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Ford Motor Company, a giant of American industry, is the world's second largest automotive manufacturer. Only General Motors Corporation is larger. Each year, Ford builds millions of cars and trucks throughout the world. It employs hundreds of thousands of people.
Ford's major divisions are Ford, Lincoln-Mercury, Jaguar Cars Limited, and Aston Martin Lagonda Limited. Ford's famous car models include the Model T, Thunderbird, Mustang, Escort, and Taurus. For the sales, assets, and number of employees of the Ford Motor Company.
Ford's headquarters are in Dearborn, Michigan. The company has dozens of assembly and manufacturing plants in the United States. The largest Ford manufacturing center in the United States is in the Rouge Manufacturing Complex near Detroit, Michigan. The complex covers 1,100 acres (450 hectares).
Henry Ford, an American machinist and engineer, organized the company in 1903. The success of the Ford Model N, brought out in 1906, led to the company's introduction of its famous Model T in 1908. Affectionately known as the "Tin Lizzie," this simple and inexpensive car outsold all other cars for almost 20 years. The model changed little from year to year, and from 1914 to 1925, it came in only one color, black.
Ford established the first moving assembly line at its factory in Highland Park, Michigan, in 1913. Using this method, all but the body of the Model T could be assembled in 93 minutes. The assembly line enabled Ford to cut prices, making cars affordable for average families. The Model T finally gave way to the Model A in 1927. In 1932, Ford mass-produced the V-8 engine, a powerful engine that had eight cylinders arranged in a V.
Ford family interests controlled the company until 1956. In January 1956, the Ford Foundation sold 10,200,000 shares of its Ford company stock to the public. This was the largest single stock issue ever offered to the public up to that date. With this sale, the Ford Motor Company became a publicly owned company.
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