Henry Ford, the automobile king

Henry Ford (1July 30th, 863-1April 8th, 947), American automobile engineer, entrepreneur and founder of Ford Motor Company. He was also the first person in the world to mass-produce cars by assembly line. This new mode of production makes the automobile a mass product, which not only revolutionizes the industrial mode of production, but also has a great impact on modern society and culture. Therefore, some social theorists call this economic and social history "Fordism".

Henry Ford was born in Springwell, wayne county, Michigan. ) is a part of dearborn, Michigan today. He died in his hometown of Debao on 1947 at the age of 83.

Ford's parents William and Mary Ford are immigrants from Ireland. Ford was born on a farm owned by his parents. He is the eldest of six children. He was interested in machinery since he was a child. 12 years old, he spent a lot of time building his own machinery workshop. 15 years old, he built his own internal combustion engine.

1879, he left his hometown to work as a mechanic apprentice in Detroit, and joined Westinghouse electric company after graduation. He got married on 1888.

189 1 year, Ford became an engineer of Edison Lighting Company. When he was promoted to chief engineer in 1893, he had enough time and money to carry out his personal research on internal combustion engines. He made his first car in 1896, and he named it "four-wheeled vehicle".

After that, he left Edison Lighting Company with other inventors, and together they founded Detroit Automobile Company. But the company soon went bankrupt because Ford only wanted to study new cars and ignored sales. He let his car compete with other companies' cars to prove the Excellence of his car. The main product of his second company, Henry Ford, is his racing car. He even won by driving on19010+00+10. But soon, his sponsors forced him to leave Henry Ford, which was later renamed Cadillac.

Ford, 1 1 Other investors and $28,000 set up Ford Motor Company in 1903. His newly designed car only takes 39.4 seconds to travel a mile. At that time, a famous racing driver named it Ford 999 and took it around the United States. In this way, Ford became famous in America.

1908, Ford introduced the Ford Model T. From 1909 to 19 13, Ford Model T won many competitions. Because of dissatisfaction with the rules of the game, Ford withdrew from the game. At this time, there is no need for him to participate in the competition, because T-type is already very famous. In the same year, Ford introduced the assembly line into his factory, which greatly improved the production capacity. 19 18 Half of the cars running in America are model T cars. Ford attaches great importance to the promotion and protection of T-shaped design. Ford said, "Any customer can paint this car in any color he wants, as long as it stays black." This design has been maintained until 1927. By 1927, Ford * * * had produced150,000 Model T vehicles. This will be a world record for the next 45 years.

Ford attaches great importance to his relationship with employees. His employees work eight hours a day. 19 13 years, with a daily salary of $5 (which was considerable at that time). At rush hour 19 18, the salary of T-type is increased to 6 dollars per day. This was unheard of at that time. In addition, Ford also rewards employees' inventions and lets them share the profits brought by inventions.

On the other hand, Ford is absolutely opposed to trade unions. In order to stop the trade union activities in his factory, he specially hired people to study ways to stop the trade union. It was not until 194 1 that the first strike occurred in Ford's factory, but it was not until 1945 that Ford left his company that the trade union could really stand in his factory.

1 919 65438+1October1,Ford ceded the position of president of the company to his son Edsall Ford. Nevertheless, he is still the number one person in the company. During Edsol's tenure, few decisions were made without consulting Henry, and these decisions without consulting him were often cancelled by him. At this time, Ford began to buy back shares held by other investors, which made him and his son the sole owners of the company. But this decision has brought a certain blow to Ford Motor Company. At this time, the depression after World War I forced Ford to borrow huge sums of money to buy back its own shares.

1920, Ford bought many kinds of rubber trees in Brazil in order to produce tires for his cars. But the result of this action was a great failure. He lost a lot when he sold these lands on 1945.

1920, the sales of Model T cars began to decrease. One of the reasons is that other car manufacturers have introduced a loan system to buy a car. Moreover, the new mechanical system in other cars is not available in Model T, although his son Edsall Ford tried to persuade him many times, Henry Ford stubbornly refused to add a new system to Model T (because the new system made the car price rise, so that customers could not afford to buy a car) and refused to introduce a loan system (because Ford thought it was bad for the economy).

1926 The sharp decline in the sales of Model T made Henry Ford realize that his son's persistent idea was right: they needed a new model. Henry Ford is mainly engaged in the design of engine, car body and other mechanical devices, and has rich technical experience in these aspects. His son mainly designs the appearance. Edsall Ford also overcame his father's initial objection and introduced the hydraulic braking system. The result of this cooperation is a very successful Ford A car. 19271February was launched, and by 193 1, 4 million vehicles of Model A have been produced.

Henry Ford has always been interested in plastics, especially plastics made from soybeans. /kloc-in the 1930 s, soybean plastics were everywhere on Ford cars. 1942 65438+1October 13 Ford applied for a patent for an automobile made almost entirely of plastic. It is 30% lighter than ordinary cars, and it is said that it can withstand the impact of ordinary cars 10 times. But this car has never been produced.

Edsol Ford died on May 26th, 1943, and the post of president of the company became vacant. The widows of Henry Ford and Edsel Ford disagree on who will succeed the post. Finally, Henry Ford accepted the position himself. In the next two years, Ford was in a very difficult situation, with a monthly loss of100000 dollars. US President franklin delano roosevelt even considered using federal funds to help Ford tide over the difficulties to ensure wartime production.

biography

Born in Greenfield, Michigan on July 30th, 1863. His father is an Irish immigrant, and Henry ranks first among the six brothers.

Henry taught himself to be a steam engine technician. 1887 worked as a technician in Detroit Edison electric light company, and was later promoted to chief engineer.

He devoted himself to designing cars. In 1896, he tried to build a two-cylinder air-cooled four-horsepower car.

1898 resigned and became the first automobile company, but only 25 cars were produced, which contributed to the bankruptcy of 1900.

1903 Ford reorganized the automobile company in June 16 and has been the general manager. In the same year, the company produced the first Ford car. 1908, Ford made the model t Ford. This popular car is very popular and sells well in Europe. 19 1 1 year, the first automobile assembly plant was built in Kansas city, Missouri.

1908, the world's first Model T car was born, which completely changed the American way of life.

19 13, Ford founded the world's first automobile assembly line. This flow process method was later called "Ford system" and widely promoted all over the world. This system organizes mass production on the basis of standardization, mechanizes and automates all operations, and becomes a production organization form with high labor productivity.

19 14 years, workers were paid $5 for eight hours for the first time, which changed the working style of American workers.

19 15, American president Wilson received Ford and praised Ford motor company.

19 19 Henry bought the shares of other shareholders of the company and monopolized the company. He also used Citibank's funds to expand reproduction, making the company the largest automobile company in the world in the 20th century. Ford himself is also known as the "car king", and his family has become one of the major chaebol in the United States.

192 1 year, American president Harding met Ford and praised "you created the greatest company for America".

1927, the company stopped producing Ford Model T and started to manufacture new Model A cars. 1932 made a V-8 car again. At present, the company has diversified its business, not only manufacturing, assembling and selling automobiles (Ford, Mercury, Lincoln and Mainland China), trucks, tractors and related parts and accessories, but also developing and producing electronic products and appliances (including communication and meteorological satellites) used in consumer and aerospace industries.

1929, American President Hoover attended the inauguration ceremony of Ford Museum.

1936, Henry Ford and his son Edsol founded the American Ford Foundation in Michigan. At first, it was a regional welfare organization, whose purpose was to promote human welfare widely. The foundation has developed rapidly, reaching 1950, and has become a national and international organization.

1943, after the death of Henry's only son, edsel, he handed over the command of several companies to his grandson, Henry Ford II.

1946, Ford was awarded the honorary award for its contribution to the automobile industry in the "golden 50 years of automobile". The New York Times commented that Ford was not only the founder of Ford Motor Company, but also promoted the development of the whole automobile industry.

1April 3, 947, Henry Ford died. On the day of his funeral, all automobile production lines in the United States were shut down for one minute to commemorate this "Copernicus of the automobile industry"

1999, Fortune magazine named Ford "the greatest entrepreneur of the 20th century" in recognition of his and Ford Motor Company's contribution to human development.

In 2005, Forbes magazine published the 20 most influential entrepreneurs in history, and Henry Ford topped the list with the title "My Life and Work".