Ford Motor Company of New Zealand Limited is the New Zealand subsidiary of Ford Motor Company. The Ford-New Zealand assembly and distribution began in 1936, following the successful representation of Ford's New Zealand business by The Colonial Motor Company (CMC). Ford-New Zealand was based in Seaview, Wellington. A second assembly plant was opened in Wiri, Auckland in 1973. The head office was moved to Auckland before Seaview was closed in 1988 and, in 1997, vehicle production at Wiri came to an end. Since then, all of the Ford-New Zealand product offerings have been fully imported. History The Ford Motor Company of Canada had been established in 1904, to build and to sell the Ford products to the territories that made up the British Empire, including New Zealand. This was a way to avoid the tariffs that existed upon American-made products imported into Empire states. In turn, Ford of Canada established privately-owned agencies in those various Empire states to handle the business. In the early 1920s, because the Ford business around the world had now become so large, the Ford directors concluded that leaving the assembly and distribution of their products to other than Ford-owned interests posed a quality-control risk. Ford of Canada acted first in South Africa, where their appointed agent had not been following Ford guidelines, and an assembly plant and head office was set up in Port Elizabeth. Then they looked to Australia, where it was decided the agency operation was not in Ford's best interests, and an assembly and a manufacturing operation was set up in Geelong, Victoria and opened in 1925. But, so satisfied with the CMC performance in their New Zealand territory that it was not until 1936 that Ford of Canada set up in New Zealand. It was the last of their oversea territories to be taken over, and Ford's relationship with CMC continued as that organisation retained and further developed retail Ford outlets. The Ford and CMC relationship has survived to this day, and it makes CMC-owned Ford dealerships amongst the oldest in the world. Choosing Wellington as the location for the huge new assembly plant made sense. Wellington is the capital, the centre of government and the base for most national and international corporations. The prerequisite port was well developed and good rail and road connections gave good access to and from all parts of the country. A new industrial area was