The very first Ford sold was to Dr. Ford is the second largest family owned company in the world. The Automobile Home of the Great Depression. Even most business and industrial leaders took a beating. by Mike Curtis. The Ford Motor Company proved its ability to adapt during the difficult post-Depression years of the 1930s. Prior to the company becoming Ford Motor Company, it was founded as Detroit Automobile Company in 1889. In fact, it was pretty great. The first phase of the Great Depression hit Ford Motor Co. hard. Pfennig in 1903, for a grand total of $850. Henry Ford’s great grandson, William Clay Ford, Jr. currently resides as the company’s executive chairman. The Ford Motor Company, one of the richest employers, had laid off two-thirds of its employees. Ford Motor Company was established in 1903 by Henry Ford. 3. There's an argument you see around sometimes about Henry Ford's decision to pay his workers those famed $5 a day wages. The “Model A” had a 2-cylinder engine, and could reach a max speed of 30 mph. For example, even during the peak of unemployment during the Great Depression, San Antonio rejected Ford Motor Company’s interest in building a production facility in Bexar County, where San Antonio is located. The Unemployed Councils, United Auto Workers, and communist union-organizing groups decided to organize a march against the Ford Motor Company and its employment policies. For its entire history, Ford has been led by a member of the Ford family – making its the largest family run business in the United States. When the U.S. entered World War II in the 1940s, Henry Ford was hesitant to contribute production efforts for the war, but later agreed. Wages were lowered, employees feared frequent layoffs, and workers were striking with the help of union organizers. Henry Ford II becomes president of Ford Motor Company. Henry Ford (Wikimedia/Jeffrey White Studios) Henry Ford's reign of terror: Greed and murder in Depression-era Detroit At the height of his power, Henry Ford created a … But – Henry Ford passed through it unscathed. Discharged vehicles near Shiroishi, Japan In 1991. It was that he realised that … Untold millions of people lost every penny they had during the Great Depression. When Henry II took over, the company and its bookkeeping practices were in disarray. The Unemployed Councils, United Auto Workers, and communist union-organizing groups decided to organize a march against the Ford Motor Company and its employment policies. 2. Ford Motor Company Essay. In addition to jobs, Ford Motor Company also provided additional social welfare services to predominantly black suburban communities in Inkster and Garden City during the depths of the Great Depression. Why is that? How does it happen that, all of a sudden, more and more people, who are willing and able to work, are unable to find employment? (Kurita Kaku/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images) If you asked Henry Ford, the Model T was good enough. 4 min read. Henry Ford Caused the Great Depression! One year things are going well, and the next year they’re not. Preferred citation: Interview with Ford Bryan, conducted by Blackside, Inc. on February 21, 1992, for The Great Depression.Washington University Libraries, Film and Media Archive, Henry Hampton Collection. WWII and Ford Motor Company. After all, the models we're seeing today, from the Focus, now the brand's dedicated electric platform, to the reinvented Taurus, were germinated around and during the dire days of the financial crisis and its aftermath in 2008.