Mainstays like the Mondeo and Fiesta may now be cars of the past, but Ford is still planning to use its history to benefit its future – though perhaps not in the way we might expect. To boost its ailing profits in Europe as it transitions into an all-electric brand in the region, the Blue Oval will lean on its American heritage rather than hark back fondly to the cars it made on this side of the pond.
“Our future models are more American, and from 2030 they will all be electric,” Ford’s marketing chief in Germany, Christian Weingaertner, has told the press. The firm is seeing its future launches as a chance to revamp its marketing, with a new “Adventurous Spirit” slogan that it says stands for the American values of “freedom, outdoors and adventure.”
What all this will mean for Ford’s future in Europe remains to be seen, but we do know it’s not the first time that the firm has sold its American models in the UK – some with more success than others. Some 120 years on from the first Ford being imported into the UK, we look back at some you might remember, and some you might not.
EARLY BEGINNINGS
The first three Fords were imported to the UK as early as 1903 and the first dealer opened in 1910, with
