Ford Motor Company was originally founded in 1902 by Henry Ford. The company would go on to be one of America’s most successful companies and one of the few to survive the Great Depression. Currently Ford is the fourth largest automaker in the world after General Motors,
Toyota, and
Volkswagen. Ford previously held the record of second-ranked automaker for 56 years before losing that position in 2007.
Ford is famous for having introduced mass production methods into the automobile industry. When the industry was still young, automakers typically only cranked out a few cars per day and much of the products were geared towards the wealthy. Ford’s early success, the Model T, was based on a business model aimed towards letting the middle class afford a car. With a streamlined production process and a fair wage for his workers, Ford produced more cars than all of its competitor’s combined resulting in large price drops. In 1914, a Ford assembly line worker could buy a Model T with only four months pay. As a result, Ford, along with the Model T were largely responsible for introducing the car to most of America.
Ford is currently undergoing a structural overhaul in response to the economic crisis of 2008.
