Ford HistorySource: Ford Motor CompanyThe Dream Becomes a
Business Ford Motor Company entered the business world on June
16, 1903, when Henry Ford and 11 business associates signed the
company's articles of incorporation. With $28,000 in cash, the
pioneering industrialists gave birth to what was to become one
of the world's largest corporations. Few companies are as
closely identified with the history and development of industry
and society throughout the 20th century as Ford Motor Company.
As with most great enterprises, Ford Motor Company's beginnings
were modest. The company had anxious moments in its infancy. The
earliest record of a shipment is July 20, 1903, approximately
one month after incorporation, to a Detroit physician. With the
company's first sale came hope—a young Ford Motor Company had
taken its first steps. Mass Production on the Line Perhaps Ford
Motor Company's single greatest contribution to automotive
manufacturing was the moving assembly line. First implemented at
the Highland Park plant