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Front Page
Ford Celebrates 100 Years June 16, 2003
Staff, Friday June 13, 2003.
Page 1 of 1
From modest beginnings in a converted Detroit wagon shop, the Ford Motor Company has grown to cover the globe, with 350,000 employees in more than 200 markets on six continents.
The company now incorporates some of the world?s most admired brands, including Ford, Jaguar, Land Rover, Lincoln, Mazda, Mercury, Aston Martin, Volvo, Ford Credit and Hertz.
But a century ago, few people could have predicted that young engineer Henry Ford was bound for greatness.
With the winnings from a car race, he approached investors and managed to secure the princely sum of $USD28,000 as start-up capital for a new business enterprise.
The business had no immediate prospects of success. At the time, Ford was just one of 15 car manufacturers in Michigan and 88 in the United States.
But what set Ford apart from the rest was Henry?s unique understanding of the potential role of the car in society.
Before Ford, cars were luxury items, manufactured and marketed for the rich.
Henry?s great stroke of genius was recognising that by mass-producing simple, reliable automobiles he could make motoring affordable for everyone.
Inspired by this vision, he invented the moving automotive assembly line and the legendary Model T Ford was born, changing society forever.
The first Model T sold for as low as $260 and instantly won the approval of millions of Americans for its value and reliability. In its first year of production it broke all records for the industry and by the end of 1913, Ford was producing half of all the vehicles in the United States.
In the 19 years it was in production more than 15 million Model Ts were sold in the US alone.
Ford was established as an automotive giant.
But Ford hasn?t always just sold cars.
In its early years, Ford spread into other areas of industry, manufacturing boats and passenger planes, as well as tanks and aircraft bombers during World War II.
And after the war, it branched out into financing, insurance, vehicle parts and service and car rental.
More recently it has acquired some of the world?s leading luxury automotive brands.
Over the years, Ford has created some of the world?s best known and loved nameplates, including the Thunderbird, the Mustang and the F-Series truck.
In Australia, the Ford story started just a year after the company was formed in Detroit, when the first Model A was imported into Australia in 1904.
Ford began manufacturing vehicles in Geelong in 1925 and has been part of the Australian landscape ever since.
The Ford Falcon, the only car designed and manufactured in Australia from a blank piece of paper, has been a familiar sight on Australia?s roads since September 14th 1960.
That first Falcon ? the XK ? has been followed by more than three million sedans, wagons, utes and vans bearing the Falcon nameplate.
The Falcon was chosen by automotive journalists from around the world as one of just 25 vehicles that represented the ?heart and soul? of Ford Motor Company worldwide.
It has also made a huge contribution to Australian motoring with a long list of innovations in design and mechanical features over the years.
As far back as the 1960s Falcon introduced Australians to seat belts, dash padding and safety steering wheels.
Since then Falcons have been at the forefront of Australian vehicle manufacturing, initiating the introduction of disc brakes, V8 engines, plastic fuel tanks, the use of lightweight plastics for grilles and bumper bars, cross-flow alloy cylinder heads, electronic fuel injection, computer-controlled engine management and immobilisation systems, ABS braking and Smartlock security locking.
The Falcon was also the first motor vehicle to be awarded the prestigious Australian Design Award for Excellence in Design in 1988. The current model, the BA, was honored in 2002 with the Wheels Car of the Year trophy, two titles in Australia's Best Car Awards and the News Limited Star Car Award.
For further information, please contact:
Ford Australia Communications
Phone: 03-9359 8491
For Betacam SP vision, please call Ford Communications, Lynette Walker 0413 387 170 or Sinead McAlary 0412 254 388.
