Company type | Subsidiary |
---|---|
Industry | Automotive |
Founded | 1995 |
Founder | Charlie Guth de Grange |
Defunct | 2021 |
Headquarters | Horizonte, Ceará, Brazil |
Area served | Latin America and Caribbean |
Key people | Rogério Farias, [1] Mário Araújo Alencar Araripe, Demetrio Fleck (General Manager), Lyle Watters (President and CEO) |
Products | Troller T4 |
Owner | Ford |
Number of employees | 470 (January, 2021) |
Parent |
Ford Brasil (2007–2021) |
Website | troller.com.br |
Troller Veículos Especiais S/A (Troller) was a Brazilian off-road vehicle manufacturer. Founded in 1995 in Horizonte, Ceará, it became a subsidiary of Ford in 2007. [2] The Troller T4 was a flagship vehicle, which had featured successfully in several rally races around the world, including the Dakar Rally.[ citation needed]
The name Troller is a Brazilian adaptation of the English word Troll, which refers to a character of the Scandinavian legends that dwells forests and caves of Norway. [3]
Troller started in 1995, by Rogério Farias. In April 1996, the first prototype was built. [4]
In 1997, the company was bought by the entrepreneur Mário Araripe, who formed a partnership with Rogério Farias; the first gasoline-powered T4 was built. [4] [5] The mass-production of the vehicle started in 1999, when a factory was built in the municipality of Horizonte. [4]
In 2005, a manufacturing plant opened in Angola to build the T4 for the African market. [6] In January 2007, Ford do Brasil announced Troller's acquisition for R$400 million (2007) [7] ( US$205.44 million). [2] [8]
On 14 December 2009, a Troller made the news when it cleared São Paulo's flooded streets during a news broadcast, at the time, the company played along and tried to find the driver. [9] The T4 received a redesign in 2014.
The Troller plant in Horizonte was closed by the end of 2021, with Ford ending all its production in Brazil. [10] [11] The brand and the Technology was not put for sale, just the industrial complex which comprises a land of 120,142 km2 (46,387 sq mi) with 21,736 km2 (8,392 sq mi) of floor area. The special tax regime, valid until 2025, would also be linked to the factory. [8]
This vehicle is not to be mistaken with the Jeep Wrangler TJ, an off-road vehicle produced by Chrysler[ permanent dead link]