Ford Motor Company Financial Report

Ford Motor Company Financial Report

Ford Motor Company History

Henry Ford, the founder of the Ford Motor Company, was born on a farm near Dearborn, Michigan, in 1863. He had a talent for engineering, which he pursued as a childhood hobby. It was in 1890 when he began his engineering career as an employee of the electric company, Detroit Edison company. In his spare time he constructed experimental gasoline engines and in 1892 completed his first gasoline buggy. He eventually sold it in 1896 to help fund the construction of a new car. His hobby became such a distraction that in 1899 he quit his job with the electric company and began the groundwork to create the Detroit Automobile Company. He later withdrew from the venture after a disagreement with business associates over the number and prices of cars to be produced. Ford advocated a business strategy that combined a lower profit margin on each car with greater production volumes. In this way he hoped to gain a larger market share and maintain profitability.

Independently in a small shed in Detroit, Henry Ford developed two four cylinder, 80 horsepower race cars, called 999 and the Arrow. These cars won several races and helped create a new market for ford automobiles. With 28,000 of capital raised from friends and neighbors, Henry Ford established a new shop on June 16, 1903. In this facility the Ford Motor Company began production of a two cylinder, eight horsepower design called the Model A. The company produced 1,708 of these in the first year of operation. After the success of the Model A the Ford company designed several automobiles, each designated by a letter of the alphabet; these included the small four cylinder Model N, and the more luxurious six cylinder Model K. The failure of the Model K, coupled with Henry Ford’s persistence in developing inexpensive cars for mass production, caused a dispute between Ford and his associate Alexander Malcomson. Malcomson eventually resigned and Ford took over...