How henry ford changed the world

How Henry Ford changed the world

Henry Ford was the first manufacturer of automobiles who did not target the rich American upper class. Of course he was not an altruist, but by constantly reducingthe manufacturing and production costs, he was able to offer a car for the average American worker. Nowadays, Ford Motor Company with its headquarters in Dearborn, Michigan, is the fourth largestautomobile manufacturer after Toyota, General Motors and Volkswagen.

• In 1903 the Ford Motor Company manufactured its first car - the Model A.
• In 1908 the Model T made its debut with a purchaseprice of $825.00.
• By August 1913, Ford Motor Company implemented the perfected Assembly Line.
• By 1914, Ford could claim a 48% share of the automobile market.

The 1908 Model T. had two forwardgears, a 20 horsepower engine but no driver doors. The engine was capable of running on gasoline, kerosene, or ethanol. But the decreasing cost of gasoline and the later introduction of Prohibitionmade ethanol an impractical fuel.

Although the purchase costs seem very low compared with our standards, still many people could only afford the Model T because they took it as an investment. Thepractical-mindedness of people was very typical so they figured out some alternative ways to use the car or the car engine only. Some cars were applied as farm vehicles because one of the rear wheelscould be jacked up and used to power the then commonly available belt-driven agricultural equipment. One invention had a wide belt that was powered from the rear hub, used to convey hay from the ground.The engines were sometimes removed to provide the power for other types of machinery, such as saws. Like many popular car engines of the era, it was also used on home-built aircraft. By thiscreativity, purchase costs of the car were made up for by adding duties.

So these alternate uses of the car might be one of the reasons why the Model Ts sold like hot cakes and the car even got a...