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Ford UK - 100 years in numbers

2011 marks Ford's centenary of building cars in the UK. To celebrate, we count down the anniversary with the numbers that matter most.

By Jack Rix

May 2011
You'll find its roots in the USA, but for many of us, Ford is as British as fish and chips.

So it's no surprise to find that the car has been a leading manufacturer, in terms of total sales, for the last 34 years.

Ford of Britain's centenery is cause for some serious celebrations.

On 26th May, we attended a Gala dinner at the Science Museum in London, where the guest of honour was Bill Ford - the firm's executive chairman. He outlined Ford's commitment to the future with a new £1 million scholarship programme - offering 100 promising students a £10,000 grant over the course of their studies.

Reaching the 100-year milestone is an ideal time to look back as well as forward. That's why our numbers and pictures sum up where Ford of Britain came from and the position it finds itself in today.

 
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100   2,000   164,000   280,364
1. 100

Years as a UK sales company and since the Model T began production at the Trafford Park plant in Manchester.



  
2. 2,000

Tonnes of London rubbish burnt to fuel the Dagenham power station each week, up until 1939.

 



  
3. 164,000

Total number of employees worldwide, 15,000 of which are in the UK where Ford contributes to another 100,000 jobs through its suppliers network.



  
4. 280,364

Number of Fords sold in 2010 - roughly 15 per cent of the UK's total new car market. In 1914, it sold just 10,000 units. 
 
550   10,908,360   2,000,000   167,700
5. 550

Number of Ford dealerships currently open for business in Britain. The first opened in Southampton in 2011.



  
6. 10,908,360

Number of cars, trucks and tractors built at Dagenham in 71 years. Placed end to end, that's enough to circle the globe ten times.



  
7. 2,000,000

Engine build capacity between Ford's Bridgend and Dagenham plants - one in three blue oval engines worldwide is built in UK.



  
8. 167,700

Price in pounds Henry Ford paid in 1924 for the piece of land his Dagenham factory was to be built on, shown here. Nowadays it occupies a 475-acre site.
 
39   4   54,093   55
9. 39

Number of consecutive years the UK's best-selling car has been a Ford. Last year it was the Fiesta with 103,013 units shifted.

 



  
10. 4

Number of manufacturing plants currently operating in the UK, including the Transit assembly facility in Southampton. Worldwide it has around 70 factories.

 



  
11. 54,093

Total number of Transit vans sold in the UK in 2010. Ford has now been the UK leader in commercial vehicle sales for 45 years.

 

 



  
12. 55

The percentage of all cars in 1916 that were a Ford Model T. Here WRC driver Mikko Hirvonen takes one for a spin.
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