Ford Motor Company was launched in a converted factory in 1903 with $28,000 in cash from twelve investors. It would go on to become one of the world's largest and most profitable companies. It is one of the largest family-controlled companies in the world and has been in continuous family control for over 100 years. Ford Motor Company is an American multinational corporation and the world's third largest automaker based on worldwide vehicle sales. Its overseas business encompasses only one truly global brand, Volvo of Sweden, other than the Ford brand itself, but it also owns a one-third controlling interest in Mazda. Its former subsidiaries, Jaguar and Land Rover, were sold to Tata Motors of India in March 2008. Lincoln and Mercury are also Ford's major brands in the US, but not in the rest of the world.
In 2007, Ford became the third-ranked automaker in US sales after General Motors and Toyota, falling from number two slot for the first time in over fifty years. Ford was the overall seventh-ranked American based company in the 2007 Fortune 500 list, based on global revenues in 2006 of $160.1 billion. In 2007, Ford revenues increased to $173.9 billion, while producing over 6.5 million automobiles. Also in 2007, Ford received more initial quality survey awards from J. D. Power and Associates than any other automaker, with five vehicles ranking at the top of their categories, and fourteen vehicles ranked in the top three. Ford pioneered methods for large-scale manufacturing of cars, large-scale management of an industrial workforce, and the assembly line.
During the 1990s, Ford sold large numbers of vehicles, focusing on more profitable pickups and SUV’s in a growing US economy with low fuel prices. In the last several years, legacy healthcare costs, higher fuel p ...