Which auto maker has a car that might match the phenomenal success of Ford's Mustang?

Would you believe Ford Motor Co.?

Ford rates the Mustang as "the most successful car ever introduced." Now it believes it has another winner, this time on an international scale, British Ford's Cortina. Since its entry in the worldwide auto market in the early 1960s, the medium-sized Cortina has been the British company's greatest success.

At home, the Cortina has been largely responsible for Ford keeping its share of the growing and increasingly tough British market.

Abroad, it has helped Ford of Britain maintain the growth in its exports that has been going on (with some ups and downs) since the war. British Ford now accounts for one out of every three British car exports, against one in four in 1956.

In the U.S., Ford (for the first time in years) may wind up 1967 with the Cortina among the top 10 imports.

Cost edge
Now that the pound has been devalued 14.3%, the Cortina's "under-$2,000" U.S. price probably will drop, boosting its competitive edge over such robust imports as Volkswagen, General Motors' Opel Kadett, and fast-rising Toyota from Japan. But how much the price cut will be is anyone's guess. Much of the U.S. price is the dollar cost of transportation, marine insurance, warranty, and selling costs. The lowest price for a Cortina in the U.S. last week was $1,815.

At the same time, British Ford is now going to be under tremendous pressure to boost exports because of the expected falloff in domestic sales. Higher interest rates in Britain will make installment credit too costly for many new car buyers.

Nonetheless, Ford can only be pleased with the record it has made with the Cortina. Its popularity is growing all over the world. For the first nine months of this year, Holland has been the biggest market with sales of 16,000, compared with 12,000 in the U.S., 9,800 in South Africa, 8,700 in Australia, 6,400 in Austria, and 6,000 in Norway. Last year, Ford even sold 1,150 Cortinas in Czechoslovakia, 400 in Venezuela and 900 in Thailand.

I. Filling a gap

Since the Cortina was introduced Ford of Britain has held onto 25% to 26% of its home market, the same as before Cortina. Put in the context of the no-holds-barred competition in Britain's auto market, though, this has been no mean feat, particularly in the face of urgent efforts from G.M.'s Vauxhall to boost its share. Ford credits the success of the Cortina for the company holding its own. The Cortina itself has 15% of the British market.

The car was conceived in 1960 when, according to the company, a new market was spotted in the gap between its small Anglia and its larger Consul and Zephyr models. With the new affluence in Britain and elsewhere in Europe, Ford men saw a spot for a car with the roominess and performance of the bigger cars then being built, but within the cost range in price and operation of the smaller cars.

Off and running
Ford introduced the Cortina in record time. With Detroit executives, including Chairman Henry Ford II, keeping a close watch, Cortina zoomed from planning to production in 20 months, compared with a normal 30 months.

Production began in July, 1962, with an initial target of 150,000 units. This almost immediately was jacked up to 250,000 as the Cortina caught like wildfire, and production has averaged 240,000 a year ever since. The 1-million mark was reached after four years, faster than any other British passenger car. In February of this year it passed British Motor Corp.'s BMC 1100 as the top domestic seller.

The theme of the all-out advertising campaign with which Ford of Britain launched Cortina was "big-car motoring at small-car cost."

II. Onto the track

Cortina quickly became Britain's best seller abroad, too. It sold better than any two other British cars during 1965 and 1966.

The original 1200 cc version was joined in January, 1963, by a 1500 cc, the Super. Then came a special sports version, the Cortina Lotus which marked the first time that Lotus (a race-car manufacturer) ever teamed with a mass-producer. Lotus developed the engine from the basic Cortina power system, and now supplies components which are assembled by Ford.

Racing
Cortinas were entered in competition all around the world with outstanding success: Ford claims over 500 major competition successes. Says a Ford official: "That got it the attention of the real car buffs. Suddenly, people who had never even looked at a Ford decided this was their car."

A Mark II Cortina was introduced in September of last year with a new type engine which, Ford claims, yields better performance at the same fuel consumption. This September, the new engine was put into all Cortinas, and the 1500 cc was raised to 1600 cc.

Terry Beckett, director of British Ford's Car Div., is convinced that this middle range is the growth area in Europe. Other European makers have been moving into it - Vauxhall, Rootes, BMC, Fiat, VW, and Citroen.

Breaking even
Despite Cortina's success, Ford's profits and those of other British car makers have dropped sharply because of deflationary measures taken by the government. Though sales last year hit a record $1.2 billion, profits of $21 million were the lowest since 1949.

Most of the blame for this, Beckett believes, can be attributed to the slump in the home market, on which Ford depends for its profits. Indeed on the half of its car production that Ford exports, "it just about breaks even," says Beckett. Where exports mainly contribute to profits is in providing the volume that permits competitive operations.

III. The real plum

Devaluation isn't going to help Ford's profit picture in Britain, at least not at first. Higher materials prices and last week's tax increases are bound to push up costs.

By far the biggest test for the Cortina is the competitive race among overseas manufacturers for a bigger share of the growing U. S. market, which this year will jump by 14% over the 1966 figure to 750,000 units - an all-time high.

The only factor that might keep Cortina out of the top 10 is lack of cars. Meeting 1968 federal regulations on smog-control systems has held up production somewhat. And, rather than send its 1968's into the U. S. without the systems and classifying them as 1967's, Ford decided to risk a shortage. Still, if all goes well, Ford expects its Cortina sales in the U.S. this year to reach nearly 20,000.

Growing
This represents a sharp turnabout for Ford, and within about two years' time. Ford was virtually out of the U. S. market for a while as Volkswagen, GM's Opel Kadett, Sweden's Volvo, and others jumped with both feet into the U.S.

Leading the pack by a country mile, of course, is Germany's VW, which should come close to selling 500,000 cars in the U. S. in 1967 - far ahead of second-place Opel, with between 50,000 and 60,000.

Today, most auto makers (including Detroit's Big Three) are convinced that the imported car market in the U. S. will keep growing, with annual volume of 1-million units within reasonable shooting distance.

Pushing
The job of putting Ford seriously in the race against VW Opel, Volvo, and (especially lately) Japan's Toyota and Nissan, was given to Ford Div. Under Imported Vehicle Manager R.T.G. Platt, himself an import from Ford of Britain. A campaign was mounted to induce Ford Division dealers to take on Cortina.

Platt and his staff have worked hard, and by the end of this year some 800 U.S. Ford dealers will be handling the Cortina line. This will include the 1600-cc two-door sedan and the Cortina GT, an 88-hp, highperformance version. By the end of next year's first quarter, there will be about 875 Cortina dealers.

Cortina, like most of the other big-selling imports, has cashed in on the under-$2000 base price that no U.S. car meets except one model of Rambler. Fuel economy also is a major selling factor. Now, though, a change is creeping into the imports field. Toyota and Cortina both offer automatic transmissions as optional equipment, which would seem to mitigate both of their claims on economy. As one Detroit observer put it: "They're losing the big economy spread between imports and low-end American cars."

But - if sales growth is any criterion - apparently customers are willing to accept that sacrifice.

© 1967 McGraw-Hill, Inc.