Ford Union
# Ford Union

The Ford Union (original spelling: Форд-Юніён) 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 has invested a capital of US$10.000.000 for building this plant. So it was the most expensive plant of the Ford concern in Western Europe at this time. The company existed from 1997 up to 2000 when it was closed due to low sales.

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.

The plant become well known on 23 July 1997 as 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

* Ford Transit 1997–2000
* Ford Escort 1997–2000
* Ford Escort Courier Ford Escort Van (GB) Ford Express (RUS) 1997–2000

## Sources

* ↑ "Hell on wheels?". The Economist. 24 July 1997. Retrieved 8 June 2017.
* ↑ "Ford To Halt Assembly in Belarus July Due To Low Demand". findarticles.com. 2 June 2000. Retrieved 27 July 2010.
* ↑ Russel R. Miller (1998). Selling to newly emerging markets. p. 192. ISBN 1-56720-044-3.
* ↑ "Ford Club Belarus • Просмотр темы – vin КОД". Forum.fordclub.org. Retrieved 29 July 2010.
* ↑ "VIN: FORD (europe)". CARInfo. Retrieved 29 July 2010.
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