Henry Ford. Henry Ford was 40 years old when he founded the Ford Motor Company in 1903

Henry Ford was 40 years old when he founded the Ford Motor Company in 1903. That was not an easy task – to start producing cars at that time. To start such production you need a lot of money, but Henry Ford was not a rich man. He had to look for investors. And it was a very difficult task to find the investors. Why? Because people did not believe in great future for cars at that time. People used horses and were frightened by the machines moving without a horse. At last, Henry Ford found twelve investors. They gave him 28 thousand dollars and he opened a small factory in Detroit, Michigan.

At first, the company produced only two-three cars a day. In nineteen-oh-three (1903), the company sold its first car. That sale was the beginning of Henry Ford's dream. He wanted to build a good, but not expensive car for the general public. He said many times: "I want to make a car that anybody can buy."

To keep prices low, Henry Ford decided to build just one kind of a car. He called it the "Model T”. It was a simple machine, but very fast and reliable. Americans loved the "Model T” so much, that they even wrote songs about it.

The first price of the model was eight hundred fifty dollars, but later, as production rose, Ford lowered prices. By 1916 the price had dropped to three hundred forty-five dollars. At the same time Henry Ford raised his workers' pay. His workers earned 2 dollars a day. That was the same as at other factories. Henry Ford raised the pay to 5 dollars a day. Henry Ford and his cars were getting more and more popular.

In 1923 some investors wanted to buy Ford company and they were ready to pay for the company one thousand million dollars!!!

Henry Ford expanded and controlled his company for about 40 years. He created the world's largest and most profitable company. The company was able to survive the Great Depression.

Today Ford Motor Company is one of the largest family-controlled companies in the world. It has been in continuous family control for over 100 years. Ford produces about 5 million automobiles and employs about 200 thousand employees. The company has around 90 plants worldwide. It operates in North and South America, in Europe, in Asia, Africa and Middle East.

Today the company manufactures a wide range of cars: sports cars, touring cars (Focus, Falcon etc.), a number of truck models, buses and tractors. It is developing fuel-saving technologies, for example, electric cars, hydrogen cars and others. As before, the company is focusing on creating vehicles that are simple, durable and lightweight with reasonable prices. The company is looking for new ways to stay competitive and profitable in the global market.