Ford Cortina - Non-United Kingdom Sales and Manufacture

Non-United Kingdom Sales and Manufacture

The Cortina was also sold in other right hand drive markets such as the Republic of Ireland where it was assembled locally, Australia, New Zealand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Malta and South Africa. Mark III Cortina estates were adopted as police cars in Hong Kong. The Cortina was also assembled in left hand drive in the Philippines, in South Korea (by Hyundai) and in Taiwan (by Ford Lio Ho) until the early 1980s.

The first two generations of the car were also sold through American Ford dealers in the 1960s. The Cortina competed fairly successfully there against most of the other small imports of its day, including GM's Opel Kadett, the Renault Dauphine, and the just-appearing Toyotas and Datsuns, although none of them approached the phenomenal success of the Volkswagen Beetle. The Cortina was withdrawn from the US market when Ford decided to produce a domestic small car in 1971, the Ford Pinto, though it continued in Canada until the end of the 1973 model year.

The third generation Cortina was also sold in some continental European markets, such as Scandinavia, alongside the Taunus. A small number were exported to Japan, with the rear of the bodyshell compressed to make it narrower — this was because cars in Japan were taxed on exterior dimensions, and having a narrower body enabled the Cortina to avoid being heavily taxed.

The Ford Cortina was also assembled in the Amsterdam Ford Factory from the launch in 1962 until 1975. Production was for the Dutch market, but also for export to non EU countries and even for export to the UK if the demand there was higher than the UK production capacity.