Matford was a French automotive manufacturer established as a joint venture in 1934 by local firm Mathis and US-based Ford Motor Company. The name Matford derived from both companies' names. The company ceased activities in 1940.
Overview
In the early 1930s, the Ford Motor Company was quickly expanding its European production, while Mathis S.A. had financial problems, but also a large, underutilized factory at Strasbourg (which, following frontier changes formalized in 1919, was now in France).
Ford were keen to increase production and the Mathis plant in Strasbourg seemed more suitable than their existing workshop in Asnières-sur-Seine. A joint venture between Ford and Mathis was created under the name of Matford S.A., formally created on 1 October 1934, and owned by Ford and Matthis in the proportion 60:40. The initial cars were locally assembled versions of contemporary American and British Ford models.
The intention had been expressed to produce the Matford models alongside those from Mathis but the last Mathis was actually made in October 1934, which was also the month in which Matford was formally founded. During 1935, under the energetic direction of Maurice Dollfus who had joined Ford in 1930, Ford poured massive amounts of capital into modernising the Strasbourg plant. Both featured a V-shaped windscreen and in 1938 a US style timber bodied estate car joined the range. The steel car bodies were purchased from the coachbuilders Chausson rather than being built inhouse.