The Ford Union is a former joint venture of the Ford Motor Company, the Russian Lada importer Lada-OMC and the Belarusian government. It was located in Apčak near the city of Minsk in Belarus. Ford invested a capital of US$10,000,000 for building the plant. The company existed from 1997 up to 2000 when it was closed due to low sales.[1][2][3]
The Ford Union was not a manufacturer, it was only an assembler of SKD kits. The vehicles assembled by the Belarusian plant can be identified by the manufacturer code Y4F on the start on the VIN and an R on the eleventh position for the plant identification.[4][5]
The plant gained attention on 23 July 1997 as Belarusian president Alexander Grigoryevich Lukashenko was invited to a press conference with five strategically selected foreign journalists to discuss a predicted failure which later proved true.
Model overview
Sources
References
- Hell on wheels? The Economist, 24 July 1997, retrieved 8 June 2017^
- Ford To Halt Assembly in Belarus July Due To Low Demand Autoparts Report, 2 June 2000, retrieved 27 July 2010^
- Russel R. Miller. Selling to newly emerging markets 1998, retrieved 2024-06-27^
- Ford Club Belarus • Просмотр темы – vin КОД Forum.fordclub.org, retrieved 29 July 2010^
- VIN: FORD (europe) CARInfo, retrieved 29 July 2010^