Ford SAF

Ford SAF (Ford Société Anonyme Française) wis the French subsidiary o the American automaker Ford Motor Company, which existit unner various names atween 1916 an 1954, when Ford sauld it tae Simca.
Automobiles Ford
The company wis formed in 1916 as Automobiles Ford in Bordeaux bi Percival Perry, the heid o Ford o Breetain. Lik ither European Ford subsidiaries, Automobiles Ford initially assembled the Ford Model T an this continued at Bordeaux till 1925 an then at Asnières near Paris till 1927. Model As wur made frae 1927 tae 1931 an Model Ys frae 1932 tae 1934. The company an aa importit the US-biggit V8-pouered Ford Model B, but import taxes made them vera expensive an it wis no vera popular in Fraunce.

Matford
In 1934 Maurice Dollfuss, the heid o Ford Société Anonyme Française (SAF), wis lookin for a lairger manufacturin plant an reached agreement wi Emile Mathis tae enter intae a jynt ventur wi the Mathis company formin Matford in Strasbourg an Asnières. The new company name wis Matford SA. This ventur continued till 1940 when the Strasbourg plant closed an a new ane opened in Poissy an the company became again Ford SAF. Durin the Warld War II, the Poissy plant wis taken ower bi the German Airmy occupyin Fraunce an uised tae mak trucks an military equipment.

Ford SAF
Efter the war the company re-introduced the smawer 2.2 litre V-8 ingined Matford model, an it wis biggit frae 1946 tae 1948. This wis replaced in late 1948 bi the aw new Vedette jynt in 1952 its upscale counterpart, the Vendôme, an Comète sports coupé, caurs that wur no shared wi ony ither Ford subsidiary. In November 1954 Ford merged the entire French operation tae Simca at first keepin 15.2 per cent o the company but sellin this share as well in 1958. Apart frae the plant, Simca an aa acquired plans for a new Vedette, wi the 2351 cc V8, which wis made till 1961 (wi a substantial modernisation for 1958) as Simca Vedette (awtho still marketit in some markets as Ford for some time).

The Poissy factory haed an interestin later history - efter the incorporation o Ford SAF intae Simca, it wis an aa a subject o Simca's takeover bi Chrysler in the 1960, an durin the 1970s it manufactured the first (an, as it later turned oot, ae) French-made caur tae bear the Chrysler brand, the Chrysler 180. At the end o the decade, Chrysler in turn divestit its European operations (includin Poissy) tae PSA, which first rebrandit the Poissy production tae Talbot. Finally, in the seicont hauf o 1980s, the Talbot brand wis axt an Poissy became ane o the maist important production sites for the Peugeot brand an continues tae be the day.

External links
 http://dvole.free.fr/matford/ Matford Constructeur automobile
 http://dvole.free.fr/fordsaf/fordsaf.htm Ford Société Anonyme Française - Poissy

References

Category:Ford Motor Company
Category:Companies established in 1916
Category:Companies disestablished in 1954
Category:Motor vehicle manufacturers o Fraunce