At almost 115 years old the Ford Motor Company possesses a rich and lengthy history stretching back to the early 1900s today. We will recount some of the more important events in port's history that have helped shape the company into what it is today.
Henry Ford was born on July 30 1863 in Michigan on a forum. Ford showed early signs of innovation during his youth and in 1896 Ford built the quad tricycle, his first automobile that featured a small horsepower engine with only forward geared capabilities. As his company received investor support Ford decided not to take his promotion at Edison as a chief engineer in 1899 but instead to pursue his passion full-time the company struggled for the next couple years.
But in 1903 Ford had his first break through
developing the Model A as the company began to turn in profits by the end of
the year. With the growth and profits from the first automobile Ford developed plans to expand by building an international plant in 1904 in Canada
to start mass production of automobiles for the company.
1908 was the year that marked
Henry Ford's. Introduction of the Model T this simple durable automobile was the
first of its kind that was affordable for the general public, although
automobiles are sent long before the Model T they were expensive and
unreliable. This affordable form of transportation was revolutionary in the mass
market at the time Ford sold 15 million Model T's before ceasing production in
May 1927, making it one of the bestselling vehicles of its time and arguably the
most famous car in the world. The production of the Model T also led to the
introduction of the assembly line to the automotive industry this increased the
efficiency and productivity for automobile manufacturers decades later.
July of 1940 with Europe at war and conflict seemingly on America's doorstep the US Army rushed to find the utility vehicle that would win the war bidding was opened up with strict time demands and originally American Bantam was the only company able to produce a prototype by the deadline however their inability to meet the Army's demand meant that willys-overland and Ford were also awarded contracts in March of 1941 this would not last long though as the army desire standardization and thus from the three prototypes a single Jeep model was created that was to be produced solely by Willy's the just as before with Bantam. it soon became apparent that Willy's could not meet the average demand on its own and thus for was also commissioned to produce the Jeep in February of 1942.
Ford suspended all civilian production to focus solely on sheep production civilian production would not resume until just before the end of the war in July of 1945 but in those years between the Ford Motor Company produced approximately 280,000 jeeps Ford Motor Company made Wall Street history.
On January 17th 1956 when it went public on the New York Stock Exchange the IPO is a pivotal time for a company because it means it has become successful enough to require more capital to fund its expansion. 10.2 million shares of Ford stock were made available for the public at $64.50 making the Ford IPO one of the largest in pre-computing history. Since then Ford stock has been one of the world's most widely held and traded stock in 1964.
Ford Motor Company released the Ford Mustang a car that became a real game-changer for the company, not only was the Mustang aesthetically pleasing with its sleek style comprised of a long hood in a short deck it's affordable price and customization options really set it apart it was a car that could be designed to fit whatever the customer wanted.
The Ford Mustang was a massive success and came to define the pony car ultimately the Mustang became one of the fastest selling vehicles in all of history.
In 2009 Ford solidified their status as pioneers in environmental sustainability within the auto industry. They were the first to build a new breed of turbo engines designed to improve fuel efficiency. The EcoBoost engine was the first real competition that hybrid cars would face pairing fuel efficiency with engine power.
For its 2009 statement to embrace a fuel-efficient future is evident by their current sustainability endeavors ever since Ford brought the innovative technology of the EcoBoost engine to the table. Competitors have rushed to implement fuel efficiency and sustainability strategies into their automobiles.
Ford is looking to take their technologies to
the next level with switching to zero emission vehicles as their ultimate goal.