Ford Motor Company

Ford Motor Company is an American automaker headquartered in Dearborn, Michigan, that builds vehicles under the Ford and Lincoln brands. Henry Ford and a group of investors founded it in 1903, and its 2025 annual filing reports about 169,000 employees and roughly 4.4 million vehicles wholesaled that year.

History of Ford Motor Company

Henry Ford built his first gasoline-powered vehicle, the Quadricycle, in 1896 while working as chief engineer at the Edison Illuminating Company. He made two unsuccessful attempts to start an automobile company before the third succeeded. On June 16, 1903, he and other prospective stockholders met in Detroit to sign the incorporation papers, and the company became official the next day when the state received the articles of association.

Britannica counts Ford and 11 associate investors as the founders. The first Ford car was assembled at a Mack Avenue plant in Detroit about a month after incorporation. The company introduced the Model T in 1908 and the moving assembly line for cars in 1913. In 1914 it began paying $5 for an eight-hour day, replacing a wage of $2.34 for a nine-hour day.

The firm was reincorporated in 1919, and Edsel Ford became its president. Ford bought the Lincoln Motor Company in 1922 and ended Model T production in 1927, replacing it with the Model A. The Ford Foundation was formed in 1936. Henry Ford returned to the presidency after Edsel’s death in 1943, and Henry Ford II took over in 1945, serving as chief executive until 1970.

Ford first offered common stock to the public in 1956. The Edsel, built from 1958 to 1960, became a notable commercial failure, and the Mustang was launched in 1964. Robert McNamara’s brief presidency ended in 1961, when he left to become U.S. Secretary of Defense.

Ford later expanded through acquisitions. It bought Jaguar in 1989 and 1990, the car division of Volvo in 1999 and Land Rover from BMW in 2000. It sold Jaguar and Land Rover to Tata Motors in 2008, the same year the U.S. government announced emergency loans to the Big Three automakers. Ford avoided bankruptcy in 2009, when General Motors and Chrysler both filed, and sold Volvo to Zhejiang Geely Holding in 2010.

Products and services of Ford

Ford sells vehicles under two brands, Ford and Lincoln, through dealerships worldwide. Its 2025 filing counts 8,226 dealerships, down from 9,006 a year earlier.

The company reports three vehicle segments. Ford Blue covers vehicles with an internal combustion engine, including hybrids. Ford Model e covers electric vehicles, including extended-range models, along with vehicle software. Ford Pro serves commercial, government and rental customers. A fourth unit, Ford Credit, provides financing, and centrally managed items are reported under Corporate Other.

Ford wholesaled about 4.395 million vehicles in 2025, compared with 4.470 million in 2024 and 4.413 million in 2023. A wholesale is a sale from the manufacturer to a dealer, so it differs from a retail sale to the final buyer.

By segment, Ford Blue wholesaled 2.728 million vehicles, Ford Pro 1.488 million and Ford Model e 178,000, which was up 69 percent from 2024. Ford Blue wholesales fell 5 percent and Ford Pro wholesales fell 1 percent, so total wholesales declined 2 percent.

Total company revenue in 2025 was $187.3 billion, up 1 percent. Ford Blue contributed $101.0 billion, Ford Pro $66.3 billion and Ford Model e $6.7 billion, a 73 percent increase for that segment. By simple division, Ford Blue produced about 54 percent of the total and Ford Pro about 35 percent.

Corporate structure and operations

The three vehicle segments add up to $174.0 billion of 2025 revenue. By subtraction, the remaining $13.3 billion came from Ford Credit and other items.

The present corporation was incorporated in Delaware in 1919. It acquired the business of the earlier Michigan company of the same name, which dated from 1903. Its headquarters is One American Road in Dearborn.

At the end of 2025 Ford employed about 169,000 people, down from 171,000 a year earlier. Of these, about 87,000 worked in the United States, 76,000 in the rest of the world and 6,000 at Ford Credit.

Ford has Class B stock in addition to its common shares, and 70,852,076 Class B shares were outstanding as of February 6, 2026. The filing does not treat Class B holders as company affiliates and refers readers to the proxy statement for ownership details. Ford reported a net loss attributable to the company of $8.2 billion for 2025.

Impact of Ford

Leadership passed from Henry Ford to Edsel Ford in 1919 and, after Edsel’s death in 1943, back to Henry Ford before Henry Ford II took over in 1945. That succession shows how long the founding family shaped decisions at the company.

Ford’s moving assembly line of 1913 and its $5 day of 1914 are among the changes that Britannica singles out in the company’s history. Ford is also counted among the Big Three Detroit automakers, a group that includes General Motors.

Its 1956 stock offering marked a milestone for the industry. When Tesla went public in June 2010, press coverage described it as the first American car company to do so since Ford in 1956. Britannica also notes that Ford avoided the bankruptcy that hit its two Detroit rivals in 2009 and saw higher sales that year.

Ford’s 2025 results show a company that still earns most of its revenue from combustion and hybrid vehicles. Its electric vehicle segment grew quickly, yet at $6.7 billion it remained a small share of the $187.3 billion total.

Criticism and controversies

Ford’s 2025 annual filing describes several regulatory matters. In 2024 the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) issued a consent order requiring Ford to work with an independent third-party monitor. NHTSA and the National Transportation Safety Board have also made inquiries into BlueCruise, Ford’s driver-assistance system.

Ford discloses that about 3.5 million of its vehicles fall within an NHTSA study of roughly 56 million Takata airbag inflators in the United States. A further 2.5 million Ford vehicles are within a population of 52 million ARC and Delphi inflators that the agency is considering.

The filing also notes that fires at a major aluminum supplier disrupted Ford’s production in 2025. It lists about $1.6 billion in outstanding emissions-credit purchase obligations as of December 31, 2025. These are disclosures of regulatory and operating matters, not findings of wrongdoing.

Editorially reviewed by Specialty Digest Editorial TeamLast reviewed November 4, 2026Researched and drafted with AI assistanceReport an issue