Henry Ford has changed the way of life for countless people with his vision of making car ownership affordable for all. He turned his vision into reality using assembly line production and other mass-production methods.
For Henry Ford, mobility was about more than just cars; it was about a whole new way of life. Ford was the first person to understand that cars had the potential to transform society. He was convinced that people wanted to move around and that they wanted to go further and faster than carriages were able to, and independently of scheduled public transport. Until this point, cars had been considered a luxury item. However, Ford recognised that they could be affordable for the masses, as long as the manufacturing process was cost-effective.
His goal: “I will build a motor car for the great multitude, 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.”
Roll-out of the assembly line
In 1914, he introduced the assembly line at the Highland Park factory. The associated principle of breaking down the entire production process into individual work steps is still known as Fordism. Assembly line technology allowed for a massive growth in production for the Model T. By 1918, every other car in America was a “Tin Lizzy”. By 1927, more than 15 million examples of this car of the century had been built – a record that would stand for the next 45 years.
From machinist to entrepreneur
The history of Henry Ford began on July 30, 1863 in Springwells Township, Wayne County/Michigan. He was already interested in mechanical processes by the time he could talk. At the age of 12 he began work in a machine shop, at 15 he built his first steam engine, and at 16 he started an apprenticeship to become a machinist. As a young man he worked at various companies, and then in 1891 he started working at the Edison Illuminating Company in Detroit.
It only took two years for him to become chief engineer at the company. Thomas Edison would become a lifelong mentor and friend of Henry Ford. During this time Ford experimented with motor vehicles and combustion engines – both at work and during his free time. In 1893, he assembled the first Ford engine on his kitchen table at 58 Bagley Avenue in Detroit. Shortly after, Henry Ford built his first car. Ford left his position at Edison in 1899 and several years later he founded the Ford Motor Company.
Social innovator
While Ford’s manufacturing methods brought the entire industry into the modern age, he also had a realisation that would virtually transform the entire structure of society: Henry Ford believed that mass production would create more jobs and that employees should earn enough money to be able to afford one of the economically manufactured cars.
In January 1914, he introduced the 5-dollar work day and gave his workers a share in the profit of the company. Ford also shortened the working day to eight hours. For most employees, this meant that their income at least doubled. For the first time in the history of industrialisation, factory workers were able to achieve a modest level of prosperity.
Successful aircraft
Ford also saw the aeroplane as a “part of the age of the motor”. Between 1926 and 1933, the Stout Metal Airplane Company, a subsidiary of the Ford Motor Company, produced 199 aeroplanes called “Trimotors”. Much like the Ford cars, the three-engined Trimotors also had a reputation for being well-designed, affordable and reliable. Inspired by the Tin Lizzie, Ford’s Model T, the airplanes were given the nickname Tin Goose. In total, more than 100 airlines used Ford Trimotors.
Ford had a vision here too: “Mark my words: a combination airplane and motorcar is coming …” he told Forbes magazine in 1940. And in 1941 he went one step further: “I can visualise the time when almost every family will have a small plane in their back yard.” With air taxis not being far from roll-out, this vision no longer seems so unlikely.
Despite his merits in the automotive industry, Henry Ford has not completely avoided controversy. He repeatedly attracted attention for his anti-Semitic statements in particular. However, it cannot be denied that the world of mobility has been significantly influenced by his vision. Henry Ford died on April 7, 1947 at the age of 83.
