Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Illustrations
- Preface
- Introduction to the New Edition
- Introduction to the First Edition
- 1 First Venture
- 2 Probing for Markets
- 3 Model T: Triumph and Fable
- 4 The Alchemy of War
- 5 Steps in Expansion
- 6 The Sun Never Sets
- 7 Prosperity and Frustration
- 8 The Missionary Spirit
- 9 The Best-Laid Plans
- 10 Marriage of Convenience
- 11 Time of Desperation
- 12 A World Disturbed
- 13 Extreme of Nationalism
- 14 The British Empery
- 15 On Both Sides of World War II
- 16 The Crippled Phoenix
- 17 The New Company
- 18 Manufacturing for World Markets: From Dagenham to Geelong
- 19 New Times, New Faces, New Policies
- Appendices
- Bibliographical Essay
- Notes
- Index
- Titles in the series
- Plate section
14 - The British Empery
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 June 2012
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Illustrations
- Preface
- Introduction to the New Edition
- Introduction to the First Edition
- 1 First Venture
- 2 Probing for Markets
- 3 Model T: Triumph and Fable
- 4 The Alchemy of War
- 5 Steps in Expansion
- 6 The Sun Never Sets
- 7 Prosperity and Frustration
- 8 The Missionary Spirit
- 9 The Best-Laid Plans
- 10 Marriage of Convenience
- 11 Time of Desperation
- 12 A World Disturbed
- 13 Extreme of Nationalism
- 14 The British Empery
- 15 On Both Sides of World War II
- 16 The Crippled Phoenix
- 17 The New Company
- 18 Manufacturing for World Markets: From Dagenham to Geelong
- 19 New Times, New Faces, New Policies
- Appendices
- Bibliographical Essay
- Notes
- Index
- Titles in the series
- Plate section
Summary
“I thought this car really a wonderful production, as exhibited, as unveiled; just as it was, without one plea,” declared an English Ford dealer on first seeing the Model Y, in the spring of 1932. “And when I learned that it would (as a production job, coming through the mill at Dagenham, in hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands) be all of twice that job—better-looking, roomier internally, with its fuel tank aft, I decided that it might not be so bad a thing to be a Ford man, and would certainly be roses, roses, all the way, to be a Ford dealer.”
The intoxication of this observer with Ford-England's first 8 h.p. unit, designed to meet specific national needs—the first Ford to be manufactured exclusively in Britain—was not atypical. “The fact of the matter was, the little car saved us from going under,” and “The Model Y was our only salvation,” were the later recollections of higher company officials.
The baby car was supplemented in 1934 by a 10 h.p. Model C for the buyer wanting additional power. These two vehicles—the Popular and the De Luxe as they came to be called—transformed the British company from a deficit to a profitable enterprise. With them, Ford in England was again in a position to challenge the leaders of the British automotive industry, the Morris and the Austin.
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- Information
- American Business AbroadFord on Six Continents, pp. 286 - 310Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2011