Ford

Ford is one of the first American auto makers. The company is based in Detroit, Michigan. The company was first founded in 1903, by Henry Ford. Since the death of the original owner, the company has been handed down through all generations of Ford's, making it the oldest ran family business in the United States, and also one of the largest family owned businesses in the world. Ford develops many cars, vans, pick up trucks and so on. However, they also have a stake in Mazda, Aston Martin, Volvo and others in order to diversify their company, and are basically not keeping all of their eggs in one basket.

The company has been in the spotlight throughout the history of the company and has often been considered one of the major three car companies in the United States. The foreign dominance that the company has is not as big as other companies. However, recently they have noticed that sales have jumped in China and Japan, as the Ford Focus is becoming a car that the public likes due to its small economic size, and the fuel mileage that the car gets. The Ford Focus is also one of the best selling Ford's in the United States as well. The European market is also a place in which Ford is finding more dominance in as they are developing cars that are catered specifically to what the European citizens want.

In 2009 the Ford Motor Company did declare bankruptcy and was given money by the government in order to stay afloat. This was a time of hardship for many American automakers and was a time in which foreign automakers dominated the market. There are many reasons why Ford declared bankruptcy and found themselves in such a financial hardship. These include not having competitive vehicles with the foreign automakers that people were buying in terms of fuel mileage and so on. Many of those companies that did find themselves facing financial hardships simply did not invest their money wisely. Ford has started to make a come back, and in order to make sure that this is successful, they have closed many of their sub-companies, such as Mercury, which was the version of Ford that was considered more luxurious.

In terms of successful car models that Ford has, the most popular truck is the F-150. This is the classic pick up truck that Ford offers at an affordable price. The truck is designed to function while taking a beating, but still maintain a classic look of Ford. Ford also has the Windstar van that is considered a huge seller for those that are interested in a minivan. Car wise, Ford has much more to choose from, ranging from full size luxury cars the Ford Crown Victoria, to the smaller, more economical cars such as the Ford Focus. They also have many SUV's, such as the Explorer and Expedition to choose from that are popular with consumers.