The Dream Becomes a Business
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The Dream Becomes a Business
Ford Motor Company entered the business world on June 16, 1903, when Henry Ford and 11 business associates signed the companys articles of incorporation. With $28,000 in cash, the pioneering industrialists gave birth to what was to become one of the worlds largest corporations. Few companies are as closely identified with the history and development of industry and society throughout the 20th century as Ford Motor Company.
As with most great enterprises, Ford Motor Companys beginnings were modest. The company had anxious moments in its infancy. The earliest record of a shipment is July 20, 1903, approximately one month after incorporation, to a Detroit physician. With the companys first sale came hopeЖa young Ford Motor Company had taken its first steps.
Mass Production on the Line
Perhaps Ford Motor Companys single greatest contribution to automotive manufacturing was the moving assembly line. First implemented at the Highland Park plant (in Michigan, US) in 1913, the new technique allowed individual workers to stay in one place and perform the same task repeatedly on multiple vehicles that passed by them. The line proved tremendously efficient, helping the company far surpass the production levels of their competitorsЖand making the vehicles more affordable.
The First Vehicles
Henry Ford insisted that the companys future lay in the production of affordable cars for a mass market. Beginning in 1903, the company began using the first 19 letters of the alphabet to name new cars. In 1908, the Model T was born. 19 years and 15 million Model Ts later, Ford Motor Company was a giant industrial complex that spanned the globe. In 1925, Ford Motor Company acquired the Lincoln Motor Company, thus branching out into luxury cars, and in the 1930s, the Mercury division was created to establish a division centered on mid-priced cars. Ford Motor Company was growing.
Becoming a Global Company