Ford Factory, Ranger Production

Ford Ranger Raptor Production Silverton South 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 The company was founded in 1923. A year later, the first Model Ts were assembled in Port Elizabeth. This made Ford the first automobile manufacturer in South Africa. The assembly plant in Silverton near Pretoria was opened in 1967 (according to other sources 1968). Together with Sigma Motor Corporation, which at that time belonged to Anglo American plc and produced Mazda models for the local market, Ford founded the South African Motor Corporation (Samcor) in 1985. In 1988, Ford withdrew from South Africa for economic and political reasons. Samcor produced car and commercial vehicle models of the Ford and Mazda brands as well as the South African version of the Mazda 323 as Sao Penza. A source confirms the sale of the Mazda 32