c S



 


ô
  
  
 is an American multinational
corporation and the world's third largest automaker based on
worldwide vehicle sales. Based in Dearborn, Michigan, a
suburb of Detroit, the automaker was founded by Henry Ford
and incorporated in June 16, 1903 with $28,000 in cash from
twelve investors, most notably John Francis Dodge and
Horace Elgin Dodge who would later found the Dodge
Brothers Motor Vehicle Company. During its early years, the
company produced just a few cars a day at its factory on
Mack Avenue in Detroit, Michigan. Groups of two or three

S

   men worked on each car from components made to order by
 other companies. Henry Ford was 40 years old when he
founded the Ford Motor Company, which would go on to become one of the largest and most
profitable companies in the world, as well as being one of the few to survive the Great
Depression. The largest family-controlled company in the world, the Ford Motor Company has
been in continuous family control for over 100 years. Ford now encompasses many global
brands, including Lincoln and Mercury of the US, Jaguar and Land Rover of the UK, and Volvo
of Sweden. Ford also owns a one-third controlling interest in Mazda.

In 2007, Ford became the third-ranked automaker in US sales after General Motors and Toyota,
falling from the second-ranked automaker slot for the first time in the previous 56 years. Ford
was also the overall seventh-ranked American-based company in the 2007 Fortune 500 list,
based on global revenues in 2006 of $160.1 billion.[5] In 2007, Ford revenues increased to
$173.9 billion, while producing 6.553 million automobiles and employing about 245,000
employees at around 100 plants and facilities worldwide.[6] Also in 2007, Ford received more
quality survey awards from J. D. Power and Associates than any other automaker, with five
vehicles ranking at the top of their categories,[7] and fourteen vehicles ranked in the top three.[8]

Ford introduced methods for large-scale manufacturing of cars and large-scale management of
an industrial workforce, especially elaborately engineered manufacturing sequences typified by
moving assembly lines. Henry Ford's combination of highly efficient factories, highly paid
workers, and low prices revolutionized manufacturing and came to be known around the world
as Fordism by 1914

Ñ

 

Ford was launched in a converted factory in 1903 with

$28,000 in cash from twelve investors, most notably John
and Horace Dodge, who would later found the Dodge
Brothers Motor Vehicle Company. Henry Ford was 40 years
old when he founded the Ford Motor Company, which would

go on to become one of the largest and most profitable
companies in the world, as well as being one of the few to survive the Great Depression. The
largest family-controlled company in the world, the Ford Motor Company has been in continuous
family control for over 100 years.During its early years, the company produced a range of
vehicles designated, chronologically, from the Model A in 1903 to the Model S in 1908. That
year, Henry Ford introduced the Model T. Earlier models were produced at a rate of only a few a
day at a rented factory on Mack Avenue in Detroit, Michigan with groups of two or three men
working on each car from components made to order by other companies. The first Model Ts
were built at the Piquette Road Manufacturing Plant, the first company-owned factory. In its first
full year of production, 1909, about 18,000 Model Ts were built. As demand for the car grew, the
company moved production to the much larger Highland Park Plant, and in 1911, the first year
of operation there, 69762[1] Model Ts were produced, with 170211 in 1912.[2] By 1913, the
company had developed all of the basic techniques of the assembly line and mass production.
Ford introduced the world's first moving assembly line that year, which reduced chassis
assembly time from 12½ hours in October to 2 hours 40 minutes (and ultimately 93min),[3] and
boosted annual output to 202667 units that year[4] (in 1914 it was 308162, 1915 was 501462;[5]
by 1920, production would exceed one million a year).
 These innovations were hard on employees, and turnover of
workers was very high, while increased productivity actually
reduced labor demand.[6] Turnover meant delays and extra
costs of training, and use of slow workers. In January 1914,
Ford solved the employee turnover problem by doubling pay
to $5 a day, cutting shifts from nine hours to an eight hour day
for a 5 day work week (which also increased sales; a line
worker could buy a T with under four months' pay),[7] and
instituting hiring practices that identified the best workers,
including disabled people considered unemployable by other
firms.[8] Employee turnover plunged, productivity soared, and

 
  with it, the cost 6
vehicle plummeted. Ford cut prices again
and again and invented the system of franchised dealers who were loyal to his brand name.
Wall Street had disagreed with Ford's generous labor practices when he began paying workers
enough to buy the products they made.While Ford attained "international" status in 1904 with
the founding of Ford of Canada, it was in 1911 that it began to rapidly expand overseas, with the
opening of assembly plants in England and France, followed by Denmark (1923), Germany
(1925) and Austria (1925),[9] and also in Australia (1925) as a subsidiary of Ford of Canada. By
the end of 1919, Ford was producing 50 percent of all cars in the United States, and 40% of all
British ones;[10] by 1920, half of all cars in the U.S. were Model Ts. (The low price also killed the
cyclecar in the U.S.)[11] The assembly line transformed the industry; soon, companies without it
risked bankruptcy. Of 200 U.S. car makers in 1920, only 17 were left in 1940.[12]

It also transformed technology. Henry Ford is reported to have said, "Any customer can have a
car painted any color that he wants so long as it is black." Before the assembly line, Ts had
been available in a variety of colors, including red, blue, and green, but ironically, not black.
Now, paint had become a production bottleneck; only Japan Black dried quickly enough, and
not until Durco lacquer appeared in 1926 would other colors reappear on the T.[13]

In 1915, Henry Ford went on a peace mission to Europe aboard a ship, joining other pacifists in
efforts to stop World War I. This led to an increase in his personal popularity. Ford would
subsequently go on to support the war effort with the Model T becoming the underpinnings for
Allied military vehicles.

S



The Ford oval trademark was first introduced in 1907. The 1928 Model A was the first vehicle to
sport an early version of the Ford script in the oval badge. The dark blue background of the oval
is known to designers as Pantone 294C, the same color used in Finland's flag. The Ford script
is credited to Childe Harold Wills, Ford's first chief engineer and designer. He created a script in
1903 based on the one he used for his business cards. Today, the oval has evolved into a
perfect oval with a width-to-height ratio of 8:3. The current Centennial Oval was introduced on
June 17, 2003 as part of the 100th anniversary of Ford Motor Company.[14]

 


 

In 1919, Edsel Ford succeeded his father as president of the company, although Henry still kept
a hand in management. Although prices were kept low through highly efficient engineering, the
company used an old-fashioned personalized management system, and neglected consumer
demand for improved vehicles. So, while four wheel brakes were invented by Arrol-Johnson
(and were used on the 1909 Argyll),[15] they did not appear on a Ford until 1927. (To be fair,
Chevrolet waited until 1928.)[16] Ford steadily lost market share to GM and Chrysler, as these
and other domestic and foreign competitors began offering fresher automobiles with more
innovative features and luxury options. GM had a range of models from relatively cheap to
luxury, tapping all price points in the spectrum, while less wealthy people purchased used Model
Ts. The competitors also opened up new markets by extending credit for purchases, so
consumers could buy these expensive automobiles with monthly payments. Ford initially
resisted this approach, insisting such debts would ultimately hurt the consumer and the general
economy. Ford eventually relented and started offering the same terms in December 1927,
when Ford unveiled the redesigned Model A, and retired the Model T after producing 15 million
units.

On February 4, 1922 Ford expanded its reach into the luxury auto market through its acquisition
of the Lincoln Motor Company, named for Abraham Lincoln whom Henry Ford admired, and the
Mercury division was established in 1938 to serve the mid-price auto market.[17] Ford Motor
Company built the largest museum of American History in 1928, The Henry Ford.

Henry Ford would go on to acquire Abraham Lincoln's chair, which he was assainated in, from
the owners of the Ford Theatre. Abraham Lincoln's chair would be displayed along with John F.
Kennedy's Lincoln limousine in the Henry Ford Museum & Greenfield Village in Dearborn,
known today as The Henry Ford. Kennedy's limousine was leased to the White House by Ford.

President Franklin Roosevelt referred to Detroit as the "Arsenal of Democracy." The Ford Motor
Company played a pivotal role in the allied victory during World War I and World War II. As a
pacifist, Henry Ford had said war was a waste of time, and did not want to profit from it. He was
concerned the Nazis during the 1930s might nationalize his factories in Germany. During the
Great Depression Ford's wages may have seemed great to his employees but many of the rules
of the factories were very harsh and strict. Those were tense times for American companies
doing business in Europe. In the spring of 1939, the Nazis assumed day to day control of Ford
factories in Germany.

With Europe under siege, Henry Ford's genius would be turned to mass production for the war
effort. After Bantam invented the Jeep, the War Department handed production over to Ford.
When Consolidated Aircraft could at most build one B-24 Liberator a day, Ford would show the
world how to produce one an hour, at a peak of 600 6
month in 24 hour shifts. The specially-
designed Willow Run plant broke ground in April 1941. At the time, it was the largest assembly
line in the world, with over 3,500,000 square feet (330,000 m²) under one roof. Edsel Ford,
under severe stress, died in the Spring of 1943 of stomach cancer, prompting his grieving father
to resume day-to-day control of Ford. Mass production of the B-24 began by August 1943. Many
pilots slept on cots waiting for takeoff as B-24s rolled off the line.[18]

 


 

At the behest of Edsel Ford's widow Eleanor and Henry's wife

Clara, Henry Ford would make his oldest grandson, Henry Ford
II, President of Ford Motor Company.A Ford Taurus, one of
Ford's best-selling models. In its 21 year lifespan, it sold
7,000,000 units. It is the 4th best selling car in Ford's history,
behind only the F-150, the Model T, and the Mustang.Henry Ford
II served as President from 1945±1960, and as Chairman and CEO from 1960±1980. "Hank the
Deuce" led Ford to become a publicly traded corporation in 1956. However, the Ford family
maintains about 40 percent controlling interest in the company, through a series of Special
Class B preferred stocks.In 1947, Henry Ford passed away. According to g

6, an
estimated 7 million people mourned his death.Ernest Breech was hired in 1946 and became the
Executive Vice President. Then later became Board Chairman in 1955.In 1946 Robert
McNamara joined Ford Motor Company as manager of planning and financial analysis.

He advanced rapidly through a series of top-level management positions to the presidency of

Ford on 9 November 1960, one day after John F. Kennedy's election. The first company head
selected outside the Ford family, McNamara had gained the favor of Henry Ford II, and had
aided in Ford's expansion and success in the postwar period. Less than five weeks after
becoming president at Ford, he accepted Kennedy's invitation to join his cabinet, as Secretary
of Defense.

In the 1950s, Ford introduced the iconic Thunderbird in 1955 and the Edsel brand automobile
line in 1958. Edsel was cancelled after less than 27 months in the marketplace in November
1960. The corporation bounced back from the failure of the Edsel by introducing its compact
Ford Falcon in 1960 and the Mustang in 1964. By 1967, Ford of Europe was established.

Lee Iacocca was involved with the design of several successful Ford automobiles, most notably
the Ford Mustang. He was also the "moving force," as one court put it, behind the notorious
Ford Pinto. He promoted other ideas which did not reach the marketplace as Ford products.
Eventually, he became the president of the Ford Motor Company, but he clashed with Henry
Ford II and ultimately, on July 13, 1978, he was famously fired by Henry II, despite Ford posting
a $2.2 billion dollar profit for the year. In 1979 Phil Caldwell became Chairman, succeeded in
1985 by Don Petersen

Harold Poling served as Chairman and CEO from 1990-1993. Alex Trotman was Chairman and
CEO from 1993-1998, and Jacques Nasser served at the helm from 1999-2001. Henry Ford's
great-grandson, William Clay Ford Jr., is the company's current Chairman of the Board and was
CEO until September 5, 2006, when he named Alan Mulally from Boeing as his successor. As
of 2006, the Ford family owns about 5 percent of Ford's shares and controls about 40 percent of
the voting power through a separate class of stock.[19]

In December 2006, Ford announced that it would mortgage all assets, including factories and
equipment, office property, intellectual property (patents and trademark), and its stakes in
subsidiaries, to raise $23.4 billion in cash. The secured credit line is expected to finance product
development during the restructuring through 2009, as the company expects to burn through
$17 billion in cash before turning a profit. The action was unprecedented in the company's 103
year history.[20]