Over the years Ford have built their success largely on producing the vehicles that people want – and this applies as much to the commercial vehicles as the car side. Unlike some sections of the British industry, they didn’t prescribe what people should want or take their dealers word for what would sell – aslightly arrogant practice which was in part responsible for BMC’s demise. Rather, they took the trouble to go out and find out for themselves.
When this worked – as in most cases it did – the vehicles involved sold well. Some even changed the course of motoring. In the UK, the Ford Cortina concept came about through talking to fleet managers and other bulk-buyers, and they soon discovered that while BMCs revolutionary new FWD setup was very impressive technically and appealed to private motorists who appreciated the acres of interior space it gave, fleet managers were less impressed. They’d quickly realised that FWD reliability was far from 100%, and that wasn’t what this cost-conscious market-sector wanted.
