Sign in

Private company

Samcor

Logo: Deono, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons3

Ford Motor Company of Southern Africa

The South African Motor Corporation, more commonly known as Samcor, was a South African car manufacturer created in 1985 through the merger of Ford Motor Company of Canada's South African subsidiary and Sigma Motor Corporation (previously known as Amcar), which produced Mazdas for the local market. As a result of the merger, Ford and Mazda began to share models in South Africa, as they already did in other markets like Australia.2 It is headquartered in Pretoria.1 It ceased to exist in 1998.1 Wikipedia text CC BY-SA 4.0

Last updated Oct 21, 2026.

Overview

1985Founded1
  • Industryautomotive industry1
  • HeadquartersPretoria1

See how the biggest companies compare on our leaderboards

The South African Motor Corporation, more commonly known as Samcor, was a South African car manufacturer created in 1985 through the merger of Ford Motor Company of Canada's South African subsidiary and Sigma Motor Corporation (previously known as Amcar), which produced Mazdas for the local market.2

Corporate structure

Samcor is part of a group headed by Ford Motor Company. 153 entities, 32 countries on record. Switch between the flow chart and the network, and select any entity to see its details.

Built from parent and subsidiary links from GLEIF, the Global Legal Entity Identifier Foundation (CC0); subsidiaries listed in Exhibit 21 of annual reports filed with the SEC; subsidiaries, stakes and holdings from Wikidata (CC0). Each entity in the chart links to its source.

The story

Founded by Ford Motor Company of Canada in 1985.1

Ford South Africa was based in Port Elizabeth (now part of the Eastern Cape province) and had been operating since 1923. In the early 1980s, it had both a vehicle assembly plant and an engine plant in Struandale, together with an older assembly plant in Neave. After the merger with Sigma and the formation of Samcor, the engine plant continued to be operated by Samcor and in 2015 was still operating under Ford ownership. Both the assembly plants were closed and all vehicle production transferred to Samcor's Silverton Assembly Plant in Pretoria. The Struandale assembly and engine plants were subsequently sold to Delta Motor Corporation (now General Motors).

In 1984, after undergoing losses over the past two years, Sigma was restructured into a new company known as Amcar. The following year, it was merged with Ford South Africa to create the South African Motor Corporation (Pty) Ltd., known as Samcor for short. In 1988, Ford Canada divested its equity interest in Samcor and donated most of it to the Samcor Employees' Trust. However, Samcor continued to build Ford as well as Mazda and Mitsubishi products.

From Wikipedia’s article on Samcor, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4

Products and brands

The Silverton Assembly Plant (25°43′21″S 28°20′06″E) is located on Simon Vermooten Road, in an industrial area on the outskirts of Silverton. It is approximately 15 km (9 miles) east of Church Square, the centre of Pretoria. The township of Mamelodi is nearby, and many of Samcor's labour force came from there.

On the main site is the assembly plant itself and two office administration buildings. Adjacent is the Parts & Accessories warehouse which includes the Customer Service offices. Samcor also used to have a separate design studio and Service Training facilities, both in nearby Silvertondale. Both were closed in the 1990s.

Originally built in 1961 for Chrysler, early models assembled at Silverton included the Chrysler Valiant and the Peugeot 504. As of 2015, the assembly plant is still operating under Ford ownership. It now assembles only the Ford Ranger pick-up and, in smaller numbers, the Ford Everest.

From Wikipedia’s article on Samcor, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4

Subsidiaries and ownership

Parent company

Owners

From Wikidata.1

Timeline

  1. 1998Dissolved Dissolved1
  2. 1985Founded Founded1

Sources

The numbers on this page point here. Each one links to the record it came from.

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. 4