Loyalty and Entrepreneurship of Henry Ford
Loyalty and Entrepreneurship of Henry Ford
Henry Ford once said, “I will build a motorcar for the masses…constructed of the best materials, by the best me to be hired, after the simplest designs that modern engineering can devise…so low in price that no man making a good salary will be unable to own one and enjoy with his family the blessing of hours of pleasure in God’s great open spaces.” (Willamette 1) This is one of his most memorable yet earliest public quotes in history, that can easily sum up his whole life. Ford was much more than a person who made cars. He was a man with biblical principles; his main goal in life was to make it possible for everyone to afford a car, he was a loyal citizen, and a popular philanthropist.
Henry Ford was born on July 30, 1863 on a farm near Greenfield Michigan where he lived a normal childhood. At thirteen years old Ford became obsessed with the “horseless carriage”, after he witnessed a steam engine rolling down the street on its own (Lacey 8). Ford, being an inquisitive child, ran up to the engineer and asked him many questions. After getting all his answers the engineer actually let him drive the engine (Robert 9). Four years later, he went to work in Detroit as a machinist (Sahlman 1). One year later, he met Thomas Edison and earned a job at Detroit Edison Illuminating Co. (Caldwell 21).
Ford and Edison became life long friends, and because of Edison’s continued encouragement Ford built the first quadricycle gas powered car in 1896 (Salhman 1). In 1903 he founded his company The Ford Motor Co. (Caldwell 21). Ford invented the assembly line in 1913 to be able to produce his cars more rapidly then any other company (Willamette 1). He was the first to use the moving conveyor belt in his factories (Encarta). In 1908, he introduced the Model T. The Model T’s were sold at an affordable price of $850 (Willamette 2). In 1920, 4 million Model T’s were sold nationwide (Williamette 2).
When Ford came out with the assembly line for the Model T the price dropped to $490. Due to mass production in 1925 from the assembly line profits were increased. This enabled the price to be decreased to...