The God Father of Car Industry

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Henry Ford Success Story

Henry Ford, the father of America’s most popular automobile and the first affordable car, was intense about cars since the age of sixteen. Working in machine shops, Henry Ford was thinking about build an affordable and efficient car, which suits every American. Not till 1908 America saw its first commercial automobile.












Early Life and Education

Born in 1863 in a small township that's now part of Detroit, Michigan, Henry Ford's child life was spent on a small rural farm. His father was a farmer and mother was a housewife, Ford's earliest years were spent wrapped by appliance. Impressed by farm equipment but uninterested in farm work as a career, he start training as a machinist in his late teens at a business in Detroit.
Ford was known as a talented repairman, having assembled and repaired watches during his  childhood years. His skills were soon put to the test as an engineer at the Edison Company, one of the city's pioneering mechanical corporations. He provide capital for  completely in the company's projects, and in his own too, ultimately  creating the Ford Quadricycle, an invention that would contribute completely to his later engineering feats manipulative  motorcars.After a series of investments with the Dodge brothers – a family that would later go on to create its own automobiles – Ford created a racing car. With almost one-hundred horsepower, it was one of the fastest vehicles of its age, turning heads as well as dominating on the track. Seeing the potential of automobiles, Ford set out to create an low-priced  car for the American.



Henry was educated at the local one-room school for eight years where he demonstrated an early interest in mechanical objects. His father gave him a pocket watch when he was fifteen. Even at such a young age, Henry reassembled it and gained the reputation as a watch repairman. Spending his spare time in a small machine shop, Henry constructed his first steam engine in 1878. When his mother died in 1876, he refused to take over the family farm deciding that he did not want to be a farmer.
In 1888, he married Clara Bryant, who had grown up on a nearby farm.In the first several years of their marriage, Ford supported himself and his new wife by running a sawmill. In 1891, he returned with Clara to Detroit, where he was hired as an engineer for the Edison Illuminating Company. Rising quickly through the ranks, he was promoted to chief engineer two years later. Around the same time, Clara gave birth to the couple’s only son, Edsel Bryant Ford. On call 24 hours a day for his job at Edison, Ford spent his irregular hours on his efforts to build a gasoline-powered horseless carriage, or automobile. In 1896, he completed what he called the “Quadricycle,” which consisted of a light metal frame fitted with four bicycle wheels and powered by a two-cylinder, four-horsepower gasoline engine.Determined to improve upon his prototype, Ford sold the Quadricycle in order to continue building other vehicles. He received backing from various investors over the next seven years, some of whom formed the Detroit Automobile Company (later the Henry Ford Company) in 1899. His partners, eager to put a passenger car on the market, grew frustrated with Ford’s constant need to improve, and Ford left his namesake company in 1902. (After his departure, it was reorganized as the Cadillac Motor Car Company.) The following year, Ford established the Ford Motor Company.
A month after the Ford Motor Company was established, the first Ford car—the two-cylinder, eight-horsepower Model A—was assembled at a plant on Mack Avenue in Detroit. At the time, only a few cars were assembled per day, and groups of two or three workers built them by hand from parts that were ordered from other companies. Ford was dedicated to the production of an efficient and reliable automobile that would be affordable for everyone; the result was the Model T, which made its debut in October 1908.





The Inspiring Story of Ford

Ford Motor Company was founded by the late Henry Ford in 1903. A century after, the company withstood wars, depression and competition. It is the fifth largest company to date based on worldwide car sales. But just like most businesses, Ford started small. The company had to overcome a lot of struggles and pass several stages and changes in its history.
Henry Ford left home at an early age and worked as an apprentice in some automotive companies until he decided to have one of his own. He founded the Detroit Automobile Company in 1899 and renamed as the Henry Ford Company in 1901. As cases with most starters, he encountered financial difficulties and had to leave the company.
Leaving the company paved the way to his success. As Ford once said, “Failure is simply the opportunity to begin again, this time more intelligently.” Living with this principle, he tried again and founded what we now know as Ford Motor Company. He also introduced the then unheard of ‘assembly line’ for his car manufacturing and changed the game for the car industry.
Cars at that time were limited to people of wealth. Though transportation was a daily cadence by people from all walks of life, it was considered an expensive toy for the rich. Car production was still in its infant hood, and production costs were sky high. Thus, owning a car was exclusive for the rich. Until Ford’s assembly line.
Henry Ford founded Ford Motor Company with the vision of making quality cars generally available and affordable for the majority. This American dream was not as easy as it sounded. The company started producing automobiles the traditional way, but with the time it was taking to finish a unit along with the materials needed, they had no choice but to compensate these expenses towards the price of their cars. Each automobile needed roughly 12 hours to complete which was costing the company labor and time.
So, Ford started another approach on making cars. He identified stages or steps to creating a unit. Then, he disseminated his workers to specialize on a certain stage. And using a machine similar to a conveyor belt, the cars were moved from one stage to another until all parts were placed. This method significantly decreased labor from the traditional 12-hour period down to 2 hours and 30 minutes. The system decreased the costs and so the car price. Model T, their most popular car unit, had its price reduced from $850 to $290.
This new system totally changed the game of automobile industry, from cars being a luxury item exclusive for the rich to being an affordable necessity available for everyone. Ford Motors sales skyrocketed until they were supplying 50% of all cars in the US. But, contrary to the positive reaction of the consumers, other car companies’ sales plummeted to rock bottom.
When Ford implemented the new system, the entire car industry was indignant at Ford for changing the Eco-system of the industry. When the Great Depression struck America, 183 out of 200 automobile companies declared bankruptcy. Other car companies knew they had to do something to survive. GM went to the route of creating more personalized cars, Chrysler and Chevrolet started manufacturing automobiles with more creative features while others looked for better ways of assembling cars. Ford survived the Depression.
Introducing new ways of doing things will always create a ripple in the pond. When things are doing great, everyone is adamant to change, no matter how sensible and better it is. It takes a brave and obstinate individual, with a will of steel to disturb an orderly setup. Early on, the game-changer is always looked upon as a dissident, an annoying disturbance, a newbie about to fail. It is later, when the system is adapted and accepted, that many will recognize it as an innovation and a legacy, and the game-changer a brilliant trendsetter and leader.
Ford Motor Company is history itself. It has experienced successes and failures, but through the collective effort of all the people behind it, the company has survived even the greatest war. Along with it, they’ve learned to be innovative, versatile and adaptable to the changes of the world. These have made Ford the mighty company we now see 103 years after it was founded in 1903.




Later Life and Death


Ford’s interests included auto racing and metallurgy. He owned a large holiday home and surrounding land in Richmond Hill, Georgia. He was also a controversial figure with strong opinions. His autobiography, “My Life and Work” written in conjunction with Samuel Crowther, was published in 1922.
Henry Ford suffered a stroke and went into retirement in 1945. He was succeeded by his grandson, Henry Ford II. The American Petroleum Institute awarded him its first Gold Medal for outstanding contributions to the welfare of humanity the same year. Henry Ford died from of a cerebral hemorrhage two years later on 7 April in 1947. He was buried in the Ford Cemetery in Detroit. He was 83 years old.
Collected from YouTube









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