<<

Celebrate The Heritage of Ford CELEBRATE FORD | THE BEGINNING A Legendary Founder LEFT A LEGACY OF EFFICIENCY, INNOVATION IN

ew people have changed the world as much as the Ffounder of , Henry Ford.

EARLY LIFE 1885 — Ford was the first to fig- Born in in 1863, Ford ure out how to produce cars at a had a knack for working with gigantic scale, offering the auto- mechanical things at an early mobile to the masses instead of age. He built his first small just the wealthy. machine shop by age 12 and had constructed a steam by age 15. If he hadn’t taken an interest in It was Ford’s innovation the automobile, Ford would have — mass production — that likely had a very successful career would truly change how the as an engineer. After working as a world moved. machinist’s apprentice and But, believe it or not, Ford repairing Westinghouse steam didn’t own his own company out- in Michigan, he was right in the beginning. He found- hired as an engineer at the ed Ford Motor Company on June Edison Illuminating Company. It 16, 1903 using other people’s cap- took him just 28 months to rise ital, owning just 25.5 percent of to the position of chief engineer the stock at first. It took him at Edison. three years to become the con- Fortunately for the automotive trolling owner and an additional world, Ford’s ambition would 13 years — and nearly $106 mil- lead him elsewhere. lion — to buy the company out- right with his wife, Clara, and his son, . FIRST Constantly tinkering at home, Ford’s work would take him he built his first internal com- down many more paths, from bustion engine on his kitchen charcoal briquettes to aircraft table in the winter of 1893 and production with the Ford Tri- used it to power his first car in Motor airplane, but his legacy 1896, which was little more than will always center around bring- a motorized, four-wheeled bicy ing cars to the masses. cle. - Today, William Clay “Bill” Ford While Ford wasn’t the first per Jr. — Henry Ford’s great-grand- son to build a car — that honor - son — carries on the family lega- went to Germany’s Carl Benz in cy as executive chairman of Ford Motor Company. CELEBRATE FORD | BREAKTHROUGH The Car That Started It All FORD’S MODEL T REVOLUTIONIZED WITH QUALITY, AFFORDABILITY magine if more than half the world’s cars were nearly identical — the same color, the same style, the same parts. employees were producing I around 300,000 cars per year. In comparison, 299 other Well, that’s exactly what the companies with a combined car world was like in the mid- 66,350 employees only man- 1920s, when Ford’s popular aged to produce around Model T ruled the roads. The 280,000 vehicles. Model T was the world’s most - The Model T went on to dominant car, by far, for near become one of the most pop- ly two decades in the early ular cars ever built, with 20th century. more than 15 million pro- Why was it such a hot sell- duced. It remains beloved by er? It came down to quality enthusiasts to this and cost. day.

MANUFACTURING Before the Model T, cars “I will build a car for the were essentially built by hand great multitude. It will by skilled craftspeople. Many individual parts had to be be large enough for the custom fabricated, which was family, but small enough expensive and time consum- for the individual to run ing. and care for. It will be Thanks to Henry Ford’s constructed of the best constant perfection and improvement of the moving materials, by the best success. men to be hired, after , though, the Model T was produced So was its cost. the simplest designs that extremely efficiently and was When the Model T was first able to use interchangeable introduced, it sold for a mod- modern engineering can parts, a development that we devise. But it will be so est price of $850. And as take for granted today. Henry Ford discovered ways low in price that no man If a part on your Ford broke, to build it faster and cheaper making a good salary instead of having a local on the assembly line, the will be unable to own craftsperson repair it or fabri- price eventually dropped to cate a new part from scratch just $260, making it affordable one – and enjoy with — with questionable quality to virtually everyone. his family the blessing — you could order a replace- of hours of pleasure in ment part from Ford that was built to the factory specifica- EFFICIENCY God’s great open spaces.” tions. That advancement was By 1914, Ford’s 13,000 — HENRY FORD CELEBRATE FORD | SPEED a huge part of the Model T’s Passion for Performance MUSTANG INSPIRES GENERATIONS OF MUSCLE-CAR LOVERS he brought transportation to the masses by the 1920s. Four decades later, the would do the same thing for Tperformance cars. Before the Mustang, sports cars were generally expensive, surpassing everyone’s expecta- impractical and sold in small tions for the new car. That batches. The soldiers who original 100,000 sales target enjoyed European sports cars was surpassed in just three during and after World War II months. brought their tastes for fast cars back to the states, but not everyone could afford the FUN PERFORMANCE pricey imports from compa- While it might not sound nies like Jaguar, Porsche and impressive by today’s stan- Mercedes-Benz. dards, the Mustang was a quick, enjoyable car to drive in General Motors had success with the Corvette in the 1950s, 1964. Its base engine was a V6 but its two-seat layout and that made 101 horsepower, small dimensions kept it from but two V8 engines were having mass-market appeal. where the real fun was at. The Mustang would change A 260-cubic-inch V8 made that. 164 horsepower, while a 289-cubic-inch V8 made 210 As the brainchild of Donald Frey and Lee Iacocca — the horses. And with a more nim- same man who would become ble feel than most cars from a household name for turning the era, along with a back seat around Chrysler’s fortunes in for practicality, the new the 1980s — the Mustang was Mustang appealed to a huge sporty, practical and very number of drivers who want- affordable, which was a revo- ed a sporty car. lutionary concept at the time. It was the right car at the right time, and it would go on to change the world. SALES SUCCESS When it first went on sale, the Ford Motor Company esti- LEGACY TODAY The Ford Mustang contin- mated just under 100,000 ues today with an all-new gen- Mustangs would sell in the eration that builds on the first year. original Mustang’s timeless But they were wrong. formula. With classic good It turns out the Mustang looks and muscle-car perfor sold 418,000 copies in the first - mance, the new Mustang car year alone, breaking all kinds - ries on with the same spirit as of sales records and wildly the original.

CELEBRATE FORD | TOUGHNESS Decades of Truck Leadership FORD F-SERIES HAS BEEN DOMINANT PICKUP LEADER FOR MANY YEARS ith its aluminum body, LED lighting and sophisticated new features, today’s Ford F-150 pickup is one of the most innovative trucks on the road. vations such as: F-150 looks to continue its — LED side-mirror spot- ketplace. predecessors’ success after its W truck line continued to evolve The F-150 has long been a lights that illuminate the side That should come as no introduction in 2015. and expand for decades, grad- sales success, becoming the of the vehicle. surprise, seeing how Ford ually getting more refined and While its aluminum-inten- — A remote tailgate release trucks have a long legacy of best-selling pickup in capable with each passing sive body structure generates that lowers the tailgate at the raising the bar for tough, America for 43 years and the headlines, it’s far from the generation. It also spawned a best-selling vehicle of any push of a button. hard-working machines. range of speciality trucks such only innovation on this truck. — A fully integrated tailgate kind for the past 32 years. In fact, it’s the most patented as the Eddie Bauer edition, It’s a long-term track record step that makes loading cargo THE BEGINNING Harley Davidson edition, SVT vehicle Ford has ever created. easier. that no other vehicle in the Ford says there were more The Ford F-Series was first Lightning sport truck and SVT world can match. — The BoxLink cargo man- sold in 1948, and it’s been Raptor off-road machine. than 100 patents or patent agement system that uses offered continuously ever applications for the new-gen- lockable, die-cast aluminum TODAY’S TRUCK eration truck, covering inno- tie-down cleats. since then to become one of SALES CROWN the world’s longest running The all-new generation of — Methods for spot weld- Perhaps like nowhere else, nameplates. ing, hydroforming and using the F-Series’ greatest success From the very start, the - adhesives to build the first-of- F-Series has always offered a has come in the mar its-kind pickup. wide range of configurations to meet customers’ needs. Its first generation, built from 1948 until 1952, was available in eight different weight rat- ings and a variety of body styles, including pickup, cab- over, panel truck and school . Ford’s

CELEBRATE FORD | TECHNOLOGY Electronic Innovation Celebrate Ford is a package of stories

FORD’S IMPRESSIVE SYNC SYSTEM MAKES TECHNOLOGY ATTAINABLE that focus on the rich history and exciting or years, if you wanted the latest and greatest technology in cars, you had to pony up big bucks for a luxury-brand vehicle. And while Ford could haveF easily encouraged buyers to move up to its luxurious trucks and SUVs. tell it to play a song, artist, Lincoln division for the new- album or genre, and you can est bells and whistles, it’s SYNC 3 easily switch radio stations chosen to take a different Ford’s latest generation of with your voice. approach in recent years by SYNC technology, called offering high-tech features future of Ford vehicles. It’s a great way SYNC 3, is designed to even on its entry-level mod- improve the experience even LINKING WITH APPS els. further. Ford’s latest SYNC system For one thing, the interface is designed to connect with has been redesigned to oper apps in your smartphone - ate more intuitively like a more seamlessly than ever For example, even on smartphone. It has a quick before. It lets you control Ford’s basic Fiesta compact response and lets you use apps via the interface in your car, which starts around operate your music and gestures such as swiping and car and automatically discov- $14,000, the Ford SYNC sys- with MyFord Touch for an phone calls. It will also dis- pinching to zoom, almost like ers apps such as Spotify, tem is standard equipment. play information like caller even better experience. And again, this is true across on an iPad. Pandora, Stitcher, NPR One, It lets you push a button ID and song titles on a digital It’s also designed with bet- SiriusXM Radio and iHeart- and use voice control to Ford’s lineup, from its small- display. ter voice recognition now, let- Radio Auto, letting you see You can step up to SYNC est and most efficient cars to its biggest, most powerful ting you use a more conver their data and graphics on to connect with readers who love Ford - CELEBRATE FORD | CUSTOMER CENTERED sational style with it. You can the vehicle’s screen. Always Focused on Value FORD’S MODERN LINEUP OFFERS A LOT OF VEHICLE FOR THE MONEY rom the very beginning, the Ford Motor Company has cars, trucks and SUVs! been about providing attainable transportation. It’s in the company’s core DNA. you get on a Ford car compared with a reasonable price. But it’s far from other brands, you’ll often find the F PERFORMANCE the only value on the Ford lot. Ford products over more value for the That’s no exception today as Ford Ford’s entire lineup has become Both the Fiesta ST and Focus ST continues to offer one of the best val- money. surprisingly refined in recent years, offer incredible levels of performance Ford is becoming known for the ues in the . from the quality of its cabins to the for the money. They emulate all the level of standard equipment it is put- ride and drive of its cars, SUVs and thrills, speed and sound of expensive ting on its cars, from the impressive STYLING pickups. Japanese and European performance SYNC system to a long list of safety One way Ford is making a value But it’s Ford’s performance cars that compact cars, but at a more afford- innovations. statement is in the design studio, might offer the very best bang for able price. And if you like the finer things on where even its affordable family cars your buck. your vehicle, Ford’s technologies and are turned into some of the most styl- The Mustang, of course, has long FEATURES luxuries on its higher end cars — ish, modern looking vehicles on the been a performance-for-the-dollar including the popular Platinum levels Finally, if you look at the features road. leader, offering wild levels of power at — can make some luxury brands look One great example: the . downright overpriced. While most cars in its class seem From ventilated seats to navigation dull and lifeless — the four-door fami- systems and sumptuous leather and ly car is perhaps the most bland wood trim, Ford aims for value at category on the road, after all — every point along the buying the Fusion takes its styling a spectrum. notch above its competi- TOPICS INCLUDE: tors. It’s widely been compared to the exclusive British designs of Aston-Martin, which makes some of the most beauti- ful cars on the road. • All about company founder Henry Ford

CELEBRATE FORD | GOING FOWARD • How the innovative Model T started it all Ford’s Future Path WHERE IS FORD GOING FROM HERE? IT AIMS TO BRANCH OUT s a large-scale manufacturing company, Ford can’t get much more • The Mustang inspires a passion for performance successful. It’s become one of the world’s foremost car builders and Anavigated the Great Recession better than most firms. Still, Ford is tasked with charting a new future as the world and its transportation needs change. CEO Mark through the MoDe:Link app. Fields spoke in San Francisco It can use vibrations in the to outline the company’s handlebars to help the driver plans for transformation into navigate on city streets with- • Ford’s many decades of truck leadership a “mobility company” that out looking down at a goes far beyond its car-based screen. roots. BIG DATA Ford is also exploring ways FLEXIBLE OWNERSHIP to use large-scale data to As Ford has researched cur - solve problems in the real rent and future trends, one world. thing it’s seeing is a move One example: using infor away from individual owner - - mation about driving habits ship and toward sharing of to help set insurance rates. • Electronic innovations on today’s Ford vehicles assets. Car sharing services Because people like like Uber and Lyft, along with receiving a score to let them home rental companies like track progress and improve Airbnb, show how the sharing but don’t like being told how economy is going main- to drive, Ford is considering stream. using driving data to create To capitalize on this trend, profiles that can give you Ford Motor Credit has discounted rates for safer announced its Peer-2-Peer habits. Car Sharing pilot program. If insurance rates could be It’s going to be offered to • How the brand always delivers a good value personalized for specific select customers in six U.S. drivers, the people who fol- cities and London. low speed limits and drive Ford will invite 14,000 U.S. MULTIMODAL SOLUTIONS cautiously could possibly be bicycles. customers to sign up to rent As cities grow to be more given deeply discounted Ford has been developing their Ford Credit-financed dense and need cheaper, rates. And drivers who tend e-bike prototypes, and its lat- vehicles to other drivers for cleaner, more efficient ways to speed and not pay atten- est is called MoDe:Flex, short-term use, which will for people to travel in crowd- tion to the road could be which can fold to fit inside help offset their monthly ed urban areas, Ford is look- incentivized to change their any Ford vehicle, where it can ownership costs. ing to fill that void. habits. be charged while stowing. One way is through electric It’s just one more possibili- The bike also connects with • The path Ford is charting for the future ty for the future of Ford the rider’s smartphone Motor Company.