Ford entered the 1978 WRC season with the Escort RS1800, a car that had already accumulated considerable rally pedigree. Hannu Mikkola won the season-ending Lombard RAC Rally to close out 1978. Ford won the manufacturers' championship in 1979, with Mikkola, Björn Waldegård, and Ari Vatanen sharing driving duties in the Escort RS1800.
Ford did not officially enter cars between 1980 and 1985, instead focusing on development work. The Ford Escort RS 1700T programme was pursued but ultimately cancelled in 1983. Ari Vatanen did win the 1981 drivers' championship in a Rothmans-liveried Ford Escort RS, but this entry was run by David Sutton Cars, not the works team.
Ford returned to factory competition for 1986 with the RS200, a purpose-built Group B machine with four-wheel drive and a turbocharged Cosworth BDT engine generating 450 bhp. Swedish drivers Stig Blomqvist and Kalle Grundel carried the factory colours. The season was overshadowed by tragedy when an RS200 driven by Joaquim Santos left the road at Rally Portugal, killing three spectators. Ford withdrew their entry from that event. Group B was banned for 1987 following a series of fatal accidents, ending the RS200's competition career after a single season. Ford finished fifth in the manufacturers' championship behind Peugeot, Lancia, Volkswagen, and Audi.
Ford began the post-Group B era with the Sierra XR4x4 and then the rear-wheel-drive Sierra RS Cosworth. Didier Auriol gave Ford its 23rd top-flight victory in Corsica 1988, and the team finished runner-up in the manufacturers' championship that year behind Lancia. Through 1989 and 1990, Ford contested a limited schedule, and the new Sierra RS Cosworth 4x4 arrived late in 1990. The Escort RS Cosworth replaced the Sierra for 1993, introducing a more competitive platform. Carlos Sainz joined the team in 1996, winning the Indonesian Rally and scoring consistent podiums as the Escort RS Cosworth's final campaign saw Ford finish third in the manufacturers' championship.
The 1997 season marked a decisive shift: Ford outsourced its WRC operation to Malcolm Wilson's M-Sport company in Cumbria, replacing the long-established Boreham base. The Ford Escort WRC debuted under Repsol sponsorship with Carlos Sainz, who won in Acropolis and Indonesia. Ford finished runner-up in the manufacturers' championship that year.
M-Sport designed and built the Ford Focus WRC for 1999. Colin McRae arrived as lead driver, immediately generating the car's first victory at the Safari Rally in Kenya and following up in Portugal, though reliability problems limited the title challenge. McRae and Sainz drove together in 2000 and 2001; McRae won three consecutive rallies mid-2001 but a crash in his home round ended Ford's manufacturers' title chances as Peugeot secured the title.
The 2003 season saw younger drivers Markko Märtin and François Duval promoted to the top seats. Märtin scored his first WRC victory at the Acropolis Rally and became only the third non-Scandinavian winner of Rally Finland. In 2004, Märtin won in France, Spain, and Mexico to finish third in the drivers' championship.
The peak of the M-Sport Ford era arrived in 2006 with the hiring of Marcus Grönholm from Peugeot. Grönholm won in Monte Carlo, Sweden, Greece, and Finland, while teammate Mikko Hirvonen contributed further points. Ford claimed the manufacturers' title — their first since 1979 — benefiting from Sébastien Loeb's absence after a mountain-biking injury removed the Citroën driver for several rounds. Ford retained the manufacturers' title in 2007, with Grönholm again winning in Finland and Hirvonen taking victories in Norway and Japan.
In 2008 and 2009, Hirvonen and Jari-Matti Latvala pushed Citroën's Loeb hard but ultimately came up short. Hirvonen entered the 2009 finale in Wales with a one-point championship lead but finished second as Loeb took the victory and the title by a single point. Ford again finished second in the manufacturers' standings.
The team transitioned to the Ford Fiesta RS WRC for 2011 under new Abu Dhabi sponsorship. Hirvonen won in Sweden and Latvala in Wales, but Ford could only claim second in the manufacturers' standings behind Citroën. For 2012, Latvala remained and was joined by 2003 champion Petter Solberg. Latvala won in Sweden but Ford could not challenge Loeb's Citroën for the manufacturers' title. At the end of 2012, Ford ended its seventeen-year association with the M-Sport squad, withdrawing factory sponsorship.
On 26 November 2012, M-Sport announced Qatar-backed sponsorship for 2013 with Mads Østberg and Nasser Al-Attiyah. The team continued to race Ford Fiesta RS WRCs as a customer operation — no longer classified as the Ford World Rally Team. Ford's departure closed a chapter that had seen the Blue Oval compete in the WRC across three distinct eras, winning the manufacturers' championship in 1979, 2006, and 2007.