Henry Ford was interested in technology since childhood, disassembling and reassembling mechanisms. He saw a steam locomotive on the streets of Detroit, and since then the car has become his raison d'être. The independently moving carriage changed the mind of the young man, who was predicted to have a future as an ordinary American farmer.
But Henry Ford disobeyed his parents and did his own thing: at the age of 16 he ran away from home into adulthood, worked, assembled his first car on his knees and drove it around the neighborhood, scaring horses and passers-by.
Two years later he improved the transmission belts and created another, lighter model. In 1899, he became the head of a car manufacturing company. He was 36 years old. But sales were not going well, investors were nervous and were looking for a way out. Henry Ford will not like the plan for transition to a new standard, from which Cadillac will subsequently grow. He had his own vision of a car that was distinguished by simplicity and accessibility.
At the age of 40, he will create a company named after himself with an investment of $28 thousand. In ten years, the millionth car will roll off the assembly line: the legendary Ford T, which became the most popular among Americans in the 20s. Its price was less than one thousand dollars, and over the years it dropped to 250. The industrialist acted globally: he invested profits in new production facilities around the world.
The provincial billionaire died at the age of 83 in 1947. His company is still family owned. Ford Motor Company is one of the five largest manufacturers.
Against all odds
Henry was born into a large family of immigrants from Ireland who settled in the suburbs of Detroit and were farmers. Mary Lithogot was 27 years old when she gave birth to her son Henry in 1863. The child's father, William Ford, was thirteen years older than his wife and had an authoritarian character. Maybe he inherited Irish hard work and an excitable temperament, but all the children got it from him: Henry did not like monotonous work around the house and in the field, he often ran to a neighbor to help repair equipment. His father desperately molded him into a farmer, his mother defended the guy. She lived a short life, dying at 37. Henry was 13. As soon as he graduated from church school, he decided to move to Detroit, which would soon become the birthplace of the most popular cars in America.
He worked at the plant of the famous entrepreneur George Westinghouse in a mechanical shop repairing locomotives. Heavy and inconvenient machines for rural needs, not many could afford them. Henry was thinking about creating light steam technology that could plow endless fields instead of a person. He, of course, thought about his father and that after his departure the large farm had lost another working hand. They were reconciled not by the car, but by the marriage of the unlucky son to the farmer's daughter Clara Bryant.
They met in a village club: she was 17, he was 20 years old. The father gave the newlyweds four dozen acres of land, in the hope that now he would settle down and take up a truly masculine business, and not some strange machines. But Henry secretly assembles his first car with an internal combustion engine, which moved on bicycle wheels. He drove it for almost two days and considered that the experiment was a success.
Soon he and Clara leave their home and go to Detroit again. The wife did not contradict her husband, she will always support him, and he will often tell how lucky he is to have her.
He was hired as an engineer by the Detroit Electric Company, which was owned by Thomas Edison.
They will meet at an event in New York, where the young man will be introduced to an already famous inventor as the creator of a car with a gas tank. Edison is 16 years older than Ford, but from the first days of their acquaintance they remained friends and exchanged ideas. For example, they come up with fuel cells together, and then Edison designs the first car batteries. Later he will become a partner in the search for an alternative to rubber tires. Naturally, they are passionate about cars, each of them was well versed in them.
Henry Ford many years later would buy a house next to his friend, and they would walk together like neighbors until the last day of Edison's life.
And in 1899, three years after joining Edison’s company, Ford quit and created his own company, the Detroit Automobile Company. It will be a difficult two years and continuous losses. After two years, he offers his partners a reorganization, a change of signage and a reduction in the price of products. But Henry Ford Company again does not live up to expectations. The plant does not make a profit, shareholders do not want to reduce the price tag. They hire a new man, Henry Leland, with a reputation as a tough engine guy.
The two Henrys had exactly opposite views on the organization of the plant. Ford increasingly began to feel unneeded by the company, he took the new development project, the rights to the company name and left. Cadillac will be created on the basis of Ford's initiative. And Henry Ford will not give up his goal of making a car for every American, he will find partners and, with a capital of $28 thousand, will establish the company that will lay the foundation for a giant industrial corporation known throughout the world.
And Leland will not be forgotten by them. In the 20s, his enterprise, the Lincoln Motor Company, was on the verge of bankruptcy and it would be bought out by the successful Ford at the suggestion of his twenty-nine-year-old son Edsel.
Leland will be left behind, just like his namesake once was.
Ford Motor Company
In 1903, Henry builds a future empire. The goal is to produce a car for the middle class, as light and fast as possible. Quantity – the more, the better. He completely rebuilds the economics of production, introduces standards for parts and mechanisms, launches an assembly line and pays workers the highest wages in the automotive industry. The in-line assembly cycle and low price turned out to be a winning step, Ford is achieving its first successes.
Five years later, his development of the Ford T brings success: the model is popular, and millions of copies are produced. After just one year, the market favorite costs $850; after three years, its price drops by $300. Six years after the launch of the T, the ten millionth car goes into production. Ten percent of the market belongs to him. By the end of 1914, the number of dealers exceeded seven thousand around the world, including enterprises using Ford technology that operated in Russia.
A successful industrialist increases workers' wages by five dollars and prepares to move to an eight-hour workday. Competitors do not understand his actions: why encourage him to take a day off if he can squeeze more out of a staff member. Ford valued employees; qualified employees came to him, saying goodbye to the companies of his competitors. For his workers, he introduced a flexible payment system for car purchases.
High earnings made it possible to provide almost the entire team with the most popular Ford-T model. The head of the company buys out all the shares of the shareholders and becomes the sole owner of his brainchild. In 1919, he transferred the presidency to his only son Edsel.
By the early 1920s, out of ten cars Americans bought, seven were Ford Ts. Henry becomes the unofficial “car king” and confirms this title by buying up the production facilities required to produce his car, right down to coal and ore mines. This allowed us to become independent from suppliers. In addition, in 1925, a small plane with the inscription “Ford” on the side took off. The airline created by the tycoon will produce almost 200 aircraft.
And Ford on earth, with minimal changes to the original model, brought fabulous money to its author until 1928.
Since that time, sales have fallen sharply, with General Motors and Chrysler taking the leading positions. Competitors called him "T" yesterday and mocked him.
He makes a forced decision to temporarily stop production, and devotes all his efforts to developing a new model. Almost simultaneously with the beginning of the period of American depression in the economy, Ford A was released: it had brake pads on the wheels, hydraulics and a protective windshield. All these innovations were persuaded to be introduced into production by Excel Ford and my father did not immediately, but he obeyed.
If not for the crisis, this model would have been sold out just as well as the previous copy.
On a war footing
On the eve of World War II, Ford cars occupied twenty percent of the American market. In Germany, his business was becoming more and more in demand, the Nazis were preparing for an attack on the USSR, and they needed military equipment. Henry Ford quickly reoriented production: he did not want to miss out on profits. In France, on Nazi-occupied territory, his plant will produce aircraft engines, trucks and cars, and tracked vehicles.
A large contribution to Hitler's party will allow the industrialist to maintain and increase his business. It was said that the Nazi leader preferred his model to others. Back in the 30s, a portrait of a successful entrepreneur was allegedly seen on the wall in Hitler’s office. And in 1938 he was awarded the prestigious “Grand Cross of the Golden Eagle” for foreigners.
In 1943, at the height of the war between Germany and the USSR, the tycoon turned 80 years old. He returns to the chair of the company's president due to the death of his son. Edsel died at the age of 49 from cancer. He is survived by his wife Eleanor and four children. The elder William, named after his grandfather, will take the helm of the company in two years. He will join the board of directors after the death of his grandfather and will head the financial committee until 2005.
The death of the head of the corporation will occur from a cerebral hemorrhage in early April 1947. Next to him will be his faithful wife Clara, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
Several books have been written about the successful billionaire and his life journey. One wartime account says Ford repented of his actions after watching a film about Nazi atrocities and concentration camps.
Ford Motor Company still competes with General Motors, losing slightly to it in capitalization. The Ford empire is valued at about $60 billion on the market and is still controlled by Ford's heirs, who have 40 percent of the shares.
Most Americans believe that Henry Ford invented the automobile. Everyone is sure that Henry Ford invented the conveyor, although 6 years before Ford, a certain Ransom Olds used moving carts in production, and belt conveyors were already used in grain elevators and meat processing plants in Chicago. Ford's merit is that he created mass production. He came up with the car business. When enterprises became economically organized, there was a demand for a manager. The 20th century became the century of management. But in order to achieve this, creators had to appear at the beginning of the century. Henry Ford was such a creator. And for this he was recognized by Fortune magazine as the best businessman of the 20th century.
Henry Ford built the largest industrial production of the early 20th century and earned $1 billion ($36 billion in today's dollars) from it; his principles had a huge impact on US public life. He sold 15 and a half million Ford T cars, the assembly line became familiar and necessary. Ford began to pay workers twice as much and thereby created a class of "blue collar" workers. His workers saved money to buy “their” car - a Ford T. Ford didn't create the demand for cars, he created the conditions for the demand. American management was born in the struggle against Ford's principles. The founders of management theory formulated their principles in an absentee dispute with Ford, and one of the first American practical managers, Alfred Sloan from General Motors, defeated Henry Ford in a head-to-head battle.
The incredible success of Ford the entrepreneur ended in 1927 with the collapse of Ford the manager. By this time, Ford could no longer change. He believed so much in his success and that he was right that he did not notice the change in time when the process of organizing successful production moved into the management stage. Ford once said: “Gymnastics is complete nonsense. Healthy people don’t need it, but it’s contraindicated for sick people.” The same was his attitude towards management. Only the product matters. If it is good, it will bring profit, but if it is bad, then no financial injections, no wonderful management will make it successful. Ford despised the art of management. He spent less time in the office than in the workshop. Financial papers irritated him. He hated bankers and only accepted cash. He called financiers speculators, thieves, saboteurs and even robbers, and shareholders - parasites.
“How many people are sure that the most important thing is the structure of the factory, sales, financial resources, business management,” Ford marveled. “The most important thing is the product itself, and any forcing of production before the product has been improved means a waste of effort.” Ford launched mass production when he achieved a universal, that is, ideal, from his point of view, product. Then the established production cycle creates the car, managers take into account only the overall output, Ford himself makes sure that the departments work in harmony, and the profit flows by itself. In his company, Ford single-handedly made all important decisions. The market strategy was to use "penetration prices." The annual increase in production volume, constant reduction of costs, and regular reduction in car prices created stable demand and growth in profits. Profits were returned to production. Ford paid nothing to shareholders. Having become a successful maverick entrepreneur, Ford considered commercial success the best confirmation of his theory. He never tired of repeating: “Only work can create value.”
American dream in its purest form
Henry Ford was born into a poor family, became rich and famous. Americans may forget the name of their president, but they will always remember the name of their car. Henry Ford's life was dominated by one idea. He suffered defeats, endured ridicule, fought intrigues. But he achieved everything he dreamed of. Henry Ford created the universal automobile and became a billionaire. He lived his whole life with his wife Clara, who believed in him and always supported him. When asked if he would like to live his life again, Ford replied: "Only if he could marry Clara again." His biography could be used to make a Hollywood film.
He was born on July 30, 1863, the son of an American farmer near Dearborn, Michigan. The family was not rich, the father worked all day in the field. Once, twelve-year-old Henry and his parents went to Detroit and for the first time saw a carriage with a motor - a locomobile. The cart without a horse made a strong impression on the smart boy. The boiler was heated with coal, the locomotive was barely dragging along the rural road and stopped to let the Ford cart pass. While his father, who was driving the horses, tried to pass, Henry spoke to the driver. He was terribly proud of his unit, so he began to show how the chain was removed from a moving wheel and how the drive belt was put on.
From that day on, Henry spent his days trying to design a moving mechanism. His toys became tools, his pockets were filled with nuts, and after Henry's parents gave him a watch, he took it apart and put it back together. When you scold your children for deciding to see what's inside a tape recorder, remember Henry Ford. At the age of 15, Henry repaired his neighbors' broken watches and assembled simple mechanisms from all sorts of rubbish. He didn't finish school. “You can’t learn anything practical from books - a machine is to a technician what books are to a writer, and a real technician should, in fact, know how everything is made. From here he will get ideas, and since he has a head on his shoulders, he will try to apply them,” Henry Ford would later write.
Henry Ford's father wanted his son to work with him on the farm and continue the business. But the future founder of the automobile empire broke away from his roots and entered a mechanical workshop as an apprentice. At night he worked part-time for a jeweler, repairing watches. He had no rest in his work, sometimes putting in 300 hours for repairs. Soon, however, the watch ceased to interest Ford. He decided that watches were not a necessity and that not all people would be keen to buy them. He was drawn to self-propelled carriages. At the age of 16, he learned to drive a locomotive and got a job at Westinghouse as an expert in assembling and repairing locomobiles. These cars traveled at a speed of 12 miles per hour and were used as draft power. The weight of the locomobile was several tons, they were so expensive that only a rich farmer could buy them. Ford decided to build a light steam cart that could replace the horse for plowing. It was necessary to invent and build a steam engine that was light enough to pull an ordinary cart or plow. “To transfer the difficult, harsh work of the farmer from human shoulders to steel and iron has always been the main object of my ambition,” said Ford.
But it was not a mass product. People were more interested in a car that they could drive on the roads than in a tool for field work. And Henry assembled a cart with a steam engine. But it was not very pleasant to sit on a boiler under high pressure. For two years, Ford continued experiments with various boiler systems and became convinced that a light horseless carriage with a steam engine could not be built. And then he first heard about gas engines. Like any new idea, it was received with curiosity, but without enthusiasm. Ford recalled that at that time there was not a single person who believed that the internal combustion engine could have further distribution: “All intelligent people irrefutably proved that such an engine could not compete with the steam engine. They did not have the slightest idea that that someday he will conquer the field of action." From that moment on, he disdained the advice of “smart people.”
In 1887, Henry Ford designed a model of the engine. To do this, he had (as in childhood) to disassemble a real engine that came to his workshop and figure out what was what. To continue his experiments, Ford returned to the farm - but not to plow, but to set up a workshop in the barn. His father offered Henry 40 acres of woods if he would stop tinkering with cars. Henry cheated: he agreed, set up a sawmill, and got married. But he spent all his free time in the workshop. He read a bunch of books on mechanics, designed engines, tried to adapt a motor to a bicycle. But it was impossible to advance further on the farm alone, and then Ford was offered a position as an engineer and mechanic at the Detroit Electric Company with a salary of $45 a month.
His new colleagues laughed at him and tried to convince him that the future lay in electricity. It was then that Ford met Thomas Edison for the first time, told him about his work and shared his doubts. Edison became interested: “Every lightweight engine that is capable of developing a greater number of horsepower and does not need any special source of power has a future. We do not know what can be achieved with electricity, but I believe that it is not omnipotent. Carry on with your work.” over your car. If you achieve the goal you have set for yourself, then I predict a great future for you." Now no one could convince him otherwise. We must continue to work. After all, in addition to his devoted wife, Thomas Edison himself believed in him.
In 1893, Ford assembled his first car, the Quadricycle. To get out of the barn, we had to break down the wall. When Henry Ford rode around Detroit on his “quadricycle,” the horses shied away from him, and passers-by surrounded the unusual cart, which not only drove itself, but also rumbled throughout the entire neighborhood. As soon as Ford left the “quadricycle” unattended for a minute, some curious, impudent gentleman would immediately climb into it and try to ride it. I had to chain the car to a lamppost every time I parked. Although there were no traffic laws at that time, Henry received a police permit and became America's first officially approved chauffeur. In 1896, he sold the car for $200. This was his first sale. The money was immediately used to create a new, lighter car. He believed that heavy cars were for only a few. A steam locomotive, tank or tractor cannot be in mass demand. However, if Henry Ford now saw the Ford Expedition, he might reconsider his views. But Ford believed that a mass product should be light and accessible: “Extra weight in any object is as meaningless as a badge on a coachman’s hat - perhaps even more meaningless. A badge may, after all, serve for identification, while "Excess weight only means wasted energy."
Although by this time he had already been promoted to first engineer with a monthly salary of $125, his experiments with the automobile were met with no more sympathy from the director than his former attraction to mechanics had been from his father. “His words still ring in my ears: “Electricity - yes, it belongs to the future. But gas?! No!” Ford later recalled. The company offered Ford a high post on the condition that he quit doing nonsense and finally devote himself to the real business. Ford chose a car. On August 15, 1899, he resigned from service in order to devote himself to the automobile business.
Myself. Only myself
There were quick-witted partners who suggested that Ford create the Detroit Automobile Company to produce racing cars - they did not see any other use for cars at that time. Ford tried to champion the ideas of mass production, but was left alone. “Everyone had one thought: to collect orders and sell as expensive as possible. The main thing was to make money. Since I had no influence in my post as an engineer, I soon realized that the new company was not a suitable vehicle for the implementation of my ideas, but solely a monetary enterprise, which, moreover, brought in little money." In March 1902, he left his post and firmly decided never to occupy a dependent position again.
Ford never considered speed to be the main advantage of a car, but since attention could only be attracted by winning a race (“a more unreliable test is hard to imagine,” he grinned), he had to build two cars in 1903 designed solely for speed. “The descent from Niagara Falls must seem like a pleasant walk in comparison,” he recalled of the first trip. For the races, Ford was recommended to the cyclist Oldfield, who had never driven a car and was looking for new sensations. He learned to drive in a week, and, getting into the car before the race, said cheerfully: “I know that death may await me in this cart, but at least everyone will say that I raced like the devil.” Oldfried never turned back or slowed down on the turns. He took off and did not slow down until the finish line. His victory attracted investor interest in Ford - it's easy to get money when you have the fastest car. A week later, the Ford Motor Company was formed.
Ford organized his enterprise the way he wanted. He chose the slogan: “If anyone refuses my car, I know it’s my fault.” The priority is a product that is simple, reliable, lightweight, cheap, and mass-produced. From the very beginning, Ford created not a car for the rich, but a car for everyone. He avoided luxurious finishes and cared little about the prestige of the brand. There were three financial principles. Ford did not attract foreign capital to the company, bought only in cash, and invested all profits back into production. Ford believed that only those who participated in the creation of the product, in the work itself, were entitled to dividends. All efforts of this work were aimed at developing a universal car model.
Each of his first cars has its own story. Model A, built in 1904 as number 420, was purchased by Colonel Collier of California. After driving for several years, he sold it and bought a new Ford. Model A No. 420 changed hands until it became the property of mountain resident Edmund Jacobs. He used the car for several years for the most difficult work, bought a new Ford and sold the old one. In 1915, the car came into the possession of a certain Cantello, who took out the engine and adapted it to a water pump, and attached shafts to the chassis, so that the engine began to faithfully pump water, and the chassis, to which a mule was harnessed, replaced the peasant cart. The moral of the story is clear: a Ford car can be taken apart, but it cannot be destroyed.
Ford didn’t come up with fancy names for its cars. He used letters of the English alphabet in a row. The previous models, although they sold well, remained experimental. Model T has become universal. Its characteristic feature was simplicity. The ad read: "Every kid can drive a Ford."
Creating an Ideal
And one fine morning in 1909, Ford announced that in the future it would produce only one model - the "T", and that all cars would have the same chassis. Ford said: "Every customer can have a Ford T in any color, as long as that color is black." In its announcement, Ford tried to change the perception of the car as a pleasure carriage. “A car is not a luxury, but a means of transportation,” Ostap Bender later parodied Henry Ford’s principle. But most importantly, Ford believed in the possibility of mass sales of cars at a time when buying a car was treated the same as buying an airplane is now treated. "I intend to build a car for general use. It will be large enough to accommodate a whole family, but small enough for one person to drive it. It will be made of the best materials, built by first-class workmen and constructed using the simplest methods, which are only possible in modern technology. Despite this, the price will be so low that any person receiving a decent salary will be able to buy himself a car to enjoy a vacation with his family in the free, clean air," Ford said in a statement.
It is easy to believe in an ideal while it is not available. A tangible ideal is suspicious. Everyone believed that you couldn’t do something well and sell it cheap, that a good car couldn’t be made at all for a low price - and in general, was it advisable to build cheap cars when only the rich bought them? They said: “If Ford does as he said, he’ll be done for in six months.” They laughed at Ford, called his enterprise “the greatest can factory,” and the Model T was affectionately dubbed “Tin Lizzie.” Spare parts for Lizzie were so cheap that it was cheaper to buy new ones than to repair old ones. In order to sell a lot, it was necessary not only to reduce the price of the car, but also to convince the buyer of the quality of the car. In the early days of the automobile industry, selling a car was viewed as a profitable transaction. They received money from the buyer, the commission agent earned his interest and immediately forgot about the eccentric who bought himself an expensive toy. Every car owner was considered a rich man worth squeezing. "We couldn't afford to let our sales be hampered by stupid thugs," Ford declared. It infuriated him when “a dissatisfied customer was looked at not as someone whose trust had been abused, but as a very annoying person, or as an object of exploitation from which money could be squeezed again by putting in order a job that should have been needed in the first place.” do it properly. For example, they were very little interested in the further fate of the car after sale: how much gasoline it consumed, what was its real power. If it was not suitable and individual parts needed to be replaced, so much the worse for the owner. They considered themselves entitled to sell individual parts as expensive as possible, based on the theory that a given person, having bought a whole car, must have the parts at all costs, and is therefore ready to pay well for them.”
Ford's policy, focused on mass sales, was different: “Whoever purchased our car had in my eyes the right to permanent use of it. Therefore, if a breakdown occurred, it was our duty to ensure that the crew was again fit for use as soon as possible.” ". This service principle was critical to Ford's success.
His fight
The competitors became worried. In 1908, the Detroit Association of Automobile Manufacturers, intimidated by Ford's hype about creating a cheap car, tried to bring Ford in to control prices and production levels. They proceeded from the assumption that the market for selling cars was limited, so it was necessary to monopolize the business. On September 15, 1909, Ford lost the case on a formal basis: a certain Sölden, back in 1879, patented a “moving cart” that had nothing in common with Ford cars. However, a syndicate of automakers, relying on that patent, tried to take over the production of all American cars. After the trial, Ford's opponents spread rumors that buying Ford vehicles was a criminal offense and any buyer ran the risk of arrest.
Ford's counter move showed confidence in victory. He published an advertisement in all influential newspapers: “We bring to the attention of those buyers who, under the influence of the agitation undertaken by our opponents, have any doubts that we are ready to issue to each individual buyer a bond guaranteed by a special fund of 12 million dollars, so that each buyer secured against any accidents prepared by those who seek to take possession of our production and monopolize it. The said bond can be obtained upon request. Therefore, do not agree to buy products of lower quality at insanely high prices based on the rumors spread by the venerable company of our enemies." A better advertisement could not have been imagined. Nothing contributed to Ford's fame more than that trial. During the year, Ford sold more than eighteen thousand cars, and only 50 buyers claimed bonds. The case against the Automobile Manufacturers Association was lost, but the trust of buyers was won. In 1911, a new court reversed the decision in Ford's favor. “Time spent fighting competitors is wasted; it would be better spent on work,” Ford said. Every year he reduced the cost of the “tin” and in 1927 solemnly left the factory in the fifteen millionth Ford T, which had changed little in 19 years. Just as Henry Ford's principles did not change.
Personnel policy
When recruiting new employees, Ford was categorically against hiring "competent persons." For this he was constantly accused of being uneducated. Henry Ford once took offense at a Chicago newspaper for using the word “ignorant” and sued. The newspaper's lawyer decided to demonstrate Ford's ignorance to the court and asked him the question: "How many soldiers did Britain send to America to suppress the rebellion of 1776?" Ford was not taken aback: “I don’t know exactly how many soldiers were sent, but I’m sure that significantly fewer returned home.” Then he pointed his finger at the lawyer and said: “If I really needed to answer your stupid questions, then all I had to do was press the right button in my office, and I would have specialists at my disposal who could answer any question. Why should I fill my head with nonsense to prove that I can answer any question?"
Although he himself announced that he would never hire a specialist. “If I wanted to kill my competitors by dishonest means, I would provide them with hordes of specialists. Having received a lot of good advice, my competitors would not be able to get to work,” Ford quipped and mercilessly fired everyone who could imagine himself as an “expert.” Only someone who did something with his own hands could be worthy of Ford's respect. He believed that everyone should start at the bottom of the work ladder. The old experience and past of new employees were not taken into account. “We never ask about the past of a person looking for a job with us - we do not accept the past, but the person. If he was in prison, then there is no reason to assume that he will end up in it again. I think, on the contrary, what if Once he is given the opportunity, he will be especially careful not to get into it again. Our office of employees therefore does not refuse anyone on the basis of his previous lifestyle - whether he comes out of Harvard or from Sing Sing prison, it makes no difference to us; we do not even ask about "He must have only one thing: the desire to work. If this is not the case, then, in all likelihood, he will not seek a place with us, because in general it is quite well known that Ford is doing business."
Ford believed that in his factory, everyone eventually gets to where they deserve to go. That the wave will carry a capable person to the place that rightfully belongs to him. “The fact that there are no “free” posts for him is not an obstacle, since we, strictly speaking, have no “posts,” wrote Ford. “Our best workers create their own place. The appointment is not connected with any formalities ; this person immediately finds himself in a new business and receives a new reward." The factory manager started with the machinist. The director of a large plant in River Rouge was hired by a sample manufacturer. The head of one of the important departments started as a garbage collector.
His achievements
In his quest to reduce production costs, Ford noticed that workers were spending more time sourcing and delivering material and tools than actually working. I didn’t want to pay for workers’ walks around the workshop. “If twelve thousand employees saved ten steps each day, the result would be a saving of space and power of fifty miles,” Ford calculated and realized that it was necessary to deliver work to the workers, and not vice versa. He formulated two principles: to force the worker never to take more than one step and never to allow him to have to lean forward or to the sides while working. On April 1, 1913, Ford launched the assembly line. The worker who drove the bolt did not tighten the nut at the same time; whoever installed the nut did not screw it tightly. None of the workers lifted or dragged anything.
On January 12, 1914, Ford sets the minimum wage at $5 a day (twice the industry average!) and reduces the workday to eight hours. “The ambition of every employer would be to pay higher rates than all his competitors, and the ambition of the workmen would be to make it practically easier to realize this ambition,” Ford justified his decision. At the same time, he pursues a policy of using the labor of disabled people, who are paid the same as healthy workers. The benefit was different: disabled people were better prepared for the monotony of assembly line work, because no qualifications were required. Thus, a blind man was assigned to the warehouse to count the screws and nuts intended to be sent to the branches. Two healthy people were engaged in the same work. Two days later, the head of the workshop asked that both healthy men be assigned another job, since the blind man was able to perform the duties of two others along with his work.
“An employer will never gain anything if he examines his employees and asks himself the question: “How much can I reduce their pay?” It is equally of little use to the worker when he shakes his fist at the employer and asks: “How much can I squeeze out of you?” Ultimately, both parties must stick to the enterprise and ask themselves the question: “How can this industry be helped to achieve a fruitful and secure existence, so that it gives us all a secure and comfortable existence?” - Ford insisted that the industrialist’s partners are not the shareholders, but the creators product.From January 1914, he notified the workers of the plan for their participation in profits.
Ford believed that profit belonged to three groups: first, to the enterprise, to maintain it in a state of stability, development and health; secondly - to the workers, with the help of whom profit is created; thirdly, to a certain extent, so does society. A thriving enterprise brings profit to all three participants - the organizer, producers and buyer. According to Ford, a manager's responsibility is to ensure that his subordinates have the opportunity to create a decent living for themselves. In other words, to be able to buy Ford cars. This was the first step towards the formation of a blue collar class.
"Beware of deteriorating the product, beware of lowering wages and robbing the public. More brain in your working method - brain and more brain! Work better than before, only in this way can you provide help and service to all countries. This can always be achieved," - Ford urged. His statements were viewed with suspicion, but they were not just a publicity stunt. One year, profits so exceeded expectations that Ford voluntarily refunded $50 to everyone who bought a car: “We felt like we had unwittingly overcharged our customers by that amount.”
Finance
The consequence of this policy of Ford was a conflict with shareholders. “If I were forced to choose between cutting wages and destroying dividends, I would not hesitate to destroy dividends” - such maxims could not find a response among partners. Ford invested all the money it earned in production. The company was growing rich, and shareholders, led by the Dodge brothers, hoped to receive dividends. They did not imagine that production could be limited to one single model. Ford scornfully compared them to the “creators of ladies' fashions”: “It is amazing how deeply rooted the conviction is that a brisk business, the constant sale of goods, depend not on winning the buyer’s trust once and for all, but on first getting him to spend money on the purchase.” item, and then convince him that he should buy a new item instead.”
Ford's principle was different: every part of the car should be replaceable so that, if necessary, it could be replaced with a more modern one. A good quality car should be as durable as a good watch. The Ford car may have been monotonous, but it was reliable. Shareholders revolted. Henry Ford, to lull their vigilance, resigned and handed over control to his son Edsel. In the meantime, he himself began to buy shares and very soon added the remaining 49% to the 51% at his disposal. There are no shareholders left as such. There was no one to pay dividends. Ford put Edsel in charge of finances, and he continued to single-handedly manage production. The policy remains unchanged: it is better to sell a large number of cars with a small profit than a small number with a large profit.
How did Ford manage to buy up almost $60 million worth of shares? He discovered a new way to spend less money in a business - by accelerating turnover. On January 1, he had $20 million in cash at his disposal (remember that Ford only accepted cash?!), and on April 1, he had $87 million, 27 million more than was needed to pay off the debt for the shares. He sold all property that was not related to production - he received $24,700,000, and another $3 million was earned for foreign production. I bought the railway in order to lose less on transportation - the gain was 28 million. The sale of war loans and by-products brought in 11,600,000. In the end - 87,300,000.
“If we had accepted the loan,” Ford wrote, “our desire to reduce the cost of production methods would not have been realized. If we received the money at 6%, and, including commission money and so on, we would have to pay more, then only interest on an annual basis production of 500,000 cars would amount to a premium of $4 per car. In short, instead of better production, we would only acquire a heavy debt. Our cars would cost about $100 more than now, our production would at the same time be reduced, because after all, the circle of buyers would also be reduced.”
Management - according to Ford
In 1920, having sold everything that was not related to the automobile industry, Ford reconstructed the factory. The “loafers” were transferred from the management building to the workshops. “A large building for administration may sometimes be necessary, but the sight of it awakens the suspicion that there is an excess of administration here,” he said. All employees who did not agree to return to the machine were fired. Internal telephones between departments are disabled. Ford coined the motto: “Less administrative spirit in business life and more business spirit in administration.” This meant that the work of lower managers was reduced to accounting, the enterprise had no organizational charts and horizontal connections between departments, production meetings were eliminated, no “extra documentation” was kept, and work order logs were abolished. Proudly declaring that you can't build a car with statistics, Ford abolished statistics.
The purely utilitarian approach to management was called "Fordism". To be clear, let us quote the founder himself: “The greatest difficulty and evil that one has to contend with when large numbers of people work together is excessive organization and the resulting red tape. In my opinion, there is no more dangerous calling than the so-called organizational genius. He loves to create monstrous diagrams, which, like a family tree, represent the ramifications of power to its last elements. The entire trunk of the tree is hung with beautiful round berries, which bear the names of persons or offices. Each has his own title and known functions, strictly limited to the volume and sphere of activity of his berries. If the head of a team of workers wants to contact his director, then his path goes through the junior head of the workshop, the senior head of the workshop, the head of the department and through all the director’s assistants. As long as he conveys to the right person what he wanted to say, this, in all likelihood , has already become a thing of history.It takes six weeks for an employee's paper from the bottom left berry in the corner of the great administrative tree to reach the chairman or president of the supervisory board. When she happily pushed her way up to this all-powerful face, her volume increased like an avalanche, to a whole mountain of criticism, suggestions and comments. It rarely happens that it comes to official approval before the moment for its implementation has already expired. Papers move from hand to hand, and everyone tries to shift responsibility onto another, guided by the convenient principle that “a mind is good, but two are better,” Ford wrote in his book “My Life, My Achievements.”
He saw the enterprise as “a working communication of people whose task is to work, and not to exchange letters.” There is no need for one department to know what is happening in another. In his company, he left only lower-level managers who were accountable for the products produced by their departments. No meetings or consultations were held: the horde considered them completely unnecessary. The overly complex organizational structure, according to Ford, led to the fact that it was not clear who was responsible for what. Everyone had to be responsible for the small area of work entrusted to him - that is, in management he used the organizational conveyor belt. He shuffled the minor leaders, carefully making sure that they did not shift the blame onto each other. He also did not encourage friendly relations at work, fearing that people would begin to cover up his friend’s mistakes.
“When we work, we must take things seriously; when we have fun, then with all our might. There is no point in mixing one with the other. Everyone should set himself the goal of doing a good job and getting a good reward for it. When the work is over, you can have fun. That’s why then Ford factories and enterprises do not know any organization, no posts with special responsibilities, no developed administrative system, very few titles and no conferences... We have in the bureau exactly as many employees as are absolutely necessary, there are no documents at all, and therefore, there is no red tape. We place full responsibility on everyone. Each worker has his own job. The team leader is responsible for the workers subordinate to him, the workshop manager is responsible for his workshop, the department manager is responsible for his department, the director is responsible for his factory. Everyone is responsible know what is happening around him. The factory has been subordinated for many years to one single leader. Since we have neither titles nor official powers, there is no red tape and no abuse of power. Each employee has access to everyone; this system has become such a habit that the head of the workshop does not even feel insulted if one of his workers goes over his head directly to the head of the factory. True, the worker rarely has a reason to complain, since the heads of the workshops know as well as their own names that any injustice will very soon be revealed, and then they will cease to be the heads of the workshops. If a person becomes dizzy from a high post, then this is discovered, and then he is either kicked out or returned to the bench. Work, only one work is our teacher and leader. Titles have an amazing effect. Too often they serve as a sign to get out of work. Often a title is equivalent to a badge of honor with the motto: “The owner of this is not obliged to do anything other than appreciate his high importance and the insignificance of other people.”
Always wanting more
Ford lashed out with aphorisms (“Failure is only an opportunity to start again smarter,” “More people give up than losers”), was a tough boss, but truly loved and cared for his workers. He opened a school, a hospital, and started a tradition of collective picnics and dinners. He was a strict but fair father, hammering old-fashioned truths into the heads of his scoundrels. If it were in his power, "Ord-T" would always be produced. When it had to be replaced in 1927, he closed production for six months. But it was too late: General Motors became the leader of the American automobile industry, having realized to refocus on the production of different brands and to offer the buyer an assortment of cars “for any purpose and any wallet.”
Ford took the collapse of his principles extremely hard. Hatred towards financiers spilled out with anti-Semitic bile (however, Ford later repented), the company was sliding down: not only GM, but Chrysler Corp. they studied demand, sold on credit (and not just for cash), developed successfully, and Ford still stuck to its once surprisingly successful principles. If he had been a general, he would have sent the staff officers to the front line and placed a heroic sergeant-major over them. Ford's soldiers would have been dressed, shod, well fed, he would have personally checked the thickness of the tanks' armor, and officer ranks would have been abolished. Before the battle, he would drive out in front of the army in a Ford T and lead it into the attack.
What's left: the assembly line, the blue collar workers, the dealer system and customer guarantees? Not only that: every mass product from the Big Mac to a disposable pen has a common parent - the Ford T automobile. His grandson Henry Ford II, after the death of his grandfather, hired a rescue team of educated managers led by the future US Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara. Henry Ford's principles were adjusted. The Ford-T was named the car of the century. The new Ford Focus was recognized as the best car of 1999. The slogan of the Ford Focus advertising campaign is: “Always want more.” True, the founder of the company himself meant something else by this. But was this Henry Ford, who was called a grumpy curmudgeon and an insane dictator, so simple? And didn’t he lay the foundations for today’s prosperity of the Ford empire?
Henry Ford
Henry Ford's production of practical, affordable cars helped improve the lives of many people around the world. By introducing the assembly line, Ford not only established mass production of cars, but also directed the development of industry along a new path.
Henry Ford was born in Springfield, Michigan on July 30, 1863. He was the eldest of six children of William and Mary Ford, who owned a successful farming business. Henry spent his childhood on his parents' farm, where he helped the family and attended a regular village school.
Henry's great interest in technology, which he showed at a very young age, allowed him to become one of the most famous industrialists in the world.
Experience
At the age of 12, Henry equipped a small workshop, where he enthusiastically spent all his free time. It was there that a few years later he designed his first steam engine. In 1879, Henry Ford moved to Detroit, where he got a job as an assistant driver. Three years later, Ford moved to Dearborn and spent five years designing and repairing steam engines, working from time to time at a plant in Detroit. In 1888 he married Clara Bryant and soon took a position as manager of a sawmill.
In 1891, Ford became an engineer for the Edison Illuminating Company and two years later was named the company's chief engineer. A decent salary and enough free time allowed Ford to devote more time to developing internal combustion engines.
Quadricycle
Ford assembled the first internal combustion engine in the kitchen of his home. He soon decided to put the engine on a frame with four bicycle wheels. So in 1896, the quadricycle appeared - a vehicle that became the first Ford car.
Your own business
After leaving Edison Illuminating in 1899, Henry Ford founded his own company, Detroit Automobile. Despite the fact that the company went bankrupt a year later, Ford managed to assemble several racing cars. Ford himself took part in auto racing and in October 1901 managed to defeat American champion Alexander Winton.
Ford Motor Company
The Ford Motor Company was founded in 1903. Its founders were twelve businessmen from Michigan, led by Henry Ford, who held 25.5% of the company's shares and served as vice president and chief engineer of the company. A former wagon factory on Mack Avenue in Detroit was converted into an automobile plant. Teams of two or three workers, under the direct supervision of Ford, assembled cars from spare parts that were custom-made by other companies. The company's first car was sold on July 23, 1903. In 1906, Henry Ford became president and majority owner of the company.
In 1908, Henry Ford made his dream come true by releasing the Model T, a reliable and inexpensive car that became one of the most popular and popular cars of its time. It was the appearance of the Model T that marked the advent of a new era in the development of personal transport. Ford's car was easy to drive, did not require complex maintenance and could even be driven on rural roads.
New Generation
In 1919, Henry Ford and his son Edsel bought the company's shares from other shareholders for $105,568,858 and became the sole owners of the company. That same year, Edsel inherited the position of president of the company from his father, which he held until his death in 1943. After the sudden death of his son, Henry Ford again had to take the helm of the company.
Resignation
In September 1945, Henry Ford transferred authority to his eldest grandson, Henry Ford II. In May 1946, Henry Ford Sr. was awarded an honorary award for his services to the auto industry, and at the end of the same year, the American Petroleum Institute presented him with a gold medal for his services to society.
End of an era
Henry Ford died at the age of 83 at his home in Dearborn on April 7, 1947. Thus, an entire era in the history of the Ford Motor Company ended, which, despite the death of its founder, continued to actively develop.
| Full title: | Ford Motor Company. |
| Other names: | Ford (Ford) |
| Existence: | 1903 - present day |
| Location: | USA: Dearborn, Michigan. |
| Key figures: | William Ford Jr. (Chairman of the Board of Directors) Alan Mulally (President). |
| Products: | Cars and commercial vehicles: Ford |
| The lineup: | Ford Mondeo Ford Kuga Ford Airstream Ford GT (2003) Ford Windstar Ford Ka Ford Flex Ford Explorer Ford Orion Ford Probe Ford Excursion Ford Edge Ford Cougar Ford C-Max Ford Crown Victoria Ford EcoSport Ford Fiesta Ford Five Hundred Ford Capri |
Henry Ford is the greatest personality in the history of the automobile industry.
Once upon a time, it was he, while still a boy, working on his father’s farm, who fell hard from a horse. The incident occurred in the USA, in the state of Michigan on the outskirts of the city of Dearborn, in 1872. Standing on the ground after the fall, Henry set a goal in his life to create a type of transport for people that would be safe and comfortable, unlike carts (carriages) with horses or just riding while sitting on a saddle.
Ford Motor Company.
Having matured, Henry Ford teamed up with his 11 friends, enthusiasts like himself. On June 16, 1903, they collectively raised $28,000 in seed capital and applied to establish a manufacturing facility in Michigan.
This is how the Ford Motor Company was born. Her first automobile invention was a “gasoline sidecar,” which was branded “Model A” and was driven by an eight-horsepower engine.
10 years after the first release of the car, Henry Ford was nicknamed throughout the world as a genius who gave the entire earthly society the first car available to every person - the Ford T. In addition, Ford Motor Company is the very first company in the world to introduce assembly line production of cars. Due to technological progress and constant innovation, Ford was able to reduce the price of the Tin Lizzy model from $850 to $290.
So what is the secret of the success of Ford Motor Company's automobile production, which has been going on for over a hundred years? When Henry Ford created his company, he dreamed of inventing a car whose price would total the annual salary of a simple worker working at a car assembly plant in Detroit.
Henry Ford's very first car was the Model A.
Throughout its history, which is already about 140 years old, Ford has withstood and undergone great changes. But, despite this, the most important principles of production remained unchanged - cars for people should be affordable, modern and reliable.
Henry Ford was born on July 30, 1863 in Springfield, Michigan. His parents were William and Mary Ford, who had six children. Henry was the oldest of them. Father and mother owned a farm, whose business flourished. Therefore, the entire childhood of the future genius was spent on the family farm, where Henry went to a regular rural school, and after that he helped his parents with housework.
When Henry was 12 years old, he built a small workshop for himself, in which he spent all his free time with great pleasure. A few years later he will create his first steam engine, designed in this workshop.
The most famous and popular car of the last century is the Ford T. It was thanks to the series of this brand that the car turned from a toy for the rich into a means of transportation that is accessible to every person.
Henry Ford takes a job as a machinist's assistant when he moves to Detroit in 1879. Three years later he moved to Dearborn, where for about five years he designed and repaired steam engines, but sometimes worked part-time at a plant in Detroit. Nine years later, Ford married Clara Bryant and in 1888 he successfully occupied one of the leadership positions at the sawmill.
Three years later in 1891, Ford became an engineer at the Edison Illuminating Company, and two years later he was promoted to the position of chief engineer. Now Ford has more free time plus a very decent income. Thanks to this, Henry was able to devote more time to creating an internal combustion engine.
The first version of the engine was developed in the kitchen of Ford's own home. After that, he attached it to a four-wheel bicycle frame. The result was an ATV. In 1896, it was he who became the first Ford car. In 1899, Henry Ford left Edison Illuminating to found his own company, Detroit Automobile. A year later, the company would go bankrupt, but despite this, Ford would manage to produce several models of racing cars. Also in October 1901, Ford took part in a car race, where he became the winner, overtaking the then current US champion Alexander Winton.
The Model T was produced as a convertible, pickup truck, passenger car, and other types of models. Ford Motor was founded in 1903. Henry Ford founded the company with 12 founders from Michigan. Ford himself was at the head of the company, serving as vice president and chief engineer, and also owned a controlling stake of 25 percent.
To create an automobile production plant, the company bought the Mack Avenue van factory in Detroit and converted it into its line of business. Ford hired teams of workers of 2-3 people under its management and they produced auto parts to order.
On July 23, 1903, the first Ford automobile was sold. The first model was the "gasoline sidecar" or Model A, powered by an eight-horsepower engine. The car was presented on the market as a simple and affordable car that even a 15-year-old teenager could drive. After this, Henry Ford became the majority owner and chief president of Ford Motor.
Thanks to the first representatives of the company, Schreiber, Thornton, Perry from Great Britain, the Ford oval logo was invented in 1907. He characterized Ford cars as a symbol of reliability, efficiency and personified the “stigma of the highest standard.”
Henry Ford oversaw the overall operation of the production. Over the next five years, under his management, nineteen letters from Model A to Model S were put into operation, some of which remained at the initial or research levels and did not reach the level of production and release to the market.
Henry Ford was able to fulfill his dream only in 1908. He released the Tin Lizzy model (Tin Lizzy, as the Americans affectionately called her) - Model T. This car model became the most famous in the history of the auto industry. The base price of the car was $260. During the first year of production, eleven thousand Model T cars were sold. Its appearance on the market signaled both a new era or evolution of the mode of transport.
Ford cars did not require complex maintenance, they could even drive on rough rural roads, and in general, they were easy to drive. As a result, the demand for the car was constantly growing, and it became an object of mass production.
Also, on the main base of the Model T structure, vehicles of other modifications are produced: minibuses, ambulances, light freight vehicles, small vans, etc. In addition, a version was also produced for military ambulances.
With the increase in labor productivity and product quality, consumer demand among buyers also increased. Henry Ford becomes the very first in the world who decided to introduce a conveyor belt into automobile production. Thanks to him, a worker, remaining in one place, performed only one operation, so every ten seconds a completely new Model T rolled off the assembly line. Conveyor production became one of the significant stages in the production revolution.
Family company.
Henry Ford and his son Edsel (Adsel Ford) in 1919 bought shares of the Ford Motor Company from the other founders of the company for $105,568,858, after which the company became their family firm, and the Fords were its sole owners. In addition, Edsel Ford inherited the position of chief president of Ford Motor from his father and held this post until he died suddenly in 1943. Subsequently, after the death of his son, Henry Ford had to again lead the management of the company.
Ford Fordor Deluxe also became a wildly popular car model in its time.
In 1927, the Model A became the first to feature the Ford logo on the grille in an oval silhouette. Most Ford cars until the late fifties were produced with a dark blue logo badge, which is still known to many buyers. But, despite the fact that the oval pattern was approved as the official company logo, it was not applied to cars until the mid-seventies.
Constant progress and the accelerated lifestyle of people forced the company to introduce technology innovations and increase capacity. Ford Motor Company has always tried to keep up with the times.
In 1932, the company introduced the V-shaped 8-cylinder engine to the public. On April 1 of the same year, Ford became the first to produce such a monolithic engine. The series of cars with this engine became the most popular among most Americans.
There is an assumption that our “Seagull” is a copy of the Ford Fairlane. What do you think?
In the same year, Ford became the most common car due to its maintainability and auto parts available in US stores. In 1934, Ford trucks (with a fully modified engine) were released for large cities and working farms.
After every year of the popularity of personal transport, people have a problem with safety in cars. Ford is not ignoring this problem. He again becomes the very first to use safety glass in car production. The main principle of the company's general policy has been and remains concern for human life. Therefore, the plant constantly carried out developments to reduce the risk for the person driving. Buyers have always paid generously for this with their love and predisposition to the Ford brand.
The Ford brand is becoming famous and popular not only in America. In addition to it, Ford Motor Company opens a large network of factories, stores and branches all over the world, including Russia and Europe. All over the world, Ford cars have good sales and are becoming a people's brand of genuine quality.
50-60s.
After the Second Patriotic War, Henry Ford in 1945 inherited his powers as head of the company to Henry Ford II (eldest grandson). In addition, Henry Ford Sr. was awarded an honorary award for achievements in the field of automobile production in May 1946, as well as a gold medal at the end of the same year for services to society by the American Petroleum Institute.
The Ford F-100 has become a cult car among pickup trucks, attracting a huge number of US residents to it. This model is still popular today.
On April 7, 1947, Henry Ford Sr. died in Dearborn at the age of 83. His death marked the end of the initial and turbulent period of the Ford Motor Company and, despite this, opened the door to a new automobile era. The grandson of Henry Ford Sr. honorably continues the work and dream of his grandfather. A new Ford model appears. On June 8, 1948, the 1949 model of the future was unveiled at the New York Auto Show. Its unique design set it apart from all others: independent front suspension, opening rear side windows, and sleek side panels.
A novelty in automotive design was the combination of a body and wings. Ford Motor Company achieves high sales of these models in 1949, surpassing sales since 1929. The company's profits begin to grow at a high speed, and this in turn makes it possible to increase the number of factories, branches and open new engineering and research centers.
The Ford Thunderbird model - in those years it became the most luxurious and legendary sports car. In the further development of the company, new directions of its activity open up: 1. Ford Motor Company - the financial business of the FORD brand itself. 2. American Road Insurance Company is an insurance company. 3. Ford Parts and Service Division - automated replacement of spare parts. As well as the production of automotive electronics and equipment, space technology, computer development, etc.
And, in the end, Ford Motor Company in January 1956 becomes an OJSC (open joint stock company). Now, at this point in time, there are over seven hundred thousand founders and shareholders.
In the sixties, the younger generation became the focus of the company. Ford Jr. is redirecting car production to produce sports and inexpensive cars intended for youth.
After this, in 1964, the Ford Mustang model, named after the P-51 military aircraft, appeared on the market for the first time. Its peculiarity was that a new type of engine was used. It combined the transmission and drive axle together. There were also differences in the new body design, which combined all the modern trends of those years.
Ford Mustang has become a real masterpiece among sports cars and the younger generation.
Such interest in the Ford brand has not been observed since the first Model A was released. The company's expectations have exceeded themselves. About one hundred thousand Mustangs were sold in the first three months after sales went live.
After such success, the company's inspired employees continue to work on improving the design. More and more new trends and innovations in automotive design are beginning to be applied. As a result, the Corina and Transit models were born.
In turn, Ford Motor Company continues to work on road safety projects. Thus proving that profit is not the main goal of the company.
The Model GT40 wins the twenty-four hour race at Le Mans, thereby ending Ferrari's championship in these competitions.
Also, Ford Motor Company in 1970 was the first company in the world to introduce disc brakes into widespread production. For 1976 and beyond, the official oval-shaped Ford logo with a blue background and silver lettering appeared on all vehicle bodies. This made it possible to recognize Ford cars in any country in the world.
Model Ford Taurus - was awarded the "car of the year" award in the USA, due to its comfort and efficiency, which also became a popular hit.
After, in turn, such models as the Ford Taurus and Mercury Sebale appeared. They were invented as fuel efficient cars. The company's designers and specialists constantly innovated to create a truly necessary car for people with a middle-class income.
It is worth noting that the Model Ford Taurus was designed as a car in which every part of it was manufactured to perfection. Such fruitful work brought success to the company and in 1986 the Ford Taurus became the number one car in America and was recognized as the best car of the same year.
After these events, the Model Ford Mondeo was released. It replaced the Model Ford Scorpio, despite being smaller in size at the start of production.
Then in 1994 a number of new products appeared in addition to the Model Ford Mondeo. This is a new Windstar minibus, a modified Model Ford Mustang, as well as a new Model Ford Espire.
A short time later, new and improved Model Ford Taurus and Model Mercury Tracer models appeared in North America. They were the first to be made, modifying the design of the body and interior after the outdated styling of the eighties. Also in European countries, design changes to the Galaxy minivan, Model Ford Fiesta and F-series pickup were shown to the public.
The new Model Ford Galaxy minivan was designed on the same platform as the Ford Seat Alkhambra and Ford Volkswagen Sharan; their internal and external differences could easily be counted on one hand.
Present tense.
Over the years, the main production principle of the Ford Motor Company has become the combination of vehicle improvement plus minimal production costs, which allows the company to produce world-class cars. Now the Ford company produces over seventy modifications of cars for sale all over the world under different brands: Ford, Lincoln, Aston Martin, Mercury, etc. Ford Motor Company also has equity interests in other companies, such as Kia Motors Corporation or Mazda Motor Corporation.
Model Ford Focus is a new model that replaced the assembly line production of the Model Ford Escort. Ford Focus gained wild popularity among Russian citizens even before the launch of main production. You can buy an engine for Ford Focus 2 using this link.
The new official Ford Motor Company plant was opened on July 9, 2002 in the city of Vsevolzhsk in the Leningrad region of the Russian Federation. In the Russian branch of the company, the full process of production circulation takes place.
American engineer, inventor, industrialist Henry Ford was born in July 1863. He became the pride of the United States automobile industry, the founder of the Ford Motor Company, the organizer of production and the designer of the conveyor complex.
Henry Ford's car was created as a work of art, there is nothing superfluous in it, its beauty is practical and functional. And this is not a luxury toy. This is a convenient, affordable gift that Henry Ford gave to the average American family. The biography of this inventor and designer is a worthy example for every person.
Merits
Henry Ford, whose biography acquires more and more fantastic details over time, is famous for the fact that he managed to create a flow in production. And the automobile business is also his idea, brought to life by him. And most importantly - management. Economically organized businesses need managers, and the twentieth century gave the world the creative businessman. The best businessman of the century, according to Fortune magazine!
He built the largest production facility that existed at that time, a real industry from which Ford earned his first billion (today this money is “worth” thirty-six billion). The principles of its management still have a huge impact on the entire structure of US society. Ford managed to sell fifteen and a half million Ford Ts, and the production conveyor necessary for production became more familiar than a bicycle on the street.
Opponent and Creator of Management
If Henry Ford had not been an opponent of management principles, his biography would not have been supplemented with the title of the best businessman. He had his own principles: he paid workers twice as much as other employers, and sold them cars at significant discounts. Thus he created a class still called "blue collar". He did not increase the demand for his products. No! He created the conditions for such demand.
This was very inconsistent with the principles of the current production policy. was created and formulated in an absentee dispute between Ford and theorists who could not defeat the famous automaker until a practical manager from General Motors appeared who completely defeated Henry Ford in a face-to-face dispute. So the successful Ford, whose biography is worthy of the pen of a Hollywood film screenwriter, as an entrepreneur, failed in 1927.
Only the product is important
By this time, Henry could no longer change his beliefs. He truly became a star, that is, he was absolutely confident that he was right. And new times came, the change of which he did not even notice. Successful production now required management, and a new quality of management; Henry Ford was unable to understand this in time. His quotes on this matter are remarkable: “Gymnastics is nonsense. Healthy people have no use for it, and it is contraindicated for sick people.” He felt the same way about management.
Ford was confident that if the product was good, it would certainly make a profit, and if it was bad, then the most wonderful management would not bring results. Ford despised the art of management, ran around the shops, looked into the office only occasionally, financial documents seemed nauseating to him, he hated bankers, and accepted only cash. For him, financiers were thieves, speculators, saboteurs and robbers, and shareholders were parasites. And Henry spoke so skillfully on this topic! To this day, grateful management uses them as an example of the loss of flair in business. In any case, even if he was not right, he was extremely honest with consumers.
Honest product
Henry Ford's statements on this matter are relevant for all times: “Only work creates value!” - he never tired of repeating. And so it was. Mass production at the plant did not begin until the model reached an ideal, absolutely universal, in Ford's opinion, state. Then everything is adjusted and the car is put into production. Managers look after the overall output, Ford looks after them, so that the departments work with each other in harmony, and then the profit itself flows freely to the enterprise.
The head of the enterprise decided all the most important issues himself. Henry Ford's theory was that the value of market strategy lies in its "penetration costs." Every year, production volume increases, costs are constantly reduced, car prices are regularly reduced - this is how a stable increase in profits is created, since demand also grows. Profits are necessarily returned to production. While Henry Ford's principles worked for commercial success, he was an individualistic entrepreneur - he did not pay shareholders at all.
Core values
This is the American dream: to be born like Henry Ford into a poor farming family, to become rich and famous. Compatriots may forget who their president is today, but Henry Ford's car will always be remembered. Ford served an idea, a single one, all his life, suffered absolute defeats, endured widespread ridicule, and struggled with sophisticated intrigues. But he achieved his goal: he created a car and earned billions.
Henry Ford's wife, Clara, was also alone for the rest of her life. She believed him unquestioningly and supported him selflessly in difficult moments. He was once asked how he would live his life if given a second opportunity. Henry Ford's statements were always worthy of memorization: "I would agree, but on one condition: I would marry Clara again."
Start
In fact, Henry's life did not start out so easy. He was born on a farm in Michigan, where from an early age he was forced to help his father work in the fields. He sincerely hated this activity. He was attracted only by mechanisms. And the steam locomotive he saw at the age of twelve shook the boy’s soul to the very bottom. Thus began the story of Henry Ford.
Every day until late in the evening, Henry struggled with the construction of a moving mechanism. He stopped looking like an ordinary boy: his pockets are full of nuts, instead of toys there are tools. His parents gave him the first watch in his life, which he took apart on the same day and reassembled as it was. From the age of fifteen he ran around the neighboring farms and repaired all sorts of mechanisms for everyone, and thus he did not finish school. Subsequently, Henry Ford's statements on this matter did not change his ideological outlook. He said that books do not teach anything practical, and for a technician the most important thing is the mechanism from which he, like a writer from books, will draw all the ideas and be able to apply them.
Steam locomobiles
Henry knew no rest in his work: he completely broke away from his farming roots, worked in a mechanical workshop, and at night he repaired watches, working part-time for a jeweler. Since he already had an idea, and only a self-propelled carriage captivated all his dreams, at the age of sixteen he got a job at the Westinghouse Company as an expert in the assembly and repair of locomotives. These multi-ton monsters of automobile manufacturing did 12 miles per hour and were most often used as a tractor. Locomotives were so expensive that not every farmer could purchase such a car.
Henry Ford's first company, although not his brainchild, gave him the opportunity to grow in his profession, acquire ideas and try to implement them. The first attempt was to create a lightweight steam cart for plowing. Henry remembered his father, that his purely paternal dream of a son-assistant had collapsed, and his conscience, of course, worried him. That’s why he wanted to quickly alleviate the harsh lot of farmers, to shift the main labor from his father’s shoulders to the iron horse.
New engine design
A tractor is not a mass product. People want a car that can be driven on the road, not a tool for field work. However, the cart that Henry assembled was dangerous: it is more convenient to sit on a bomb than on a high-pressure boiler. Young Ford studied boilers of all designs and realized that they were not the future, that a light crew with a steam engine was impossible. Hearing about gas engines, Ford was filled with new hopes.
Smart people listened to him with interest, but they absolutely did not believe in Henry Ford’s success in this matter. He did not meet a single educated person he knew who would understand that the internal combustion engine is the future of humanity. From that moment on, he neglected all the advice of the “wise men.” This engine was designed by Henry Ford in 1887. To do this, he had to disassemble Philippe Lebon's gas engine and understand what was what, then return to the farm to experiment there.
Engineer and mechanic
The father was delighted to see his son return and gave him a plot of forest so that he would just stop poking around with the pieces of iron. Henry Ford, slightly slyly, agreed, built a house, a sawmill, a workshop and married Clara. Naturally, I spent all my free time in the workshop, reading books on mechanics, and designing.
Since it was impossible to get ahead on the farm alone, he moved to Detroit, where he was offered a $45 salary with an electric company. Clara always supported her husband in all his endeavors.
He did not find any sympathy from his new colleagues regarding his tossing, since they were sure that electricity was absolutely the entire future of the planet, but the “father of electricity” himself was interested, treated with understanding and wished him good luck. Henry Ford was incredibly inspired.
America's first driver
When in 1893 Henry Ford rode around Detroit on his internal combustion engine, which he called an ATV, the horses shied away, passers-by were surprised by the loud rumble, surrounded him, and asked questions. There were no traffic rules yet, so we had to get permission from the police. So he became the first officially approved driver in America.
After driving for three years, Henry sold the first brainchild for two hundred dollars and used it to create a new model of a lighter car. For some reason, he then believed that heavy cars were not needed. Oh, if he now looked at the brainchild of his company - the Ford Expedition, then he would definitely change his mind. However, at that time he believed that the mass product was easy and accessible.
By that time, he had been made the first engineer at the electric company and was paid $125 a month, but his experience in the automotive industry aroused indignation among management. It believed only in electricity. On gas - no. The company offered Henry Ford an even higher position, but just let him give up this nonsense and get down to real business. Ford thought and chose his dream.
Racing car
Companions were quickly found who invested money in the newly created Detroit Automobile Company to produce racing cars. Henry Ford could not defend the idea of mass production. The partners needed money; they simply did not see any other use for the car. True, this enterprise did not bring much money to anyone. In 1902, he left the company so as never to be in a dependent position again. "All by myself!" - Henry Ford said to himself. Achievements were on the way.
Ford never considered speed to be an advantage of a car, but since public attention could only be attracted by victory, he still had to prepare two cars designed to go fast. “It is impossible to give a more unreliable guarantee!” he said to himself, “You can fall from Niagara Falls with a large percentage of luck.”
But the cars were ready to race. The only thing missing was the driver. A thrill-seeking cyclist named Oldfield agreed to ride the breeze. But he never sat behind the wheel of a car. There was a week left before the race. The cyclist did not disappoint. Moreover, he never looked around, did not turn around and did not slow down on turns: just as he “slammed” the pedal to the metal at the start, he did not slow down until the finish. The Ford car arrived first. Investors became interested, and a week later the company was founded, Ford's main brainchild - Ford Motor.
A car for everyone
Henry Ford organized his own enterprise according to his own plan. The priority was a product that was reliable, easy to use, cheap, lightweight, and mass-produced. Ford did not want to work for the rich, but wanted to make all his compatriots happy. No luxury, the simplest and most functional decoration. And the prestige of the brand didn’t matter either. His models didn’t even have beautiful names; he called each new one with the next letter of the alphabet.
Ford followed three basic financial principles: he did not take other people's capital, he bought everything exclusively for cash, and all profits necessarily went into production. Dividends are awarded only to those who participate in the creation of the product. Ford directed all his thoughts and efforts towards creating a universal car. It became a model with the letter "T". The previous ones also sold quite well, but, compared to "T", they seemed simply experimental. Now an advertisement could quite rightly say: “Every child can drive a Ford!”
Perfect Creation
In 1909, Henry Ford announced that he would now only produce the Model T with the same chassis. And, as always, he made this statement witty: - “Everyone can buy a Ford-T in absolutely any color, but on the condition that any color is black.”
To understand the scale of the event that the head of the company started, and started with absolute faith in success, you need to imagine that a certain person created a company to provide each of us with cheap and comfortable airplanes. This was the attitude towards buying a car in those days.
The car had to be quite roomy so that the whole family could sit comfortably. Henry Ford was also concerned about choosing the best material. The design should be as simple as possible in today's technology, he believed. And he always had first-class workers.
Ford said that the price of the car would be so low that any working person could buy one. Here, with these very words, many stopped believing him. Can Factory! - opponents shouted to him. And the Model T was called the “Tin Lizzie.” It would seem that it makes no difference what the dogs bark about. All the same, the caravan is moving on. But to sell a lot, low prices will not help. We need to convince you of the quality.
Taking care of the buyer
At the origins of the automobile industry, selling a car was considered a profitable operation - and nothing more. Sold - forgotten. No one was interested in the further fate of the car. When repairing, spare parts were prohibitively expensive, since the owner had nowhere to go - he would buy it as cute as he could. Ford sold spare parts extremely cheaply and took care of the repair of cars from its plant.
The competitors got excited. Intrigues, gossip, even patent trials began. Ford did not hesitate to print in the newspapers that every car buyer could demand a bond of twelve million dollars from Ford Motor, guaranteeing the receipt of this money in case of unpleasant accidents. And he asked not to buy cars of obviously low quality at high prices from enemies of the Ford Motor Company. And it worked! In 1927, fifteen million units left the factory gates, which had not changed in nineteen years. Just as Henry Ford did not change his principles. His biography did not end there. Before his death in 1947, he managed to do a lot: create the best cars, write several interesting books and make the American dream come true.
When it seems like the whole world is against you, remember that the plane takes off against the wind! That's what Henry Ford said. And I followed this rule all my life.
