenix area from fewer than 5 stations to over 20. Mobil stores have also made an increased presence in areas of Northwest Oregon and Southwest Washington.

Exxon is the primary brand in the rest of the United States, with the highest concentration of Exxon retail outlets located in New Jersey (both Exxon and Mobil brands are used from 2014), Pennsylvania, Texas (Mobil has a sizeable number of stations in Dallas and Houston), Louisiana (mainly New Orleans as well as Baton Rouge) and in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern states. Esso is ExxonMobil's primary gasoline brand worldwide. Both the Esso and Mobil brands are used in Canada (since 2017),[21] Colombia, Egypt, and formerly Japan and Malaysia, in which the latter were rebranded as Petron in 2013, and ENEOS for the former in 2019, separately. In Esso stations in Hong Kong and Singapore, the Mobil brand is used on fuel tanks, along with Esso.

Mobil 1

Main article: Mobil 1

Mobil 1 motoroil bottle

Mobil 1, the successor to the Mobiloil brand, is a brand name of ExxonMobil. It was introduced in 1974 as a Multi-grade 5W20 viscosity synthetic motor oil. The brand now includes multi-grade motor oils, oil filters, synthetic grease, transmission fluids, and gear lubricants.[22] The Esso and Exxon motor oil brands have largely been discontinued.

Mobil Delvac

Mobil Delvac is a range of heavy-duty lubricants designed for commercial vehicles. The range includes engine oils, transmission fluids, drivetrain lubricants and various greases.[23]

Mobil Industrial

Mobil Industrial is a sub-brand of ExxonMobil for marketing oils and greases used in industrial applications. The main product lines are Mobil SHC synthetic oils and Mobil Grease greases.[24]

Former brands

Discount gasoline stations

Mobil gas station Route 1, Saugus, Massachusetts, night view

Mobil rebranded numerous stations to the Hi-Val, Reelo and Sello discount gasoline brands after major price increases following the 1970s oil crisis made a significant number of consumers extremely price conscious. The stations were converted Mobil stations selling convenience store items in the station lobby, while the service bays were rented to customers for do-it-yourself auto repairs. These brands were discontinued in the 1980s, after the gasoline market had recovered.[25]

Convenience Stores

Mobil expanded the sale of convenience store items first pioneered at its discount gasoline stations under the Mobil Mart brand. Mobil continued to refine and enhance its convenience store offerings with the On-the-Run C-store brand, which proved to be much more popular. On-the-Run was sold to Alimentation Couche-Tard, operator of the Circle K convenience store chain. Some On the Run locations were sold to 7-Eleven.

Mobil Travel Guide

The Mobil Guide was an annual book of hotel and restaurant recommendations based on a system developed by Mobil in 1958. It rated businesses from one to five stars according to their assessed quality. In October 2009, ExxonMobil licensed the brand to Forbes magazine, which retitled the guide's various designations, e.g., Forbes Travel Guide, Forbes Five Stars, and so on. Forbes launched revised versions of various guides in late 2009.[26][27]

Lukoil transaction

In 2000, Lukoil purchased the remaining assets of Getty Oil and began opening Lukoil stations in the US in 2003. Most of the US Lukoil locations are converted Getty stations, although some are also converted Mobil stations bought from ConocoPhillips when that company left the Northeast.

In spring 2004, Lukoil purchased 779 Mobil gas stations throughout New Jersey and Pennsylvania, and in 2005 began converting them to the Lukoil brand. Most New Jersey Mobil locations were converted to Lukoil stations, until the early 2010s when most Lukoil stations re-converted back to Mobil stations in half of Northern New Jersey, after Lukoil sold most its stations back to ExxonMobil's Mobil brand.

Mobil UK

Vacuum Oil Company started selling lubricating oils in Europe in the late 19th century. By the 1930s its Mobiloil had become one of the main brands. Mobil gradually expanded its operation into fuels retailing as well, and opened its first UK service stations in the early 1950s, after the wartime POOL monopoly was disbanded. Mobil grew to become the seventh largest brand of petrol in Britain, supplying 1,990 outlets in 1965, and claimed in the mid-1960s to be the first company to operate 100 self-service stations. As well as its downstream interests, Mobil was active in the North Sea and operated an oil refinery in Coryton (opened in 1953), on the Thames estuary. In 1996, Mobil's fuels operations in Europe were placed into a joint venture 70% owned by BP, and the Mobil brand disappeared from service stations. Mobil continued to sell lubricants through BP and independent service stations. Following Mobil's merger with Exxon, at the start of 2000 BP acquired all the petrol retailing assets as well as the Coryton refinery (but sold it to Petroplus in 2007). Mobil returned to being purely a lubricant brand in Europe, and became the premium quality oil on sale at Esso service stations.

Mobil Australia

A preserved ex-South Australian Railways tank wagon in Plume brand livery. Plume was then replaced by Mobilgas

The Vacuum Oil Company began operating in Australia in 1895, introducing its Plume brand of petrol in 1916. The Flying Red Horse (Pegasus) logo was introduced in 1939, and in 1954, the Plume brand was replaced by Mobilgas.

Mobil Australia's corporate office is in Melbourne. In 1946, Mobil began construction of its refinery at Altona, in Melbourne's western suburbs, which originally produced lubricating oils and bitumen, before commencing the production of motor vehicle fuels in 1956. A second refinery at Port Stanvac, south of Adelaide, came on-stream in 1963, but was closed in 2003.[28] Mobil commenced removal of the refinery in July 2009, together with site remediation works.[29]

Mobil station and McDonald's restaurant in Leeton

In 1990, Mobil acquired the service station network of Esso Australia. On 27 May 2009, Caltex Australia announced it would be acquiring 302 Mobil service stations in Melbourne, Brisbane, Sydney and Adelaide, subject to approval of the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC).[30] The ACCC subsequently announced its opposition to the takeover, citing the likelihood of increased fuel prices due to diminished competition.[31]

On 27 May 2010, 7-Eleven announced that it had acquired Mobil's entire Australian network of 295 service stations, with fuel still to be supplied by Mobil. At the same time, it was announced that 7-Eleven had sold 29 South Australian service stations to Peregrine Corporation. Peregrine's acquisition saw Mobil's sites in South Australia rebranded to On the Run convenience stores, but they continued to be supplied by Mobil. 7-Eleven store renovations and openings since 2013 have included prominent placement of the Mobil logo (as the advertised fuel supplier), usually underneath the 7-Eleven logo, on main signage as well as on petrol pumps.[32]

Mobil New Zealand

Mobil is the oldest oil company in New Zealand with commercial operations dating back to 1896. It first began operating in New Zealand under the Standard Oil brand name selling kerosene in the 1870s. Early in 1896, Vacuum Oil of New York established a marketing office on Featherston Street in Wellington selling lamp oil and harness grease. It brought with it extensive collective production, marketing and management skills that presented a major advancement in business organisation. The company's unrivaled mineral lubricant products and associated services quickly dominated the market.

Mobil station in New Zealand (1969). The brand was the first oil company to establish there

When New Zealanders began taking to the motorcar in the early twentieth century, Vacuum Oil expanded into the oil refining business. Its marketing network and transportation fleet grew as it extended its range of operation. The company continued to meet New Zealand's fuel needs throughout World War One holding roughly eighty five percent of the market. However, after the war Vacuum Oil began facing very strong competition from a number of multinational oil companies which began setting up operations in New Zealand. Among these competitors was the Atlantic Union Oil Company, another of ExxonMobil's historical companies.

Atlantic Union was bought by the New Jersey-based Standard Oil Company, which would later become Exxon, and its eastern hemisphere interests were merged with those of Socony-Vacuum Oil Company to create the Standard-Vacuum Oil Company. The new company continued operations in New Zealand under both the Vacuum and Atlantic Union brand names.

On November 30, 1999, Exxon Corporation and Mobil Oil Corporation merged with Mobil Oil New Zealand Limited now owned by new entity ExxonMobil. The company currently owns a 17.2 percent share in The New Zealand Refining Company Limited which operates an oil refinery at Marsden Point. It supplies roughly twenty percent of the total fuels market in New Zealand which most of its products sourced from the Marsden Point refinery. Mobil Oil New Zealand Limited operates over one hundred and fifty locations across the country either as Mobil-owned stations or as franchises. It also operates six storage locations across the country maintaining a reputation as a dominant petroleum company in New Zealand.[33] [34][35]

Mobil Greece

The first Mobil petrol station in Greece opened on March 4, 1955, and by 1970 there were about 100. On 1 March 1999, Mobil closed its remaining petrol stations in Greece.

Mobil in Japan

Mobil station in Japan, 2008

Since the 1960s, Esso and Mobil stations in Japan had been run by Tōnen General Sekiyu, which had a controlling stake owned by ExxonMobil. In 2012, the company bought out much of ExxonMobil's stake, reducing it to a 22% minority. In 2016, ExxonMobil sold the remainder of its stake.[36]

In 2017, the company announced that it would merge with JX Group to form JXTG Holdings, with its petroleum business operating as JXTG Nippon Oil & Energy. Following the merger, it was announced that both the Esso and Mobil brands would be phased out by 2020, and replaced by the JX-originated Eneos banner.[37]

Mobil in Canada

A Mobil gas station in Regina, Saskatchewan outside a Real Canadian Superstore.

In April 2017, Loblaw Companies sold its network of 213 gas stations (all of which are attached to its various grocery store locations) to Brookfield Business Partners. Brookfield announced that it would license the Mobil brand from ExxonMobil for use on these locations, making them a sister to Imperial Oil's network of Esso-branded gas stations in Canada. As part of the sale agreement, the Mobil stations continue to offer Loblaw's PC Optimum rewards program (which Esso also joined the following year).[38][39]

Brookfield stated that it would open further Mobil stations beyond the Loblaw properties.[40]

Mobil Egypt

In Egypt, ExxonMobil's operations started in 1902, it is known for providing quality lubricants and fuels as well as convenience products. It offers more than 350 service stations, more than 40 Mobil 1 centers and a variety of industrial products, lubrication programs and services. Some stations in Cairo, Alexandria and Giza feature On the Run convenience stores.[41][42]

  • Condition: Used
  • Condition: Very good condition. See description.
  • Production Technique: Gelatin-Silver Print
  • Framing: Unframed
  • Country/Region of Manufacture: United States
  • Style: Documentary
  • Material: Paper
  • Theme: Advertising, Americana
  • Format: Snapshot
  • Type: Photograph
  • Number of Photographs: 3
  • Subject: Automobile
  • Region of Origin: US
  • Modified Item: No
  • Original/Licensed Reprint: Original
  • Year of Production: 1945
  • Time Period Manufactured: Vintage & Antique (Pre-1940)
  • Size Type/Largest Dimension: Small (Up to 7")
  • Listed By: Dealer or Reseller
  • Date of Creation: 1940-1949
  • Color: Black & White
  • Photo Type: Gelatin Silver
  • Original/Reprint: Original Print

PicClick Insights - RARE - 3 Photos- Ford Car Dealer & Mobil Gas Station Garage- Sacramento CA 1940s PicClick Exclusive

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