In the late 1960s, Ford set about developing a third-generation Cortina, which would be produced in higher volumes than before, and following the recent merger of Ford of Britain and Ford of Germany into the modern-day Ford of Europe, the car marked the convergence of the German Taunus and British Cortina platforms with only minor differences between the two, hence the car's internal name TC1, standing for Taunus-Cortina. It was also the last European car engineered by Harley Copp as Vice President Engineering and head of Brentwood, before he returned to Detroit.

The Mark III was heavily inspired by the contemporary "coke bottle" design language which had emanated from Detroit - the car sported the same fluted bonnet design and beltline from the North American Ford LTD of the same era. It replaced both the Cortina Mark II and the larger, more expensive Ford Corsair by offering more trim levels and the option of larger engines than the Mark II. Its sister car - the Taunus TC - sold in continental Europe was subtly different in appearance, having different door skins and rear wing pressings that toned down the drooping beltline in order to lose the "coke-bottle" appearance of the Cortina.

The MacPherson strut front suspension was replaced with more conventional double A-arm suspension to give the car a soft 'freeway' ride which gave the larger engines distinct understeer.

Ford UK originally wanted to call it something other than Cortina, but the name stuck. Although the Mark III looked significantly larger than the boxier Mark II, it was actually the same overall length, but 4 inches (100 mm) wider.Within the overall length, a wheelbase lengthened by more than 3 inches (76 mm) also contributed to the slightly more spacious interior.

Trim levels were now Base, L (for Luxury), XL (Xtra Luxury), GT (Grand Touring) and GXL (Grand Xtra Luxury). 1.3 L, 1.6 L and 2.0 L engines were offered, the 1.6 L having two distinct types - the Kent unit for models up to GT trim and a SOHC Pinto unit for the GT and GXL, the latter of which was also offered in 1600 form for a short while. 2.0 L variants used a larger version of the 1600 Pinto unit and were available in all trim levels except base.

Although no longer than its predecessor, the Mark III was a heavier car, reflecting a trend towards improving secondary safety by making car bodies more substantial.Weight was also increased by the stout cross-member incorporated into the new simplified front suspension set-up,and by the inclusion of far more sound deadening material which insulated the cabin from engine and exhaust noise, making the car usefully quieter than its predecessor, though on many cars the benefit was diminished by high levels of wind noise apparently resulting from poor door fit around the windows.Four-speed manual transmissions were by now almost universally offered in the UK for this class of car, and contemporary road tests commented on the rather large gap between second and third gear, and the resulting temptation to slip the clutch when accelerating through the gears in the smaller-engined cars: it was presumably in tacit acknowledgment of the car's marginal power-to-weight ratio that Ford no longer offered the automatic transmission option with the smallest 1298 cc-engined Cortina.

Four headlights and Rostyle wheels marked out the GT and GXL versions, while the GXL also had bodyside rubstrips, a vinyl roof and a brushed metal and black tail panel on the GXL and plain black one on the GT. All models featured a downward sloping dashboard with deeply recessed dials and all coil suspension all round. In general styling and technical make up, many observed that the Mark III aped the Vauxhall Victor FD of 1967.

The Cortina went on sale on 23 October 1970,but sales got off to a particularly slow start because of production difficulties that culminated with a ten-week strike at Ford's plant between April and June 1971, which was at the time reported to have cost production of 100,000 vehicles, equivalent to almost a quarter of the output for a full year.

 

In South Africa, the Cortina range included V6 "Essex"-engined variants, in both 2.5L and 3.0L forms.

From July 1971, a locally designed pick-up truck version (known in Afrikaans as a "bakkie") was also offered, and this remained in production after the Cortina was replaced by the Sierra.

The Cortina pickup was exported to the UK, in a lengthened wheelbase form, as the Ford p100 until 1988, when Ford divested from South Africa, and a European built pick-up truck version of the Sierra was introduced in its place.

The Mk V model range, introduced in 1980 for the South African market included: 1.3L (1980–1982), 1.6L GL (1980–1983), 2.0 GL, Ghia, (1980–1984), 3.0 XR6 (1980–1983), 1.6L Estate (1980–1983), 2.0 GL Estate (1980–1983), 3.0 GLS (1980–1984), 1.6 One-Tonner (1980–1985), 3.0 One-Tonner (1980–1985).

The XR6 was a sports version which used the Essex v6 and featured body aerofoils and sport seats.

In 1981 a version called the XR6 Intercepter was released as a homologation special made to compete in production car racing. They featured triple Weber dcnf carburetors, aggressive camshaft, tubular exhaust manifold, suspension revisions and wider Ronal 13 inch wheels. They produced 118 kW and were only available in red. 200 were produced.

Later on a special edition XR6 TF was released to celebrate 'Team Fords' racing success with the XR6. They were essentially XR6s in exterior and interior Team Ford colours, which were blue and white.

In 1983 a special version was created by Simpson Ford to appease the demand for an Intercepter-like Cortina and was sold through Ford dealerships countrywide. It was called the XR6 X-ocet and featured a Holley carbureter, aggressive camshaft and tuned exhaust. They came in red with a white lower quarter and did 0–100 km/h in 8.5 seconds with a top speed of 195 km/h.

South African Mk V models differed slightly from UK models with different wheels, bumpers and interior trim.

The last brand new Cortina was sold in South Africa by mid 1984,and it was often the countries top selling car.

Was far more popular than the Sierra and Mondeos which followed it.

The third generation appeared in January, 1977. For the first time, the C230 was available in either saloon and hardtop coupé form, but also as a hardtop saloon without B-posts. Buyers could choose between a 1.8 L four, a 2.0 l inline-six (carburetted or fuel-injected), a 2.8 L six or a 2.0 L diesel four. In autumn, 1978 the C230 received a mild facelift (Type C231), marked visually by square instead of round double headlights. The Toyota competitor was the Mark II coupe and sedan.

In January 1977 Nissan released the C230 facelift type. 4-door sedan body variant, HARDTOP, and 2 HARDTOP. L18 series engines are equipped with four-cylinder SOHC1.8L, straight-six-cylinder SOHCL20 type, L20E type, L28-.

One year later (January 1978) Nissan released 10 which adopted a special deep red body color in limited edition anniversary of "Laurel's crimson" released. Car Badge equipped with aluminum wheels and front grille.

The November 1978 saw minor change. Four corners of the headlights lighting ceremony. Auto air conditioning with the highest grade of "medalist" series SD20-grade and four-cylinder diesel engine vehicle OHV2.0L added. -1800 cc cars to newer Z18. 53 Regulatory gasoline vehicle emissions.

Later, on October 1979 2000cc4-cylinder gasoline car (Z20-) added to the AT and SGL and diesel vehicles.

In February 1980 an Electric sunroof and the optional hard top medalist was added. Laurel will be the first car sunroof.

The Volkswagen Passat is a large family car marketed by Volkswagen through six design generations since 1973. Between the Volkswagen Golf / Volkswagen Jetta and the Volkswagen Phaeton in the current Volkswagen line-up, the Passat and its derivatives have been badged variously as Dasher, Santana, Quantum, Magotan, Corsar and Carat. The successive generations of the Passat carry the VW internal designations B1, B2, etc.

In 2008, Volkswagen extended its range with the launch of the Passat CC, a "four-door coupé" version of the Passat.

Volkswagen currently markets two variants of the Passat globally. In January 2011, Volkswagen announced that the new mid-size sedan (NMS) being built at the Volkswagen Chattanooga Assembly Plant for the North American market would be named the Passat.Shanghai Volkswagen Automotive also manufactures the Passat NMS in its Nanjing factory. The NMS is not going to be sold outside the North American and Chinese Markets. A different B7 Passat model is sold outside of these markets. The Volkswagen Passat NMS won the 2012 Motor Trend Car of the Year.