What is the full legal name of Ford?
Ford's full legal name is Ford Motor Company.
In corporate filings and regulatory documents, Ford Motor Company is the formal registered name of the U.S.-based parent company that oversees Ford's automotive operations and brands. While the public brand is simply "Ford," the legal entity used in official documents is Ford Motor Company, a Delaware corporation, with the parent company organizing its structure through subsidiaries in multiple jurisdictions.
Official legal name and jurisdiction
The primary legal designation for the U.S. parent is Ford Motor Company, a Delaware corporation. This is the name used in filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and other regulators.
Scope of the legal name
The name Ford Motor Company refers to the U.S.-registered parent corporation. Internationally, the Ford group operates through country-specific subsidiaries that may have locally registered names, but they are part of the Ford corporate family and ultimately under the Ford Motor Company umbrella.
- Ford Motor Company — the formal registered name of the U.S.-based parent corporation, a Delaware-registered entity.
- Other jurisdictions may maintain subsidiaries with their own local registered names, while Ford Motor Company remains the overarching parent entity.
In practice, investors, regulators, and the corporate registry use Ford Motor Company to refer to the parent company in the United States, with the broader Ford umbrella covering brands such as Ford and Lincoln and regional operations.
Additional context
Beyond the formal registered name, Ford is widely known by the brand name Ford and the shorthand Ford Motor Company in some contexts. The company’s legal structure includes the parent Ford Motor Company and numerous subsidiaries worldwide that handle manufacturing, sales, and services in their respective markets.
Summary
Ford Motor Company is the full legal name of Ford's U.S.-based parent corporation, registered as a Delaware corporation. This designation appears in regulatory filings and legal documents, while the brand operates globally through a network of subsidiaries under the Ford umbrella. The public-facing name remains Ford for branding, with Ford Motor Company serving as the formal corporate identifier.
