Case Analysis: Ford Fiesta
Members: James Hall, Marina Goldshteyn, Qimin Wu
Company Background
The Ford Motor Company began in 1903 in Dearborn, Michigan, when Henry Ford commissioned the Model A automobile. Ford was the first automobile company to invent the assembly line process, which led to the concept of mass production as we know today. The assembly line now meant that Ford vehicles could be produced more quickly and efficiently, and at a lower price.
Ford stands as the second largest automotive manufacturer in the U.S. and fifth worldwide. It initially introduced the Ford Fiesta to the U.S. market in the 1970 's, but the product didn 't grab much of the car market. While the Fiesta was not accepted in the U.S., it found a place in the European market and has resided there for the last four decades.
Introduction/Overview
In early 2009, Ford Motor Company began its new marketing campaign to reposition itself within the auto industry and reintroduce its class B vehicle, the Ford Fiesta, to the U.S. market. This campaign, the “Ford Fiesta Movement,” was not the typical traditional marketing campaign. It was a social media campaign designed to generate buzz for the upcoming launch of the 2011 Fiesta sub-compact car. Past car launches like this usually used more traditional communication channels such as television, radio, magazines, and newspapers, to raise awareness of the product. These types of campaigns were very expensive and may not have reached the
Ford hired Fredrick Taylor, a motion study expert, to evaluate and refine the efficiency of his factories after years of trying to find ways himself (History.com, 2009). Taylor took what he saw in the factories to make a more efficient workforce while Henry Ford developed tools and equipment to help with a better flow of the workforce. Together, they realized four distinct things from other smaller businesses that they wanted to immolate and bring to the big stage. These four principles were the use of interchangeable parts, division of labor, continuous flow, and reduced wasted effort (Science Odyssey, 1998). With these four principles in mind and the dream to produce a more cost efficient vehicle, Henry Ford and Fredrick Taylor created the first large scale assembly line in 1913 (Goss, 2014). This assembly line was able to transfer the time it took to build a single Model T from twelve hours to a mere two hours and thirty minutes (History.com, 2009). With its eighty-four distinct steps in the flow of the assembly line, a division of labor was created where a worker could be trained to do one specific task making him more efficient at that task and able to do a much better job (History.com, 2009). Secondly, having interchangeable parts that would could be used between any model of Ford allowed Henry to focus on machinery that would produce these
The Ford Motor Company is an automotive manufacturer that was started in the late 1900’s. Many people have run the Ford Motor Company but the founder Henry Ford, he was unlike any other. Henry Ford’s imagination was unlike any other and his brain could come up with some of the greatest things. Until the day Mr. Ford died he created and succeeded in the automotive world and never failed to give to America.
In 1903 the Ford Motor Company was incorporated after two unsuccessful attempts. Henry Ford was the vice-president and the chief engineer. The company started out only making a few cars a day at the Ford factory, with two or three men working on a car at a time and having to use parts made to order from other companies.2
A motor car for the great multitude a goal for Henry Ford(Schlager 593). In the 1920s, automobiles are rapidly changing the American lifestyle forever because of their affordability and also the development of new assembly technology to lower the cost. Technological innovations of assembly begin to expand and advance for the better throughout the 1920s, which impacts Americans and the people of the world today. Henry Ford, a bold figure during the 1920s, owner of Ford automobiles. His ideas and innovation like the assembly line forever changes the automobile and the way goods are produce. Although there are many technological advancement during the 1920s, the assembly line designed by
The automobile industry made owning an automobile more available to the public. Factories began producing cars in higher numbers than one craftsman would ever be able to. “The first automotive production on a commercial scale began in France in 1980, but the United States in the 1900’s became equal to the European automobile factories. The Europeans used engineering and handcraft methods, while the U.S. had plants that used the assembly line” (The History). Frank Duryea of Springfield, Massachusetts developed the first gasoline powered automobile in the United States, and over the next twenty years 8 million cars were manufactured and sold (Clayton 501). On the other hand, Henry Ford’s first working gasoline engine was completed at the end of 1843, and “by 1896, he had completed his first horseless carriage, the Quadricycle, so called because the chassis of the four- horsepower vehicle was a buggy frame mounted on four bicycle wheels” (Curley 165). Ford revolutionized factory production with his assembly line methods (Curly 163). The assembly line remained hard on laborers, required them to perform routinely repetitive tasks for hours on end. To retain workers, Henry Ford paid workers five dollars a day, and employees only work eight hour days. Mass production techniques rapidly increased worker productivity and output, allowing more cars to be made and to sell for less money. By the 1920’s, the number of registered vehicles rose over fifteen million, because of Henry Ford’s assembly line, which made manufacturing automobiles more time efficient and less costly, making automobiles less expensive. In 1929, Ford, who was one of Thomas Edison’s greatest admirers, asked him to design a battery for a self-starter, to be introduced on the Model T, which was Ford’s car for the common man (Curley 139). At the time of his death in 1947, Henry Ford’s
Ford Motor Company is one of the world’s largest producers of cars and trucks and one of the largest providers of automotive financial services marketing vehicles under the eight brands shown below. The Company is a publicly traded company listed on the New York Stock Exchange. During 2002, the company made 6.7 million vehicles and employed 328,000 people worldwide. Business partners include 25,000 dealers and more than 10,000 suppliers.
Ford Motor Company, American automotive corporation founded in 1903 by Henry Ford and 11 associate investors. (htt28) It is the multinational corporation and the world's third largest automaker based on worldwide vehicle sales. The Company operates in two segments: Automotive and Financial Services. Automotive includes Ford North America, Ford South America, Ford Europe, and Ford Asia Pacific Africa region. Financial services include Ford Motor Credit Company and Other Financial Service. The Company manufactures or distributes automobiles across six continents. Its automotive brands include Ford and Lincoln. Other Financial Services includes a range of businesses, including holding companies and real
Ford is the second-biggest U.S based automaker (after General Motors) and the fifth-biggest in the world (behind Toyota, VW, Hyundai-Kia and General Motors) in view of 2015 vehicle production.
Ford entered into the automobile market many years ago and became the oldest car manufacturers. It is the first company which specialized in large scale manufacturing of the cars. The production of Ford cars is done in highly engineered way with the help of moving assembly lines.
The automobile was actually officially invented in 1885 by Karl Benz, in Germany, the United States perfected and dominated the automobile industry starting with Charles Edgar Duryea and his brother Frank Duryea. Together, they brought the United States’ first automobile in 1893. At the time, the incredibly new and innovative creation of the automobile was quite remarkably on of the most impressive inventions to the American people at the time. What this particular technological advancement did for the American Industrial Revolution was create convenience and sparked interest. The American people at this day of age had to constantly commute either by simply just walking or by stagecoaches. But then, America was introduced with an alternative solution for transportation. With such an advancement of technology, the first automobile was strongly affected the American Industrial Revolution, because it continued forward with a man named Henry Ford. Ford was the founder of Ford Motor Company, which was able to mass produce this amazingly revolutionary contraption, that would significantly affect the American people’s everyday lives. Henry Ford did not only just bring the United States the first mass produced automobile, he also introduced the assembly line that would change many companies forever. The assembly
One of the most influential concepts and innovations to come out of the early twentieth century to change the face of production was the assembly line developed by Henry Ford and the Ford Motor Company and first used in production in 1913 (National Academy of Engineering, 2010) .
Henry Ford was an engineer from Detroit, Michigan who had an idea. By 1902, Ford had attempted several times to produce a gas powered vehicle, but with little capital, he realized that his attempts were futile. Ford approached a man by the name of Alexander T. Malcomson about the possibility of manufacturing an automobile. Malcomson, a friend of the family and wealthy coal merchant was reluctant at first but finally agreed with Ford, and decided to assit Ford financially with his endeavor. With Malcomsons investment and Ford's engineering skills a partnership was formed and in mid June of 1903, papers of incorporation for the Ford Motor Company were filed in Dearborn, Michigan.
Ford Motor Company is an American automobile manufacturer founded and headquartered in Dearborn, Michigan but incorporated in the state of Delaware. The company was started by Henry Ford in 1903 and is historically famous for the creation and implementation of the assembly line in manufacturing processes. Ford’s mission is to produce and sell automobiles – cars, trucks, SUVs, etc – from the ones initially designed and engineered by Henry Ford all the way through the newer versions created in the last few years. (Profitable Growth for All, 2012)
A man that went by the name of Henry Ford, once said, “I invented nothing new. I simply assembled the discoveries of other men behind whom were centuries of work…” The Ford Motor Company is an American continental automobile maker founded by Henry Ford on June 16, 1903. During the 1920s, this firm marketed automobiles that were reliable, low-cost, easy-to-operate and easier-to-fix device for the masses (Rise of the Automobile). In addition, the Ford Motor Company led the world into the expansion and refinement of the assembly line; revolutionizing our society to greater heights through its mobile products. Meanwhile, the company’s contributions benefited society through the means of the renovation of the suburbs and the invention of new services. Like no other during the 1920s, the Ford Motor Company supplied to the boom of innovations; marking its footprint to a superior society.
Founded in 1903, Henry Ford managed to get investor support to open the first manufacturing automobile company in Detroit, Michigan. Ford Motor Company has been known for its mass production of vehicles using a perfected assembly line method and its innovations in the automobile industry. Ford’s famous Model-T was developed as an innovative automobile that could be produced quickly, while keeping the cost to a minimum. This allowed people with a lower income the opportunity to afford an automobile. One of the biggest changes in the automobile industry occurred in 1913 with the introduction of a perfected assembly line method. This assembly line method was the one of the main reasons Ford Motor Company was able to keep the cost of vehicles and the production time to a minimum. Ford also took the first step to increase wages of their employees above the industry standard. Although it was still a very low value, Ford offered $5 per day which was a huge improvement from the $2.34 per day that most companies offered.