HENRY FORD

Realizat:Borcoman Iulina
Grupa:PAA-031
 1863 On July 30, in Dearborn, Michigan, USA,
Henry Ford was born. He was one of those who
boosted the birth of the car industry and the
consumer society. He was the one who
produced vehicles in large quantities for the first
time and founded a company that produces cars,
vans and trucks for the whole world. Born into
the family of a prosperous farmer, of Irish origin,
Ford dropped out of school at sixteen. Skilled at
cars and mechanics, he entered an apprenticeship
at a car workshop near Detroit. After trying all
kinds of jobs for three years, he returned to his
father's farm. He continued to do various
mechanics, built a locomotive for the farm and
worked part-time at the Westinghouse Engine
Company.
 • 1893 Builds a gasoline engine.
• 1896 Builds his first car, the Quadricycle. The car
impressed his friend's father, W.C. Maybury, the mayor of
Detroit, so that he sponsored the manufacture of a second
copy, and even encouraged his supporters to found the
Detroit automobile company. The company went bankrupt
in less than a year.

 1891 He moved back to Detroit with his young wife

Clara Bryant and began working as an engineer for
the Edison Light Company. His job consisted of
overseeing the city's electricity service, thus allowing
him to enroll in mechanical drawing, accounting and
business courses at the local university.
 1903 The same supporters founded a
new company, Henry Ford, for which
Ford built several racing cars, which
were quite successful. The company
was renamed Cadillac Automobile,
continuing to produce cars designed
by Ford, but using different engines -
so the first Cadillac was, in fact, a
Ford. With the help of local Detroit
investors, Ford founded the Ford
Motor Company. He was determined
to mass produce cheap cars and not
toys for the rich.
 1908 Mass production of the Ford
Model T began, declaring: "I will
build a car for the many".
 1912 Ford revolutionized the auto industry by paying huge wages -
he introduced the minimum wage of five dollars a day, and reduced
the daily work schedule to eight hours, but, at the same time, he
fiercely opposed unions. There were 7,000 distributors throughout
the United States. This was followed by the appearance of gas
stations and the improvement of the road network, and the
neighborhoods in the suburbs of the cities also sprung up. Ford's
car radically transformed the American lifestyle.
 1914 Although he was not the first to have the greatest success in
automating production, the first mobile assembly line was
inaugurated at his plant in Highland Park, Michigan. The world's
first automated assembly line could produce a car every 93
minutes, a much shorter process than the 728 minutes required for
manual assembly. Later, the development of series production
reduced the time required to produce a Ford Model T to just 24
seconds, which led to a significant reduction in the cost of each
vehicle.
 1917 Opens a new factory in River Rouge. At the
time, River Rouge was a giant factory, producing
everything from steel and wood car floors to tires
for wheels. The same characteristic inflexibility
made him not release a new model until 1927, a
delay that would cost the company a lot in what
had already become a very competitive market.
 1918 Using his status as a leader of industrialists,
Ford led a peacekeeping mission during the First
World War. After the war, he participated in the
elections for the Senate, but without success. In
addition to the production of cars, Ford also bought
a railroad, built airplanes, owned coal mines,
forests from which he provided wood for his
factories, published a newspaper and built a
hospital in Detroit.
• 1927 DEMAND FELL, BUT FORD HAD
ALREADY SOLD FIFTEEN MILLION CARS.
THE PROFIT ALSO DECREASED, CAUSING
FORD TO SUE HIS ORIGINAL SHAREHOLDERS
AND FORCE THEM TO SELL HIS SHARES, SO
THAT HE COULD RUN THE COMPANY ALONE.
BESIDES BEING AN INNOVATIVE
MANUFACTURER, FORD WAS ALSO A
MARKETING PIONEER. HE IS THE ONE WHO
INVENTED THE DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM
THROUGH FRANCHISES FOR THE SALE AND
SERVICE OF HIS CARS.
• 1941 LAWSUITS AND A STRIKE AT THE RIVER
ROUGE FACTORY FINALLY FORCED HIM TO
RECOGNIZE THE UNIONS.
• 1947 ON APRIL 7, HENRY FORD DIES, IN
DEARBORN, MICHIGAN, USA, LEAVING MOST
OF HIS SHARES IN THE FORD MOTOR
COMPANY TO THE FORD FOUNDATION. FORD
IS ALSO KNOWN FOR ITS FAMOUS SLOGAN:
"YOU CAN CHOOSE ANY COLOR YOU WANT,
AS LONG AS IT'S BLACK".
Thank you for your attention