Henry Ford's Success Of The Ford Motor Company

In an effort to regain brand loyalty Ford has embarked on an ambitious automotive development process known as flexible manufacturing. In the post 9/11 economy Ford has witnessed five billion dollars in losses per quarter. The company is swimming in debt after their partnership with Mazda and Jaguar and can not afford to lose pace with their competitors. Many Ford plants in the United States witnessed production decreases of 30 percent with increases in overtime. This disparity resulted in payroll cuts and closed plants and finally losses of one billion dollars in 2002.

Thanks to GM, many of the popular vehicle brands that are available, they have produced. You can understand how vital GM has been to the automotive world when you find out that “it was the world’s largest car maker from 1931 to 2008, when it was surpassed by Toyota” (Costantini). The history of GM dates back to 1908. At this time or to be more specific on September 16, GM was founded in Flint, Michigan, by William C Durant (General Motors Company, 2011). The company started as Durant-Dot Carriage Company which started in 1886 and by 1900 was producing over 100,000 carriages a year (Flint).

(Gordon) Although having a Model T, was a sign of wealth, it was awfully cheaper than other cars being manufactured by the other manufactures. The Model T was different from all other cars being made at the time because Ford found a way to make his car affordable. The Low Price of the Model T sent a boom around the nation. "Over the next 19 years, Ford would build 15,000,000 automobiles with the Model "T" engine, the longest run of any single model apart from the Volkswagen Beetle." (www.hfmgv.org) "In 1900 America produced 4,100 automobiles; in 1908, the year of the Model T's advent, the number had risen to 63,500; in 1909 it had nearly doubled, to 123,900.

Automobiles as a Symbol of Prosperity in 1920’s America The automobile was one of the biggest and most important features of the 1920’s. Automobiles not only were a symbol of social status, but also had become so popular that nearly every family owned a car. Automobile production and sales fueled the economy and created an item that remains the centerpiece of daily life. Just as computers are now a part of daily life, the automobile did the same thing in the 1920’s. As men returned from war, the new and hot item to own was a car.

Sales and profits reached record levels in 1984, and in 1986 Ford surpassed General Motors in income for the first time since 1924. In addition, Ford’s market share increased to just under 20%. Ford Motor purchased several companies in the mid 1980’s, including the First Nationwide Financial Corporation, the New Holland tractor division of Sperry and 30% of Otosan, the automotive subsidiary of the Turkish Koc Group. The Ford Motors Company was, is, and will continue to be one of the greatest American enterprises.

Production skyrocketed for the Model T and by 1918, half of America had purchased these inexpensive and readily available cars. In 1919, Ford made his son Edsel as the president of the company, but Ford still kept control of the company’s day to day operations. That same year, Ford stopped making the Model T and invented the New and improved Model A , which had better horsepower and brakes, and better overall improvements. By this time, Ford had sold 15 million Model T’s and had opened plants that manufactured the Model

It is well know that the model T Ford was created by Henry Ford in the early 1900’s. It popularity struck Americans where it counted; in their wallets. The Model T was created by Henry Ford so that all Americans, not just the rich, could have a chance at owning an automobile. Most automobiles at the turn of the century cost somewhere in the range of $1,000.00 to $2,000.00 where the Model T’s off the floor price ran closer to $300.00. So how was Ford able to produce such an affordable car?

Through interchangeable parts, standard manufacturing, and a division labor, the demand greatly increased for the Model T. It was at this time in 1913 that Ford introduced the assembly line and forever changed our economy, our industry, and our culture. Ford’s concept of an assembly line sprang from the thought that a car could be produced much quicker if each person did one, single task. He applied this in his Highland Park plant, and cut down production time of one Model T to a fraction on the time. The carefully timed pace of a conveyer belt moving the parts along further speeded the process. With these new tactics, a factory could produce 40%-60% more cars per month.

Who created and refined the mass production assembly line? Well that would be Henry Ford of the Ford Motor Vehicle Company. He has created the first affordable vehicle and his company is still in business today. He established the first of the production plants in Detroit, Michigan. The Ford Motor Company is the fifth largest auto maker.

Ford wanted to produce cars for the masses making it so that everyone could afford a Ford car. By this time Ford had greatly improved the morale of his workers and his customer base had also grown. The production of his assembly line was producing a high amount of vehicles at reasonable prices. It soon spread to other manufacturing companies all over the country changing how things were produced from then on. (Scientific Management Theory and the Ford Motor Company,