1899年亨利福特离开爱迪生照明公司加入底特律汽车公司，但此公司1900年即倒闭。1901年亨利福特与Childe H.Wills合资成立亨利福特公司，但与其他投资人不合没多久即离开，该公司在亨利‧李兰入股后改名为凯迪拉克(Cadillac)汽车公司。后来亨利福特制造的赛车在1902年获胜并创下美国新纪录，1903年6月16日一位煤碳商马康森和其会计高任思因此与亨利福特合资成立今日的福特汽车。福特向道奇兄弟购买汽车底盘搭配自己的双气缸水平对卧引擎，开始福特汽车的生产。福特用来自十二位投资者的28000美金在一个原先制造马车的工厂里开始了他的事业。当时汽车的生产方式是以两到三个工人为一组，从零件制造到销售订单都是由一组工人负责到底。因此最开始的日子里，福特公司生产效率比较低下，每天只能生产几部车。1906年，创办人之一的马康森售出股份予福特，退出经营。
1908年，福特汽车公司开始发行福特T型车。最早的一批T型车都是在皮科特制造车间完成装配，后来公司将生产部分移动到空间更大的高地公园(Highland Park)的车间来满足市场对于T型车源源不断的需求。在1913年公司已经发展出一套较完整的装配线和大规模生产技术。福特汽车主管将原先的装配线发展成为了由机械传送带来运输零件让工人进行组装。这个创新将原先装配底盘所需的12个小时30分钟的时间减少到2个小时40分钟。值得注意的是，福特汽车只是将装配线生产模式引进到汽车生产业，而非发明者。实际上装配线生产法可能最先出现在秦始皇大量制造兵马俑时期，16世纪初期威尼斯也有厂商使用装配线快速造船，1801年英国有零件供应商使用装配线生产英国海军所需的零件。在美国第一个使用装配线进行生产作业是Oldsmobile汽车创办人兰塞姆·奥茨（Ransom Olds），他也将装配线生产的方法登记专利，之后福特汽车另外独立发展装配线生产方法。
福特生产流水线 (1913)机械传送带在当时并没有立刻取得成效，而且工人的失误率相当高，然而失误就意味着更多的生产延误以及更多对工人进行培训所需的额外支出，还有就是要使用干活较慢的工人。在1914年1月，通过将工资加倍（从2.5美金/小时到5美金/小时），缩短工作时间（每天工作8小时），并设立专门负责雇佣工人的人员后，困扰公司多年的生产效率低下的问题就迎刃而解了。员工失误率大幅下降，公司生产力也随之腾飞。随着制造车子的速度越来越快，每辆车的售价也开始快速下跌。福特不断地对他的汽车产品进行降价，由原先850美金一辆车的价钱降至360美金[1]。并首先发明了授权经销商的概念与体系，让那些经销商来为他大量销售这些便宜的汽车。
1916年福特汽车获利极高，公司手中保留盈余高达一亿一千两百万美元。福特决定花钱在扩大产量上，却引起持股百分之十的主要股东道奇兄弟不满，道奇兄弟认为企业盈余应先分配给股东，当时持股达八成的亨利福特反对，道奇兄弟因此告上法院。1919年密歇根州最高法院判决道奇兄弟胜诉，判决指出企业设立的目的在为股东谋利，企业董事也不可改变这项基本目的。此判决日后成为企业是否要负社会责任等其他目的之争论焦点。
截至1913年底，全美国有50%的汽车都是福特公司生产的。然而至1918年底，全美国的汽车有一半都是T型车。当时绝大部分T型车的颜色都是清一色的黑色，基本没
有什么其他颜色可供选择。据传亨利·福特有一句名言：“顾客可以选择他想要的任何一种颜色，只要它是黑色。”意思就是顾客只能够购买黑色的T型车。亨利·福特并不是对黑色有什么特殊癖好，其坚持黑色的真正原因在于黑色油漆干燥得快，可以使汽车在落地后第一时间能够被卖出去。这也算是亨利·福特追求生产效率的极端表现之一。
1919年，时任总经理的另一创办人高任思退出福特汽车。同年，亨利福特的独子埃兹尔·福特(Edsel Ford)继承他父亲公司总裁的职位，但是亨利·福特仍然可干涉公司的管理且始终具有其影响力。虽然高效率的生产使公司产品的价格一直较低，但由于公司内部不与时俱进的家长式管理以及对高端消费者市场的忽略，福特公司在美国开始逐渐失去汽车市场份额。通用汽车、克莱斯勒以及其他小型的竞争企业开始为消费者提供与T型车相比拥有更多豪华设备的汽车。比如说通用在当时就有各种价位的车型，将高低端市场一网打尽；另一方面，经济拮据的人也不再会直接从福特公司购买T型车，而是转而购买二十多甚至十多美金就能买到的二手的T型车。与此同时，这些竞争者又通过实行分期付款的形式使消费者能够在每个月只交一笔钱的情况下能买到原先支付不起的昂贵车辆。福特强烈反对这种消费方式，他认为这种消费最终将使国家经济以及消费者陷入窘局。但福特最终还是做了让步，并在风靡一时的T型车生产至第一千五百万部时宣布停产该车型，转而生产全新的车型A型车(Model A)。
1925年，福特公司收购了林肯汽车公司(Lincoln Motor Company)，从而开始打入高档车市场。1935年，水星汽车(Mercury)在埃兹尔·福特提议下成立，主要生产中价位的的汽车。[2]
亨利·福特的孙子亨利·福特二世(Henry Ford II)在1945年至1960年期间担任福特汽车公司总裁，且在1960年至1980年期间担任公司董事长暨执行长。虽然福特公司于1956年上市成为美国股票上市企业，福特家族仍通过占据大量B级优先股保持其在公司40%左右的控制权益，这在股票公开上市企业中是相当大的比率。
福特汽车工程副总裁麦佛逊先生发明的麦佛逊（香港、台湾译为“麦花臣”）支柱底盘悬吊系统（MacPherson Strut）是今日汽车界最广为使用的底盘悬吊系统。
1998年，福特汽车创下一年获利超过两百二十亿美元的世界纪录。此纪录2004年才因油价大涨而被艾克森美孚（Exxon Mobil）石油公司以两百五十三亿美元净利所超越。
1999年全球133名汽车业记者评选出福特T型车作为20世纪的世纪代表车(Car of The Century)。
福特汽车总部，通称“玻璃屋”（Gla House）。2003年，福特汽车渡过其100年周年纪念，其现任董事长是亨利·福特的曾孙小威廉·克莱·福特（即比尔·福特）(William Clay Ford, Jr.)。
2007年，在《J.D.Power》美国新车品质调查中，福特是获得最多奖项的车厂，有五款车是同级车第一，十四款车在前三名。 2012年4月1日，福特香港代理商由森那美转往英之杰，并且把亚洲总部由荃湾青山道迁往湾仔。
History of Ford Motor company
Henry Ford (ca.1919)
A 1910 Model T, photographed in Salt Lake CityMain article: History of Ford Motor Company
20th centuryHenry Ford\'s first attempt at a car company under his own name was the Henry Ford Company on November 3, 1901, which became the Cadillac Motor Company on August 22, 1902 after Ford left with the rights to his name.The Ford Motor Company was launched in a converted factory in 1903 with $28,000 in cash from twelve investors, most notably John and Horace Dodge (who would later found their own car company).During its early years, the company produced just a few cars a day at its factory on Mack Avenue in Detroit, Michigan.Groups of two or three men worked on each car, aembling it from parts made mostly by supplier companies contracting for Ford.Within a decade the company would lead the world in the expansion and refinement of the aembly line concept; and Ford soon brought much of the part production in-house in a vertical integration that seemed a better path for the era.
Henry Ford was 40 years old when he founded the Ford Motor Company, which would go on to become one of the world\'s largest and most profitable companies, as well as being one to survive the Great Depreion.As one of the largest family-controlled companies in the world, the Ford Motor Company has been in continuous family control for over 100 years.
In 1908 Ford introduced the first engine with a removable cylinder head, in the Model T.In 1930, Ford introduced the Model A, the first car with safety gla in the windshield.[8] Ford launched the first low priced V8 engine powered car in 1932.
Ford offered the Lifeguard safety package from 1956, which included such innovations as a standard deep-dish steering wheel, optional front, and, for the first time in a car, rear seatbelts, and an optional padded dash.[9] Ford introduced child-proof door locks into its products in 1957, and in the same year offered the first retractable hardtop on a ma-produced six-seater car.The Ford Mustang was introduced in 1964.In 1965 Ford introduced the seat belt reminder light.
With the 1980s, Ford introduced several highly succeful vehicles around the world.In 1990 and 1994 respectively, Ford also acquired Jaguar Cars and Aston Martin.[10] During the mid- to late 1990s, Ford continued to sell large numbers of vehicles, in a booming American economy with a soaring stock market and low fuel prices.
With the dawn of the new century, legacy healthcare costs, higher fuel prices, and a faltering economy led to falling market shares, declining sales, and diminished profit margins.Most of the corporate profits came from financing consumer automobile loans through Ford Motor Credit Company.[11]
21st century
William Clay Ford, Jr., great-grandson of Henry Ford, serves as the executive chairman at the board of Ford Motor Company.By 2005, both Ford and GM\'s corporate bonds had been downgraded to junk status,[12] as a result of high U.S.health care costs for an aging workforce, soaring gasoline prices, eroding market share, and an over dependence on declining SUV sales.Profit margins decreased on large vehicles due to increased \"incentives\" (in the form of rebates or low interest financing) to offset declining demand.[13] In the latter half of 2005, Chairman Bill Ford asked newly appointed Ford Americas Division President Mark Fields to develop a plan to return the company to profitability.Fields previewed the Plan, named The Way Forward, at the December 7, 2005 board meeting of the company and it was unveiled to the public on January 23, 2006.\"The Way Forward\" included resizing the company to match market realities, dropping some unprofitable and inefficient models, consolidating production lines, closing 14 factories and cutting 30,000 jobs.[14]
Ford moved to introduce a range of new vehicles, including \"Croover SUVs\" built on unibody car platforms, rather than more body-on-frame chais.In developing the hybrid electric powertrain technologies for the Ford Escape Hybrid SUV, Ford licensed similar Toyota hybrid technologies[15] to avoid patent infringements.[16] Ford announced that it will team up with electricity supply company Southern California Edison (SCE) to examine the future of plug-in hybrids in terms of how home and vehicle energy systems will work with the electrical grid.Under the multi-million-dollar, multi-year project, Ford will convert a demonstration fleet of Ford Escape Hybrids into plug-in hybrids, and SCE will evaluate how the vehicles might interact with the home and the utility\'s electrical grid.Some of the vehicles will be evaluated \"in typical customer settings\", according to Ford.[17][18]
Bill Ford was appointed Executive Chairman in 1998, and also became Chief Executive Officer of the company in 2001, with the departure of Jacques Naer.Upon the retirement of President and Chief Operation Officer Jim Padilla in April 2006, Bill Ford aumed his roles as well.Five months later, in September, Ford named Alan Mulally as President and CEO, with Ford continuing as Executive Chairman.In December 2006, the company raised its borrowing capacity to about $25 billion, placing substantially all corporate aets as collateral.[19] Chairman Bill Ford has stated that \"bankruptcy is not an option\".[20] Ford and the United Auto Workers, representing approximately 46,000 hourly workers in North America, agreed to a historic contract settlement in November 2007 giving the company a substantial break in terms of its ongoing retiree health care costs and other economic iues.The agreement included the establishment of a company-funded, independently run Voluntary Employee Beneficiary Aociation (VEBA) trust to shift the burden of retiree health care from the company\'s books, thereby improving its balance sheet.This arrangement took effect on January 1, 2010.As a sign of its currently strong cash position, Ford contributed its entire current liability (estimated at approximately US$5.5 billion as of December 31, 2009) to the VEBA in cash, and also pre-paid US$500 million of its future liabilities to the fund.The agreement also gives hourly workers the job security they were seeking by having the company commit to substantial investments in most of its factories.
The automaker reported the largest annual lo in company history in 2006 of $12.7 billion,[21] and estimated that it would not return to profitability until 2009.[22] However, Ford surprised Wall Street in the second quarter of 2007 by posting a $750 million profit.Despite the gains, the company finished the year with a $2.7 billion lo, largely attributed to finance restructuring at Volvo.[23]
On June 2, 2008, Ford sold its Jaguar and Land Rover operations to Tata Motors for $2.3 billion.[24][25]
During November 2008, Ford, together with Chrysler and General Motors, sought government bridge loans at Congreional hearings in Washington, D.C.in the face of conditions caused by the 2008 financial crisis.The three companies presented action plans for the sustainability of the industry.Ford opted not to seek government loans.[26] GM and Chrysler received government loans and financing through T.A.R.P.legislation funding provisions.[27] On December 19, the cost of credit default swaps to insure the debt of Ford was 68 percent the sum insured for five years in addition to annual payments of 5 percent.That meant $6.8 million paid upfront to insure $10 million in debt, in addition to payments of $500,000 per year.[28] In January 2009, Ford reported a $14.6 billion lo in the preceding year, a record for the company.The company retained sufficient liquidity to fund its operations.Through April 2009, Ford\'s strategy of debt for equity exchanges, erased $9.9 billion in liabilities (28% of its total), in order to leverage its cash position.[29] These actions yielded Ford a $2.7 billion profit in fiscal year 2009, the company\'s first full-year profit in four years.[30]
In 2012, Ford\'s corporate bonds were upgraded from junk to investment grade again, citing sustainable, lasting improvements.
