History of Ford

At the beginning of the 21st century, the world famous Ford company celebrated its centenary. The company is one of the largest automakers in the world, often setting the tone for all industries.

It all started with the young Henry Ford’s passion for technology. From an early age, he enthusiastically fiddled with various mechanisms that fell into his hands, and soon began to understand them so well that neighbors often turned to a very young boy with requests to fix, for example, watches. At the age of 16, with only 8 grades of school behind him, he left his parent’s farm for Detroit. His first real job was the repair of steam engines, as well as their installation. Having dealt with their device, he switched to the study of internal combustion engines, and in 1893 he was able to make his first single-cylinder engine, and in 1896 his first car. After that, he decided to choose this particular industry as his path, starting to compete in races, at the same time trying to create his own car company. The fame of a skilled pilot quickly came to him, but he managed to open a company only in 1903, having convinced several rich people to finance production. June marked the beginning of a long and successful life for Ford Motor Company. The first car produced was called the Ford A.

After 2 years, the company split, and the main investor, Alexander Malcolmson, left it, selling his stake to Ford. He really did not like the engineer’s idea of ​​​​creating cheap cars that would be available to everyone, and he could not understand his ideas. At that time, the cars were assembled by hand, and each one took quite a lot of time. However, Henry Ford found a way to greatly speed up and reduce the cost of production. The first step in this direction was unification. In 1907, the company produced 4 different models of cars. A year later, the “T” model was developed, and it was decided to abandon all the others. Ford realized that almost any body could fit on the same chassis, making it easier to manufacture because workers now had to deal with familiar designs. And in 1913, assembly line assembly was introduced at the Ford factories, which became a revolution not only in the automotive industry, but in the entire industry. The entire process of car production was divided into parts, and each employee performed only a small part of the work, which was soon worked out to the ideal. In addition to improving product quality, this also reduced the cost of cars, and in 1924 the cost of the cheapest car was no more than three months’ wages for an ordinary worker. And in 1932, Ford produced a third of the world’s cars annually. True, after that, the rest of the automakers began to adopt the experience of the company one after another, introducing assembly lines, and by 1940 it had only 20% of the American market. However, the end buyers of cars only benefited from this.

The Ford F first rolled off the assembly line in 1948. This pickup truck has become one of the brand’s best-selling vehicles, despite the fact that most of them are produced for the US domestic market and are not so in demand in the rest of the world. The number of Ford F sold annually exceeds 700,000.

Ford Mustang is one of the world famous models of the manufacturer. A car with a brutal profile and a powerful engine became a symbol of muscle cars, and only in 1979 the company made a mistake by releasing a modest and economical modification equipped with an 86-horsepower engine under this name. It was the time of the global oil crisis, when queues of cars with empty tanks lined up at gas stations, but Mustang fans did not forgive the company for such humiliation, and turned their backs on them for a long time, contemptuously calling the new product “pony car”. Realizing their mistake, Ford made a new version of the model, returning to the previous concept, and the Mustang continues to be produced today, counting its history from 1964.

The Ford GT40 model appeared shortly after the company’s attempt to outbid Ferrari, which ended in failure. Then, the company’s management decided to develop its own line of sports cars, and in 1966 this car took the entire podium in the 24-hour endurance race, held annually at Le Mans. After such a significant achievement, Ford introduced the road modification of the model – GT40 Mk III. She received a powerful 4.7-liter V8 engine that developed 310 horsepower. However, despite the success of the car, new modifications were not released until 2003. The revived Ford GT already received a 5.4-liter engine that produced at least 100 “horses” for each liter of volume, and accelerated the car to 100 km / h in 3.2 seconds at a maximum speed of 346 km / h.

Ford Escort is notable for the fact that this car was developed for the European market and by European experts. Sales started in 1968, and the compact, fuel-efficient model appealed to consumers. In 2012, the number of Escorts sold exceeded 20 million, making it one of the most popular cars in history.

In 1998, the company released the Ford Focus. Cars of this model are now sold at a million annually, stubbornly bringing it closer to the record set by its predecessor, the Ford Escort.

In addition to the brand of the same name, Ford also produces Lincoln cars. This brand was bought in 1922 and has been producing premium cars ever since. Also, at one time the company produced Mercury cars, which were intermediate between the democratic Fords and the exclusive Lincolns. But in 2011, their release was curtailed.

For some time, the company also owned other brands, among which were Aston Martin, Volvo, Jaguar and some others. However, the Ford management decided not to develop them and one by one they were sold.

In 2002, production of the Ford C-Max, based on the Focus, began. The novelty was positioned as a practical, reliable and multifunctional car. In the same year, the premiere of the Ford Fusion model took place. The car was created for use in urban areas.

In 2003, the Ford Tourneo Connect was released. Despite the modest appearance, the car has high performance, spaciousness and stability on the road.

In 2006, the Ford S-MAX appeared based on the updated Ford Galaxy.

In 2008, production of the Ford Kuga model began. This car with a dynamic appearance and the same technical characteristics has become a bestseller.

In 2012, Ford introduced a new concept for the production of cars. The company plans to make cars produced in different parts of the world the same design. Model names may differ – for example, the European Mondeo is sold as Fusion in the US, but their appearance is identical. Only the installed engines and suspension settings will differ, as consumer preferences differ in America and Europe. However, the motors all as one will belong to the EcoBoost family, which is characterized by increased power with a minimum volume. Also, all models will be equipped with modern developments of the company’s engineers in the field of security.

In 2015, the first Ford cars with installed domestic engines were presented. The first such car was the Ford Fiesta, which is one of the most affordable vehicles produced under the Ford brand in the Russian Federation.

In the same year, a plant was launched in the city of Yelabuga, the capacity of which should be about 105 thousand engines per year – and this is only at the initial stage. Later, after a short period of time, the number of manufactured products should increase to 200 thousand units. The company producing engines for Ford in Russia plans to complete more than thirty percent of vehicles produced in the Russian Federation. They include EcoSport, Fiesta and Focus.

Sales of Ford cars will now be increased in Russia as well. According to the Association of European Businesses, the number of sold cars of this brand will exceed the figures of 2014 by at least twice and will amount to about 14 thousand cars.