Henry Ford, the Ford Motor Company, and the American Automobile Industry

The history of the American automobile industry begins with Ford history. Born in what is today Dearborn, Michigan in 1863, Henry Ford, the founder of Ford Motor Company, was a dedicated, passionate and innovative engineer who through a desire to provide reliable, affordable transportation, refined and then implemented the assembly line mode of manufacturing that transformed factory work worldwide. Founded in 1903, the company celebrated its centennial with a five-day 'birthday bash' in June 2003, at its World Headquarters in Dearborn.

An Automobile for the Masses

The Ford company profile has been one of innovation since the production of the first truly affordable and reliable automobile available to the public, the Model T. Without a doubt, the most successful model in Ford history, the Model T, nicknamed the Tin Lizzy or fivver, was the watershed moment for the car culture of modern American society. The Model-T began production in 1908 and within six years, 48% of the U.S. automobile market belonged to Ford.

In production for 19 years, Ford produced and sold more than 15 million of the Model-T. Production of all models of the Tin Lizzie stopped at the end of 1926; drawing to a close the assembly of the most influential car ever made. In 1999 an international group of automobile experts called the Global Automotive Elections Foundation named the Model T as the Car of the Century and Henry Ford as the Car Entrepreneur of the Century.

A New Way of Building

Although often credited with inventing the assembly line, Henry Ford actually refined and applied an existing idea, honing it into an efficient, cost effective way to build cars. Prior to 1908, all cars were built by a team who concentrated on a single vehicle from start to finish. Under the new system, workers completed the same task, specializing in a single aspect of vehicle construction with the result of a significant reduction in production time. Additional refinements to the system incorporated an automated conveyor belt that brought the parts to the worker, further reducing the amount of time, and therefore cost, required to build a car.

As successful as this innovation was to the manufacturing process, its efficiency was offset by the steady stream of workers leaving Ford's employ because of mind numbing boredom inherent to completing stationary repetitive tasks. Workers, fatigued by the monotony, quit the factory in increasingly costly numbers. Henry Ford countered the dull working conditions by increasing the daily pay to $5, more than double the going rate and reduced the number of hours in a workweek. His actions caused rancor among his contemporaries but were successful in creating a loyal workforce.

Continuing Innovation

What began in 1908 with a single revolutionary model continues today with a product line that includes full-sized to compact cars, trucks, vans, SUVs, crossovers, muscle cars and hybrids. The 2010 Fusion line was recently named Car of the Year by MOTOR TREND adding to the numerous awards the company has received for its 2010 lineup. Marking yet another milestone in Ford history, Popular Mechanics presented the car maker with three Automotive Excellence Awards for the 2010 Mustang Shelby GT500, the 2010 Transit Connect van, and the F-150 SVT Raptor truck.

Sources: http://www.hfmgv.org/index.aspx; http://www.motortrend.com/oftheyear/car/2010_motor_trend_car_of_the_year_webcast/index.html; http://www.arkansastinlizzies.com/First%20Level/BriefHistory.htm; http://www.wired.com/science/discoveries/news/1999/12/33160