Matford

Matford was a car and truck manufacturer in France from 1934 to 1940.

In the early 1930s, the Ford Motor Company was quickly expanding its European production, while Mathis had financial problems, but also a large 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. There were high hopes for the Matford collaboration which, in 1934, was expected to last for fifty years.