Ford Motor Facts
Based in Dearborn, Michigan, Ford Motor Company is an American manufacturer of motor vehicles. It also provides such services as vehicle financing and leasing, equipment and machinery sales, and real estate leasing and sales. The company says that its motto, "One Team. One Plan. One Goal," emphasizes the importance of collaboration, delivering results, excellence and strong values.
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History
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Henry Ford founded Ford Motor Company on June 16, 1903. A Michigan-based engineer and experimenter born in 1863, he became interested in machinery, mechanics and automotive engineering long before establishing his namesake business. Ford Motor Company sold the Model A, the first Ford automobile, in Detroit several months after the company's establishment. After Ford retired in 1919, his son and only child, Edsel, became the company's president, until Henry Ford regained leadership in 1943 after Edsel's death at 49.
Significance
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Ford Motor Company had 87 other car manufacturers as competitors in the United States when it was established. The company's early success was partly due to Henry Ford's strategy of marketing Ford vehicles to consumers as an affordable and sound purchase instead of the expensive luxury items they were perceived as then. To make the vehicles easier to purchase, Henry Ford streamlined the manufacturing process at Ford Motor Company plants, incorporating such innovations as mobile conveyor belts in 1914. The greater efficiency that resulted enabled the company to produce more vehicles and charge less money for them.
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Features
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Ford Motor Company produces vehicles under such brands as Ford, Volvo, Mercury and Lincoln. As of May 2010, the company says it has about 176,000 employees working in 80 plants around the world, including in Africa, Asia Pacific, the Caribbean, Europe, Latin America, the Middle East and North America. Ford Motor Company also partners with other businesses to offer customers a wider range of services and products. Ford partners have included Eddie Bauer, Microsoft, SeaWorld and Sony.
Vehicles
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Historic Ford Motor Company vehicles include the original Model A, the company's first car produced in 1903; the Model T, which followed five years later in 1908; and the Thunderbird introduced after World War II in 1954. The automaker's product lineup eventually expanded to include hybrid cars that run on both gasoline and electricity, such as the Escape and Fusion; trucks of various sizes, including the Ranger and Transit Connect; and sport utility vehicles, or SUVs, such as the Expedition and Explorer.
Milestones
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Among Ford Motor Company's innovations are developing vehicles capable of running on alternative fuel, such as liquefied petroleum gas, methanol and natural gas. At least 90 percent of the vehicles sold worldwide that use alternative fuel are Ford models as of May 2010, according to the company. The company also introduced the Escape Hybrid, the world's first electric hybrid SUV, in 2005.
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References
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- Photo Credit ford thunderbird image by George Wada from Fotolia.com
