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02Henry Ford's company changed transportation worldwide, but its refusal to adapt hurt its own success

Henry Ford had a simple yet groundbreaking dream. He wanted to make a car that was not just a plaything for the rich, but a practical and affordable tool for the everyday person. His vision was a car that was big enough for a family, but small enough for one person to handle. He was adamant about using top-notch materials and hiring the best workers in the business. His design would be straightforward, using the most cutting-edge engineering methods of the time. Above all, he wanted his car to be priced so that anyone with a decent income could afford it, making the joy of driving available to everyone. On June 16, 1903, the Ford Motor Company was born. But despite investing heavily in innovative products, the company struggled to stay ahead of the competition. The company's culture turned sour, with larger-than-life leaders creating personality cults and driving away the talent they needed to support them. This unhealthy corporate culture started to eat away at the company from the inside, a problem that can be traced back to the company's early days. The arrival of Japanese car makers in the 1960s and the oil crises of the 1970s only made these problems more obvious. Staying true to his vision, Ford introduced the Model T, a simple, reliable, and practical car that changed the automobile industry forever. It turned the car from a luxury item for the rich into a means of transportation for the average person. The Model T hit the market on October 1, 1908, with a price tag of $850, which is less than $20,000 in today's money. As the Model T became more popular, the company introduced the world's first moving assembly lines. This game-changing innovation cut the production time from 13 hours to just 90 minutes. In January 1914, Ford raised the daily wage to $5, more than double the average wage at the time. This wage increase triggered a massive migration of workers to Detroit, similar to the California Gold Rush, creating the industrial middle class. Ford believed that for every dollar he knocked off the price of his car, he would gain a thousand new customers. By 1925, the price of a Model T had fallen to $260, equivalent to just over $3,000 today, and Ford was churning out more than 1.6 million cars a year. But despite these impressive figures, the company was facing problems. The production of Model T's had fallen by almost 200,000 from two years earlier. Even price cuts couldn't stop the sales slump. As a result, Ford's market share, which had peaked at 61.5% in 1921, started to fall. This decline was a clear sign that the company, which had revolutionized global transportation, was becoming its own worst enemy due to internal problems and a failure to stay competitive.

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