Ford Motor Company- Views and Facts

Founded on June 16, 1903 the Ford Motor Company has since been a major player in the world automotive market. They are best known for the invention of the Assembly Line technique pioneered by founder Henry Ford. Currently they are the fourth largest automaker in the world, but are close to their main competitors Toyota, General Motors, Honda, and Volkswagen. In recent years they have continued to be popular in America, but are even more popular in Europe where they are second only to the Volkswagen group.






Ford also encompasses the Lincoln and Mercury brands as well as Volvo of Sweden, they also hold stock in Mazda. At one time they owned subsidiaries in Land Rover, Aston Martin, and Jaguar, but due to the current economic scene as well as low sales numbers these subsidiaries have been sold to private investors. Even with the loss of these companies strong sales in the US and Europe have kept Ford in the black.









Ford currently is trying to expand its Market Presence by using new techniques in Social Media. The largest of these has been the Fiesta Movement which used 100 "agents" to record six months of their lives, and how owning a Ford Fiesta impacted it. This movement has had a huge impact on me because it has allowed me to become very connected with members of the Ford Motor Company. It has also widened the scope of my life and inspired me to become more involved in the online community, even this blog has come from it.



With other automotive companies I feel like I am completely removed from the entire process of introducing a car to the market. Other companies simply decide exactly what "they" think the public wants. I will be the first to say that when it comes to the engineering point of view that the layman should not have much say because they simply do not have the experience to have a viable opinion. On the other hand creature comforts and features are what need to be discussed. I have been able to speak directly to brand managers with this movement and I feel as much as this is a car molded by my generation as it is Ford's car. This level of involvement especially with the use of current information technologies means engineers, designers and executives can speak directly to their constituents.




Ford is continuing to move in this direction with a new movement named Fusion41 where teams who are using the new Ford Fusion are completing missions and tasks given to them by the public. There is also the Fiesta Movement 2 which will use Ford's fans to market the US-Spec 2011 Ford Fiesta. I myself am hopeful to become an agent and write about my experiences with the new Fiesta. Ford has been helpful and very supportive and are willing to share insight and answer any questions that have been asked towards them (at least to my experience). I am hopeful that Ford will continue to evolve as a "Brand of the People" who's goal is to meet their customer's needs as well as answering questions that arise about current and future products.