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Ford History
Ford was launched from a converted wagon factory, with $28,000 cash from twelve investors. During its early years, the company produced just a few cars a day at the Ford factory on Mack Avenue in Detroit. Groups of two or three men worked on each car from components made to order by other companies. In 1908, the Ford company released the Ford Model T. The first Model Ts were built at the Piquette Manufacturing Plant. The company was forced to move production to the much larger Highland Park Plant to keep up with the demand for the Model T, and by 1913 had developed all of the basic techniques of the assembly line and mass production. Ford introduced the world�s first moving assembly line on December 1that year, which reduced chassis assembly time from 12� hours in October to 2 hours, 40 minutes. However these innovations were not popular, and in order to stop the staff deserting the monotonous jobs, on January 5, 1914, Ford took the radical step of doubling pay to $5 a day, and cut shifts from nine hours to an eight hour day � moves that were not popular with rival companies, although seeing the increase in Ford�s productivity, most soon followed suit. By the end of 1913, Ford was producing 50% of all cars in the United States, and by 1918 half of all cars in the country were Model T�s. Referring to the Model T, Henry Ford is reported to have said that �any customer can have a car painted any color that he wants so long as it is black.� This was because black paint was quickest to dry; earlier models had been available in a variety of colors. But most were black. On January 1,1919,Edsel Ford succeeded his father as president of the company, although Henry Ford still kept a hand in management. The Ford company lost market share during the 1920s due to the rise of consumer credit. The company�s goal was to produce an inexpensive automobile that any worker could afford. To keep prices low, Ford (at the behest of its owner, Henry Ford) offered few features. General Motors and other competitors began offering automobiles in more colors, and with more features and luxuries. They also extended credit so consumers could buy these more expensive automobiles. Ford resisted following suit, insisting that such credit would hurt the consumer and the economy. Due to market constraints, however, the company finally gave in and followed its competitors� lead when on December 2, 1927, Ford unveiled the redesigned Ford Model Aand retired the Model T. In 1925, Ford expanded its reach into the luxury auto market through its acquisition of the Lincoln Motor Company, and the Mercurydivision was established in the 1930s to serve the mid-price auto market.
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