December 10, 1915 marked the day that Henry Ford’s hard earned labors showed their worth. One hundred years ago, the famous Ford Motor Company, one of America’s big three automakers, produced its one millionth car in a plant in Detroit.
It was not luck that brought about the success of the early company, but innovation in design, business, and engineering. In the twelve years since the company had been officially incorporated in 1903, it had revolutionized the way cars were produced, going from a few man crew to an organized and structured system that allowed for the output of hundreds of vehicles, in the first moving assembly line. The new invention allowed for faster and less expensive production, which played a large role in the accessibility of cars for anyone but the upper classes. Ford’s affordable Model-T spurred a movement of automobila enthusiasm, and helped push his company to the top, even from the very start.
And Ford Motor Company has only continued to grow, in the century that has passed since they first broke their iconic millionth mile mark. They have produced many other cars that rocked the world, including the Ford Mustang, which recently celebrated its own fiftieth birthday and helped start the movement of pony cars and muscle cars in America, as well as putting, once again, affordable and interesting cars into the hands of the middle class, into the forefront of youth culture and working women’s lives.
What would Henry Ford, the man himself, have to say if he could see his company today? Would he be shocked by the swooping lines, the incredible power output, the fringe of Iacocca influence that hangs on? There’s one thing he would like for certain – the numbers. Dazzling its past victories, Ford’s sales for 2014 reached 2,480,942 in the United States alone, according to a Ford media site sales report, with their international sales of over five million. In one year’s time, Ford is selling more than twice as many cars as it once took them twelve years to do, at a time when they were far ahead of the race.
Certainly, Ford shows little sign of slowing down. Their consumer cars today are reliable, green, stylish and affordable. The Mustang has street cred and the GT has sex appeal. (What would Hank have to say about that one?) At times, when one looks at the expansive reach of the Ford Motor Company through the years, it is difficult to believe they were ever a small company, impossible to believe how many times the man Ford himself had to fail, before he succeeded. But succeed he did, step by step, victory by victory, from the anniversary of one million cars, to an annual output of twice that, there is little doubt that Henry would be proud of his company today. 
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Image top right selected from Wikipedia Commons.
Image bottom left selected from Ford Media Site.