Ford marking its Cork centenary

THIS year Ford Ireland plans to mark the centenary of Henry Ford establishing the Ford factory on the Marina in Cork City in 1917.

Ford is this week launching an extensive new marketing campaign based around the company’s Irish centenary and encouraging consumers to think about the brand differently. The campaign features the Irish-American actor Aidan Quinn in a range of online video executions and radio, supported with press ads, outdoor and other ambient displays, which will become familiar to Irish consumers during the next year. There are many activities, promotions and events planned throughout the year, with one of the highlights being a gala dinner event at Cork City Hall on April 21st next to mark the actual centenary. 

Ciarán McMahon, chairman and managing director of Ford Ireland, said: ‘Ford has a unique heritage in Ireland, not only through the company’s close family links with Cork but also through the Cork Ford factory and of course many decades of much-loved Ford cars and vans on Irish roads.  And we are still to the forefront in the automotive sector in Ireland with the widest network of dealers, providing employment, directly and indirectly, to some 1,000 people across the country.

‘Ford vehicles were and still are a ubiquitous sight on the streets and roads of Ireland all through the 20th century and right up to the present day,’ Mr McMahon added.