The South African Motor Corporation, more commonly known as Samcor, was a South African car manufacturer created in 1985 through the merger of

Ford Motor Company of Canada Ford Motor Company of Canada, Limited (French: ''Ford du Canada Limitée'') was founded on August 17, 1904, for the purpose of manufacturing and selling Ford automobiles in Canada and the British Empire. It was originally known as the Walkerville W ...

's South African subsidiary and

Sigma Motor Corporation The Sigma Motor Corporation was a South African motor vehicle assembler and distributor. It operated under the Sigma name until 1985 and was based in Silverton, Pretoria. Among the vehicles sold were various models of Mazda, Mitsubishi, Peugeot a ...

(previously known as Amcar), which produced

Mazda , commonly referred to as simply Mazda, is a Japanese multinational automotive manufacturer headquartered in Fuchū, Hiroshima, Japan. In 2015, Mazda produced 1.5 million vehicles for global sales, the majority of which (nearly one m ...

s for the local market. As a result of the merger, Ford and Mazda began to share models in South Africa, as they already did in other markets like Australia. For example, in 1986, the

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

an-sourced Ford Escort was replaced by the

Laser A laser is a device that emits light through a process of optical amplification based on the stimulated emission of electromagnetic radiation. The word "laser" is an acronym for "light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation". The fi ...

and

Meteor A meteoroid () is a small rocky or metallic body in outer space. Meteoroids are defined as objects significantly smaller than asteroids, ranging in size from grains to objects up to a meter wide. Objects smaller than this are classified as mi ...

based on the

Mazda 323 The , also marketed prominently as the Mazda 323, Mazda Protegé and Mazda Allegro, is a small family car that was manufactured by Mazda between 1963 and 2003. The Familia line was replaced by the Mazda3/Axela for 2004. It was marketed as the '' ...

hatchback and sedan respectively and manufactured locally from 1986 up to the Ford Escort's re-introduction in 1995. Similarly, in 1993, the

Ford Sierra The Ford Sierra is a mid-size car or large family car manufactured and marketed by Ford Europe from 1982-1993, designed by Uwe Bahnsen, Robert Lutz and Patrick le Quément — and noted for its aerodynamic styling producing a drag coeffi ...

hatch and Sapphire sedan were replaced by the

Ford Telstar The Ford Telstar is an automobile that was sold by Ford in Asia, Australasia and Africa, comparable in size to the European Ford Sierra and the North American Ford Tempo. It was progressively replaced by the Ford Mondeo. It was named after the Te ...

(1993-1998), based on the

Mazda 626 __NOTOC__ Year 626 ( DCXXVI) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. The denomination 626 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar e ...

. However, this badge engineering proved unpopular with many South African buyers and came to an end in 1998 when the Mondeo replaced the Telstar in this market. In 1988, Ford

divested In finance and economics, divestment or divestiture is the reduction of some kind of asset for financial, ethical, or political objectives or sale of an existing business by a firm. A divestment is the opposite of an investment. Divestiture is a ...

from South Africa and sold its 42 per cent stake in Samcor, although it would continue to sell Ford-branded automobile components for assembly and sale in the country. In addition to Ford and Mazda products, Samcor also assembled Mitsubishi commercial vehicles, with the

Mitsubishi L300 The is a group of autonomous Japanese multinational companies in a variety of industries. Founded by Yatarō Iwasaki in 1870, the Mitsubishi Group historically descended from the Mitsubishi zaibatsu, a unified company which existed from 1870 ...

minibus being badged as the Ford Husky. In 1994, Ford (USA) bought a 45 per cent stake in Samcor, and in 1998, bought the remaining share, renaming the company FMCSA

Ford Motor Company of Southern Africa Ford Motor Company of Southern Africa (Pty.) Ltd. is an automobile and commercial vehicle manufacturer with corporate headquarters in Pretoria. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Ford Motor Company. auf der Website der Ford Motor Company of Sou ...

in 2000. In 2015 FMCSA, now under complete Ford (USA) ownership, closed all of the Port Elizabeth assembly plants and transferred all of their South African manufacturing activities to the Silverton, Pretoria assembly plant.

Background

Ford South Africa was based in Port Elizabeth (now part of the Eastern Cape province) and had been operating since 1923. In the early 1980s, it had both a vehicle assembly plant and an engine plant in Struandale, together with an older assembly plant in Neave. After the merger with Sigma and the formation of Samcor, the engine plant continued to be operated by Samcor and in 2015 is still operating under Ford ownership. Both the assembly plants were closed and all vehicle production transferred to Samcor's Silverton Assembly Plant in

Pretoria Pretoria () is South Africa's administrative capital, serving as the seat of the executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to South Africa. Pretoria straddles the Apies River and extends eastward into the foot ...

. The Struandale assembly plant was subsequently sold to

Delta Motor Corporation Delta Motor Corporation was a South African car manufacturer, which was created through a management buy-out after General Motors (GM) divested from South Africa in 1986. It was headed by former GM executive, Bob Price, who had returned to South A ...

(General Motors). In 1984, after undergoing losses over the past two years, Sigma was restructured into a new company known as Amcar. The following year, it was merged with Ford South Africa to create the South African Motor Corporation (Pty) Ltd., known as Samcor for short. In 1988, Ford Canada divested its equity interest in Samcor and donated most of it to the Samcor Employees' Trust.''South Africa News Update''
South African Consulate-General, 1993, page 5 However, Samcor continued to build Ford as well as Mazda and Mitsubishi products.

Silverton Assembly Plant

The Silverton Assembly Plant (25°43′21″S 28°20′06″E) is located on Simon Vermooten Road, in an industrial area on the outskirts of Silverton. It is approximately 15 km (9 miles) east of Church Square, the centre of Pretoria. The

township A township is a kind of human settlement or administrative subdivision, with its meaning varying in different countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, that tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, C ...

Mamelodi Mamelodi, part of the City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality, is a township set up by the then apartheid government northeast of Pretoria, Gauteng, South Africa. Etymology "Mamelodi" is the name derived from the Sepedi word with the prefix b ...

is nearby, and many of Samcor's labour force came from there. On the main site is the assembly plant itself and two office administration buildings. Adjacent is the Parts & Accessories warehouse which includes the Customer Service offices. Samcor also used to have a separate design studio and Service Training facilities, both in nearby Silvertondale. Both were closed in the 1990s. Originally built in 1961 for Chrysler, early models assembled at Silverton included the

Chrysler Valiant Stellantis North America (officially FCA US and formerly Chrysler ()) is one of the " Big Three" automobile manufacturers in the United States, headquartered in Auburn Hills, Michigan. It is the American subsidiary of the multinational automotiv ...

and the

Peugeot 504 The Peugeot 504 is a mid-size, front-engine, rear-wheel-drive automobile manufactured and marketed by Peugeot from 1968 to 1983 over a single generation, primarily in four-door sedan and wagon configurations – but also as twin two-door coupé ...

. As of 2015, the assembly plant is still operating under Ford ownership. It now assembles only the

Ford Ranger Ford Ranger is a nameplate that has been used on multiple model lines of pickup trucks sold by Ford worldwide. The nameplate has been used for distinct model lines of vehicles worldwide since 1982 from the compact and mid-size pickup category. ...

pick-up and, in smaller numbers, the

Ford Everest The Ford Everest is a mid-size SUV produced by Ford Motor Company since 2003. Developed and destined mainly for the Asia-Pacific region with production centered in Thailand, the first-generation Everest is based on the Mazda-based Ford Ranger ...

Exports

Although Samcor's exports were mainly confined to

Southern Africa Southern Africa is the southernmost subregion of the African continent, south of the Congo and Tanzania. The physical location is the large part of Africa to the south of the extensive Congo River basin. Southern Africa is home to a number o ...

, from 1991 to 1993, it exported the South African version of the Mazda 323 to the UK, as the

Sao Penza The , also marketed prominently as the Mazda 323, Mazda Protegé and Mazda Allegro, is a small family car that was manufactured by Mazda between 1963 and 2003. The Familia line was replaced by the Mazda3/Axela for 2004. It was marketed as the '' ...

. However, just over 1,000 were sold and as of March 2017 just one remains, albeit in an unroadworthy state.

Namibia Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and ea ...

, formerly South African-administered

South West Africa South West Africa ( af, Suidwes-Afrika; german: Südwestafrika; nl, Zuidwest-Afrika) was a territory under South African administration from 1915 to 1990, after which it became modern-day Namibia. It bordered Angola (Portuguese colony before 1 ...

, was considered by Samcor to be part of the domestic dealership network.''Unified List of United States Companies with Investments or Loans in South Africa and Namibia''
Roger Walke, Pacific Northwest Research Center, Richard Knight, Africa Fund (New York, N.Y.), United Nations Centre Against Apartheid, The Africa Fund in cooperation with the United Nations Centre Against Apartheid, 1987

Logo

The Samcor corporate logo was oval-shaped, similar to the Ford logo. Initially, both monochrome and colour versions were used. The colour version consisted of three horizontal bands of orange, white and blue with "SAMCOR" on the middle band. These were the main colours used on the old pre-1994 South African national flag. After the introduction of the new national flag, the colour logo was dropped and only the monochrome version used. The logos were mainly used on internal documentation and business cards. Vehicles were not badged as Samcor, but the Samcor logo and name was used on Vehicle Identification (VIN) plates. File:Sierra 3 door - an early one.jpg,

1983–1993 File:93FS18TD1.jpg, Ford Sapphire
1990–1993 File:Mitsubishil300.jpg, Ford Husky (based on

)
1985–1991 File:Ford Escort MkIV 5 d Bar Hill.jpg, Ford Escort
1981-1986 File:1996 Mazda 323 Midge.JPG,

Ford Tonic The , also marketed prominently as the Mazda 323, Mazda Protegé and Mazda Allegro, is a small family car that was manufactured by Mazda between 1963 and 2003. The Familia line was replaced by the Mazda3/Axela for 2004. It was marketed as the '' ...

1986–2003 Image:1988 Ford Laser (KE) GL Livewire sedan (2008-12-21) 01.jpg,

Ford Meteor Ford commonly refers to: * Ford Motor Company, an automobile manufacturer founded by Henry Ford * Ford (crossing), a shallow crossing on a river Ford may also refer to: Ford Motor Company * Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company * Ford F ...

1986–1998 Image:1987-1990 Ford Laser (KE) Ghia 5-door hatchback 01.jpg,

Ford Laser The Ford Laser is a compact car, originally a subcompact car in the first three generations, which was sold by Ford in Asia, Oceania, and parts of South America and Africa. It has generally been available as a sedan or hatchback, although con ...

1986–1998 File:Ford_Bantam_Leisure_ZA.jpg, Ford Bantam 2 / Mazda Rustler
1987–2002 Image:Mazda 323 front 20071206.jpg,

1986–1995 File:1991 Ford Telstar sedan, front.jpg,

1993–1998 File:1996 Mazda 626 (GE Series 2) SDX V6 hatchback (2010-07-05) 01.jpg,

1993–1998

References

{{Automotive industry in South Africa Car manufacturers of South Africa Motor vehicle assembly plants in South Africa Ford Motor Company Truck manufacturers of South Africa Defunct manufacturing companies of South Africa

Background

Silverton Assembly Plant

Exports

Logo

See also

References