Ford of Europe GmbH is a subsidiary company of Ford Motor Company founded in 1967 in Cork, Ireland, with headquarters in Cologne, Germany. History Ford of Europe was founded in 1967 by the merger of Ford of Britain, Ford Germany, and Irish Henry Ford & Son Ltd divisions of the Ford Motor Company. The front-engined Ford Transit range of panel vans launched in 1965, was the first formal co-operation between the two entities, simultaneously developed to replace the German Ford Taunus Transit and the British Ford Thames 400E. Prior to this, the two companies avoided marketing their vehicles in one another's domestic markets, and in much of the rest of western Europe were direct competitors, with totally separate product lines, despite being owned by the same American parent, in a similar manner to General Motors’ Opel and Vauxhall subsidiaries at the same time - indeed GM followed Ford's precedent in the 1970s by merging the operations of Opel and Vauxhall into General Motors Europe. The process took several years to complete, as new model ranges arrived and the older model ranges were gradually phased out. One of the key justifications for keeping separate divisions was to circumvent the high trade tariffs imposed on vehicles being exported between Britain and the European Economic Community, however once the UK joined the bloc in 1973, it made sense to standardise the model ranges throughout Britain and Continental Europe. Crucially merging the two companies' operations and having a common product range would allow Ford to double source cars and components from either British or Continental plants (the Fiesta for example was simultaneously assembled at Dagenham, Valencia and Cologne), something which was especially important due to the fraught industrial relations problems which plagued the British motor industry in the 1970s; and would prove crucial in Ford's ascendancy in the UK market and overtaking the troubled British Leyland. 1967–1973: Cortina and Escort The first new model launched after the creation of Ford of Europe was the Escort, built in England from October 1967 and launched to market at the beginning of 1968. The Escort was a rear-wheel drive small family saloon that took the place of the British Anglia range and was built in both Britain and from 1970, Germany, although it was sold there from the outset. It was first available as a two-door saloon and later in estate, van and four-door saloon bodystyles. Power