Dealership Віннер Миколаїв in Mykolaiv

The official Ford representative office in Mykolaiv has been operating since February 1, 2002. Eight years of activity is a serious test of meeting the high expectations of customers.

We have successfully passed this test. Now we continue to improve the quality of work and the level of service for our clients.

On June 16, 2011, a new dealer center opened, equipped with modern technology and meeting international standards. We strive to provide customers with a special level of service — from the first visit and throughout the entire time of using the car. We promise that you will get positive impressions not only when buying and driving a Ford car, but also when servicing it.

Every car is covered by the manufacturer's factory warranty. Additionally, we help with arranging credit, insurance, registration with the traffic police, and also install additional equipment and accessories.

We work on the TRADE-IN system: we accept used cars as a trade-in towards the cost of new ones. Details can be found by visiting our center!

WE VALUE THE PAST, WE LOOK TO THE FUTURE

On June 16, 2003, Ford Motor Company celebrated its centennial anniversary. This date allowed us to better understand the scale of Henry Ford's achievements. The company, which started in a small garage where one man created a simple four-wheeled car, went through different times and became a force that changed the idea of personal transport. The affordability of the car, which today seems ordinary, largely contributes to economic growth and stability in the world.

The company preserves the spirit of its founder, it is aimed at the future, plans it and strives for innovation in design, production and technology. Today, Ford Motor Company under the leadership of Alan Mulally continues the traditions of the business. A sense of family, continuity and shared values unites employees, dealers, suppliers, shareholders and customers in more than 200 markets around the world.

Ford fulfills its commitments to supply the best products, adhere to the principles of global responsibility, care for employees and the stable prosperity of the company. High quality and consumer value are the basis of our work and the key to success in the market. These principles are supported by the desire to sell reliable modern cars with excellent driving characteristics in Europe.

No company in the 20th century had such an impact on people's lives as Ford. Henry Ford "put the world on wheels" thanks to the mass production of simple and reliable cars available to middle-income families. This past inspires Ford Motor employees today and encourages them to leave their mark on the history of the 21st century.

About Ford Motor Company

Ford is the second largest car manufacturer in the world, the company employs about 350 thousand people, it is represented in more than 200 markets on six continents. The company's brands include Aston Martin, Ford, Jaguar, Land Rover, Lincoln, Mazda, Mercury and Volvo. Related services are provided through Ford Credit, Hertz and Quality Care divisions. The world headquarters is located in Dearborn, Michigan. In Europe, Ford has more than 60 thousand employees, the company operates in 42 markets.

FORD IN EUROPE: THE FIRST HUNDRED YEARS

Although Ford was founded in the USA and is considered an American brand, its history in Europe, from the first cars that arrived in England in 1903, to the modern organization serving 42 countries, is closely connected with American roots.

Ford was originally created as a global organization. A few months after the founding of the company on June 16, 1903, the first two Ford cars were sent to London, where they participated in the Cordingley motor show in March 1904 at the Agricultural Hall in Islington.

They were noticed by a young man, Aubrey Blakiston. He created a trading agency, ordered a dozen Ford Model A cars and rented a showroom in Long Acre, the center of London's car trade.

Sales were slow — it took a year to sell a dozen, but the agency hired a car specialist, Percival Perry, who was to play an important role in strengthening Ford's position in Europe.

In those years, France, which had the most powerful automotive industry in Europe, seemed the best place to coordinate European business. Here, in early 1904, some of the first European Ford sales took place. In 1908, a company branch was created in Paris to manage trade in Europe, headed by American H. Baker White. The importance of the appointment was reflected in his annual salary of 24 thousand dollars, which corresponds to 1.5 million modern dollars.

Dealer center, France, 1908

Production is soon established

However, the center of Ford's early activities in Europe was England, where Percival Perry headed the trading agency. Sales rose sharply after the release in 1906 of the relatively inexpensive four-cylinder Model N. In 1909, an English branch of the company was created under the leadership of Perry. The large market led to the opening at the end of October 1911 of the first Ford plant outside North America — in Manchester's Trafford Park.

London showroom, 1909

A couple of years later, car assembly began in Bordeaux, initially managed by the leading French representative, but soon the enterprise passed to Ford Motor.

During the First World War, Perry, appointed assistant inspector of the agricultural machinery department of the English government, persuaded Henry Ford to build a tractor plant (the first specially built Ford plant in Europe) next to the birthplace of his father — in the Irish city of Cork. The first Fordson tractor rolled off the assembly line on July 3, 1919. Until 1920, Ford Ireland was the only fully private company of the Ford family.

Plant in Cork, Ireland. Opened in 1919

Model T stimulates business development in Europe

Henry Ford created the Model T as a universal car, which gave the company a huge advantage. The Model T became the first car perceived as "worldwide". The network of European plants and local trading companies, created in the early 20s and subordinate to Detroit, supported its rapid success. Almost the same product was offered on all markets, with the exception of small differences in color and trim, taking into account national preferences.

Plant in Copenhagen, 1919, Denmark

The first European assembly plant was built during the post-war expansion in Copenhagen, where Ford Denmark appeared on June 25, 1919. The most trusted partners of Henry Ford in production were the Danes William Knudsen and Charles Sorensen. The first was engaged in the development of Ford's business in Europe in the early 20s, and the second rejected the offer of Andre Citroen to create a joint venture in France.

Wanting to have a plant for the southern part of Europe, Ford proposed building an enterprise in Bordeaux, but the French authorities were not ready to cooperate. Therefore, the assembly plant appeared on the site of a former winery in the Spanish city of Cadiz, which was in a free economic zone.

Plant in Cadiz, Spain, 1920

A small number of cars continued to be assembled in Bordeaux. The building of the enterprise was too small, and finished cars had to be stored in the middle of the road outside the factory gates. This situation persisted until 1925, when production was moved to the Paris suburb of Asnieres.

One of the largest Ford plants was created in 1922 on the territory of a former warehouse in the north of Italy, in the city of Trieste. In the 20s, it supplied products to 75 percent of the market in 36 countries on three continents, including Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Yugoslavia, Romania, Bulgaria, Albania, Georgia and Azerbaijan.

Plant in Trieste, Italy, 1922

Surprisingly, Germany, where the first practical car was created in the 80s of the 19th century, was involved in Ford's business rather late. The first German Ford company appeared only in 1925, and in 1926 car assembly began in a rented Berlin warehouse on the canal bank. The work in Berlin was managed by Ford Denmark managers from Copenhagen. The chief manager, who effectively led the business, could read German, but initially did not speak the language!

Berlin plant, 1926

Before the Second World War, Ford had assembly plants in a number of European countries. In Belgium, the company appeared in 1922 and immediately began assembly, in Holland — founded in 1924, but assembled cars only from 1932. In Turkey, a branch was opened in 1928, and assembly was launched a year later. In Romania, the company operated from 1931, but assembled cars from 1936, and in Hungary — from 1938 and from 1941, respectively. There were also countries where there were no plants before the war: in Sweden the company was listed from 1924, in Egypt — from 1926 (branch), in Finland — from 1926, in Portugal and Greece — from 1932.

In Russia, the first Ford dealer appeared back in 1907, but the brand gained real fame after the revolution — thanks to tractors. Fordson played a big role in the restoration of agriculture: by 1926, more than 25 thousand such machines were working in the Soviet Union. So valuable that in Leningrad they even established the production of their own copies — 20 pieces per month.

What happened after the Model T

Until the end of 1927, Ford's European business was built on the Model T. It was cheap, but due to taxes, which in Europe were calculated by engine displacement, it was unprofitable. Over time, it lost its leadership: competitors offered lighter, faster and more compact cars that the public received better. In 1928, a new Model A was released, and this forced Ford to completely reconsider its approach to the European market.

After the war, Henry Ford managed European affairs through twelve separate companies, but already in the 1920s he realized: for business to be efficient, it needs to be coordinated. This was very forward-thinking for its time and anticipated modern methods of managing pan-European structures.

The main step was concentrating European operations in England — for this, a new company, Ford Motor Company Limited, was created. The center of everything became a new plant, which was called the "European Detroit": it was built on drained marshes in Dagenham. Construction cost 5 million pounds — a huge amount of money. The first car to roll off the assembly line on October 1, 1931, was a Model AA truck.

However, the grand opening of the plant in May 1929 coincided with the onset of the Great Depression. Demand for the Model A fell: it was cheap, but taxes and operating costs were high. In the first three months, only five cars assembled in Dagenham were sold. The new company Ford of Britain was saved only by the sale of commercial vehicles.

The Model Y came to the rescue — the first Ford created specifically for Europe, with a 933 cc engine. It was developed in five months and shown at exhibitions across the continent, starting with London's Albert Hall in February 1932. Mass production began as early as August. The journey from drawing board to assembly line in ten months is an achievement in itself, although the company's position was extremely difficult.

Henry Ford's foresight paid off. Loss-making in 1932–33, Ford Britain already turned a profit of 1.39 million pounds the following year. The Model Y captured 54 percent of the English market for cars over 8 hp. It was also assembled in Cologne, Paris, Cork, Copenhagen, and Barcelona, and in England its platform lasted until 1959.

Almost simultaneously with Dagenham, the German Ford plant was built in Cologne, on the Rhine. But the political situation of the 30s made its position difficult: raw materials like rubber and copper had to be paid for in dollars.

In 1929, Ford US began helping the Russians build an assembly plant near Nizhny Novgorod. First, as a preparatory stage, the Model A was assembled at a small Moscow plant. The new enterprise in Nizhny Novgorod, renamed Gorky in 1932, opened on January 1, 1931. From the very beginning it experienced difficulties — in 1932, instead of the planned 140,000 cars, fewer than 24,000 were produced. The contract with Ford ended in 1935, but the Russian version, known as GAZ, was produced for another decade and became the foundation of the Soviet automobile industry.

Depression, Protectionism, and War

The 1928 plan did not account for the fact that in the 30s, continental markets closed due to the depression, and the company itself continued to be perceived as "American," even though it had been operating in Europe longer than many local manufacturers.

In France in 1931, a "Buy French!" campaign began, supported by Renault and Citroen. Ford's manager Maurice Dollfus tried to object: the engine and rear axle come from abroad, but the chassis, axles, lamps, radiators, electrics, tires, and paint are French, and Ford France provides jobs for 30,000 people. It didn't help. Then the company agreed with the Strasbourg firm Mathis on joint assembly of Matford cars with a V8 engine. The joint venture lasted less than ten years. In the late 30s, a plant was built in Poissy, south of Paris, but it barely had time to start work — World War II began.

The Ford plant in Barcelona became one of the first victims of the Spanish Civil War. It was seized by pro-government forces two weeks after the conflict began, in 1936. The plant tried to survive, but in 1939 Barcelona was taken by Franco's nationalists. The enterprise never managed to get back on its feet — in 1954 it was sold to local companies.

By the end of the 30s, Ford's unified European strategy had fallen apart: German and French models increasingly differed from English ones. The irony is that during the war, when plants in occupied France, Holland, Belgium, and Denmark were controlled by Ford Germany, the continental enterprises operated more cohesively than in peacetime.

The British company did much to fight fascism: in Dagenham, more than 13,000 universal tracked carriers, over 250,000 V8 engines, and more than 185,000 army vehicles were produced. A separate plant in Manchester produced more than 30,000 supercharged 27-liter Rolls-Royce Merlin engines — for aircraft such as the Hurricane, Mosquito, and Lancaster.

Post-War Revival

After peace was declared in 1945, Cologne quickly restored production — with help from Dagenham. But the divergences in designs that began in the 30s only intensified in the 50s and 60s: in many markets, Ford Britain and Ford Germany cars competed with each other.

The company was led by the energetic young Henry Ford II — he received power from his grandfather in September 1945, three days after his 28th birthday. Although Ford had operated worldwide from the very beginning, there was no formal body to coordinate international operations until September 1946, when the International Division was created.

In early 1948, after reorganizing Ford of America, young Henry went to inspect European enterprises. The difference between England and Germany was obvious. In Dagenham, preparing to sell 6,000 cars in the US, he rolled the 250,000th post-war car off the assembly line. And in Germany, he left the plant in the 10,000th post-war truck — passenger cars were an unaffordable luxury for that market.

Cologne produced its first post-war passenger car, the famous "hunchback" Taunus, in 1948. It was a two-door model with an aerodynamic hatchback body and headlights integrated into the bumper. It was made until 1952, when the 1.2-liter version of the Taunus appeared.

At that time, the Dagenham plant was preparing a new line of family cars, considered the most modern of its time. It included the four-cylinder Consul and the six-cylinder Zephyr. These cars stood out with a number of technical innovations: under the hood were Ford's first engines with overhead camshafts, the body was unibody, and the front used independent suspension with MacPherson struts — a solution that later became a generally accepted industry standard. The premiere of these cars at the London Motor Show in 1950 caused a real sensation.

The French Ford division after World War II went its own way. It assembled the Vedette model with a V8 engine, which completely did not fit the ascetic mood prevailing in France at the time. As a result, in 1954 production of this model was discontinued, and the Poissy plant, which never reached full capacity, was sold to the French company Simca.

In the 50s, the British division supported sales with a stylish lineup that included updated Consul and Zephyr models, as well as the 105E Anglia. At the same time, Ford Britain and Ford Germany were developing competing model ranges in parallel, which from a business point of view was almost pointless. And yet, this rivalry at least once played into their hands.

When the chairman of Ford Britain, Sir Patrick Hennessy, learned that German colleagues were creating a front-wheel-drive Taunus under the code name Cardinal, he tasked his engineers and planning specialists with developing a response family car that would surpass the competitor. This confrontation produced two winners at once: the legendary Cortina program of 1962 and the Taunus 12M model with a new V4 engine. The latter became a real breakthrough for Ford — it was their first front-wheel-drive car.

In the Spirit of European Integration

It gradually became clear that parallel development of two model lines led to duplication of efforts by Ford's European companies. A research group led by John Andrews, a Californian who headed Ford Germany, studied the issue of creating a unified Ford structure within the emerging common European market.

The first joint program of England and Germany was "Project Little Red Riding Hood," which resulted in the very popular Transit van. Since its release in 1965, it quickly became a bestseller in its segment and remains so to this day.

This same project gave impetus to the revival of Ford's activities in Turkey. Ford commercial vehicle specialists helped create a special version of the Transit for production at the Turkish enterprise Otosan. This company was part of the Koç Group, which had been selling Ford cars since 1928, and in 1983 Ford acquired 30 percent of its shares. Today Ford Otosan is a joint venture where Ford and Koç each own 41 percent of shares.

The success of the cooperation became obvious, and in the summer of 1967 Henry Ford II made the decision to create Ford of Europe, placing John Andrews at its head. From that moment, all future model programs were developed jointly by the two companies.

The problem of geographical separation, when engineering centers were located in English Dunton and German Merkenich, 400 miles apart, was solved by creating its own corporate airline. Later, Ford was one of the first to introduce other means of communication, such as video conferencing between Ford of Europe divisions.

The new company not only coordinated research and development in Europe but also unified production and purchasing processes, which provided significant resource savings. For 1967, this was a real breakthrough, anticipating the expansion of the European Community and the creation of the Common Market.

Major Production Expansion

The transition to more efficient production methods led to the closure of small assembly plants in small European markets. Instead, large enterprises emerged that supplied finished cars to national trading companies.

In the 60s, new large plants opened — in English Halewood and Belgian Genk. Halewood began production of the Anglia model in 1962, and in Genk, Taunus was assembled from 1964, and later Transit.

The next stage was the opening in 1970 of the Ford plant in German Saarlouis, where Escort was then produced, and now Focus.

In 1973, a plant appeared in Bordeaux producing transmissions, and in 1980 — an engine production facility in British Bridgend. In 1976, a car plant opened in Spanish Valencia, which was to serve the increasingly significant Southern European markets. Its first product was the Fiesta — Ford's first front-wheel-drive subcompact car, which was phenomenally successful.

The launch of production in Bordeaux and Valencia was for Ford a kind of return to its roots: in Bordeaux, Ford cars were assembled 60 years earlier, and in Spain the company resumed production for the first time since the Civil War.

Another important facility of that fifteen-year period of expansion was the test track in Belgian Lommel. Opened in 1965, it featured many tracks — from a high-speed oval with barriers, where cars could reach up to 200 km/h, to cobblestone "vibration stands" and exact replicas of the most challenging European roads. In 1970, artificial hills with the steepest climbs and descents for lowland countries were created there, nicknamed the "Lommel Alps".

On the way to today

Over the last quarter century, Ford has radically changed. The Sierra model, which appeared in 1982, marked the transition to efficient aerodynamic design. Other iconic products were the Escort, Scorpio, Mondeo, and Focus — each of them received the title of "European Car of the Year", with the Escort and Focus also becoming global bestsellers. The Transit still remains the benchmark in the mid-size van class, and the new generation Fiesta is gaining its position in the highly competitive small car segment.

The shift of markets to the east after the opening of Central and Eastern Europe led to the relocation of Ford of Europe's headquarters from Warley to Cologne. Following this move eastward, Ford is actively working in the countries of the former Eastern Bloc and reviving ties with Russia — in 2002, production of the Focus began at a new plant near St. Petersburg.

The Ford Group also expanded through the acquisition of famous European brands — Jaguar, Aston Martin, Volvo, and Land Rover. These cars set standards in dynamics and handling.

Behind all these events are the words of Henry Ford, spoken a hundred years ago and still relevant after the production of almost 300 million cars: "I will build a car accessible to the masses. It will be large enough for a family and at the same time small and light enough that an ordinary person can easily operate and maintain it without great expense.

It will be made of quality materials by the best craftsmen that can be hired, and have the simplest design that modern engineers can devise.

At the same time, it will be so affordable in price that a person of average means can purchase it to enjoy it with their family in the open spaces created by the Lord."

How many companies have managed to remain faithful to their core values for a hundred years?