"People can have the Model T in any color-- so long as it's black."

- Henry Ford (Quotations Books).

Ford Company & the Model-T

    The Ford Motor Company did not start off as a booming success. It encountered difficulties along the road. Ford was not the only one selling cars at that time. Other businesses produced automobiles to sell to the public. These automobiles were expensive; usually only the rich could afford them. One of these competitors was the General Motors Company, who was the biggest competitor to the Ford Motor Company because of their financial advantage (Brinkley).

    Although there was much competition, Ford never backed down, and always strived to become an important figure in the industrial world. His dream came true with his invention of the Model-T.
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    Ford introduced the Model-T to the world in 1908. It sold for $950. The Model-T was easy to operate, maintain, and handle on rough roads. It became an immediate success because it was focused mainly on the whole American society. With the emergence and success of the Model-T, the Ford Motors Company was very successful when production prices were reduced. The Model-T dropped from $550 in 1913, to $219 in 1924, making it within reach of the average family. Henry Ford aimed at making a car that was affordable to everyone ('Henry Ford Changes the World, 1908'). This was his key goal in attracting more people to his company.

    Demand for the affordable car soared even as production went up. The competition with GM had come to a simmer when GM began to extend credit and offer their products in a variety of colors so that more consumers would buy their cars. However, Henry Ford chose to only make the Model-T in black because he wanted to keep his cars affordable and wanted to focus on the quality more than the way his cars looked. By 1927, when Henry Ford stopped production of the Model-T and began production of the Model-A, 15 million people owned Model-T's in the United States ("Henry Ford and the Model-T).


(Source of Image Downloaded from: http://imagecache5.art.com/p/LRG/12/1293/SJ3O000Z/henry-ford.jpg).
(Source of Image: http://www.tqnyc.org/2006/NYC063369/ford_2.jpg)
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