History of Ford
Ford Motor Company commenced operations in June 1903, when Henry Ford and 11 business associates signed the companys articles of incorporation. With $28,000 in cash, the pioneering industrialists gave birth to what was to become one of the worlds largest corporations.
Henry Fords remarkable insight led him to gear his companys future towards the production of affordable cars for a mass market. From 1903, Ford began using the first 19 letters of the alphabet to name new cars. In 1908, the Model T was born. 19 years and 15 million Model Ts later, Ford Motor Company was a giant in dus tri al complex that spanned the globe. In 1925, Ford Motor Com pa ny acquired the Lincoln Motor Company, al low ing Ford to branch out into the luxury car market too.
During those years of hectic expansion, Ford Motor Company:
Began producing trucks and tractors (1917).
Became wholly owned by Henry Ford and his son, Edsel, who succeeded his father as president in 1919.
Bought the Lincoln Motor Company (1922).
Built the first of 196 Ford Tri-Motor airplanes used by Americas first commercial airlines (1925).
In June 2003, Ford celebrated its 100th Anniversary. Their strat egy is clear, as Vill Ford, Chairman and CEO of Ford says, “Our visionfor the future is simple: We want to build great products, a strong business, and a better world.”
Today, Ford Motor Company is the second-largest car and truck pro duc er in the world and is ranked second on the Fortune 500 list of the largest U.S. industrial corporations, based on sales. Ford Motor Com pa ny is a family of automotive brands consisting of: Ford, Lincoln, Mercury, Mazda, Jaguar, Land Rover, Aston Martin, and Volvo.
History of Rolls-Royce
Rolls-Royce grew from the electrical and mechanical business es tab lished by Henry Royce in 1884. Royce built his first mo tor car in 1904, and in May of that year met Charles Rolls, whose company sold quality cars in London. Agreement was reached that Royce Limited would manufacture a range of cars to be exclusively sold by CS Rolls & Co - they were to bear the name Rolls-Royce.
Success with the cars led to the formation of the Rolls-Royce Company in March 1906 and to the launch of the six-cylinder Silver Ghost which, within a year, was hailed as the best car in the world.
At the start of the First World War, in response to the nations needs, Royce designed his first aero engine-the Eagle, providing some half of the total horsepower used in the air war by the allies. The Eagle powered the first direct transatlantic flight as well as the first flight from England to Australia.
Rolls-Royce entered the civil aviation market with the Dart in the Vickers Viscount.
In 1990, Rolls-Royce formed an aero engines joint venture with BMW of Germany. Rolls-Royce took full control of the joint venture from January 2000. The legal name of the company is now Rolls-Royce Deutschland Ltd & Co KG.
Vickers sold the Rolls-Royce Motor Car Company to Volkswagen, although BMW hold the rights to the name and the marque for use on Rolls-Royce cars, having acquired the rights from Rolls-Royce for £40m in 1998. BMW will take over responsibility for Rolls-Royce cars from the beginning of 2003.
福特歷史
福特汽車公司創(chuàng)建于1903年6月,由亨利·福特先生與11家企業(yè)聯(lián)合組建???8000美元資金起家,福特在日后成為了世界最大的汽車企業(yè)之一。
福特先生堅(jiān)持認(rèn)為公司的未來在于生產(chǎn)適合大眾市場的價(jià)格低廉的汽車。自1903年起,福特公司就開始使用字母表中的前19個(gè)英文字母(A-S)來為所有的新車型命名。1908年,第一輛T型車誕生了。在隨后的19年內(nèi),福特公司共售出1,500多萬輛這樣的車型,福特汽車公司在全球牢牢建立了自己作為綜合工業(yè)巨頭的地位。1925年,福特公司購買了林肯汽車公司,至此跨入了豪華車生產(chǎn)行列。
在高速發(fā)展的年代里,福特汽車公司: 開始生產(chǎn)卡車和拖拉機(jī)(1917年)。
開始在密執(zhí)安州迪爾伯恩市建設(shè)巨大的榮格綜合工廠 (1917年) 。
批量生產(chǎn)“鷹”牌艦艇,一戰(zhàn)期間著名的獵潛艇(1918 年)。
由亨利·福特及其兒子埃德塞爾完全控股,后者繼承了其父的總裁職位(1919年)。
購買林肯汽車公司(1922年)。
制造了196架福特三發(fā)動機(jī)(Tri-Motor)飛機(jī)中的第一架,并出售給美國首家商業(yè)航空公司(1925年)。
2003年6月,福特汽車公司慶祝百年華誕。公司的發(fā)展戰(zhàn)略很清晰,正如其主席兼首席執(zhí)行官Vill Ford所說的,“我們未來的發(fā)展戰(zhàn)略其實(shí)很簡單:制造偉大的產(chǎn)品,創(chuàng)辦雄厚的企業(yè),締造更美好的世界?!?/p>
今天,福特汽車公司是世界第二大汽車及卡車制造商,在按銷量排名的美國最大工業(yè)企業(yè)財(cái)富排名500強(qiáng)中名列第二。福特汽車公司旗下?lián)碛斜姸嗟钠嚻放?,包括福?(Ford)、林肯(Lincoln)、水星(Mercury)、馬自達(dá)(Mazda)、美洲豹(Jaguar)、陸虎(LandRover)、阿斯頓·馬丁(AstonMartin) 和沃爾沃(Volvo)等。
勞斯萊斯歷史
勞斯萊斯于1884年由亨利·萊斯創(chuàng)建,是由一家電氣工程公司建造起來的。1904年,萊斯制造了自己的第一輛汽車;同年5月,他遇到了查利·勞斯,此人當(dāng)時(shí)在英國倫敦做汽車生意。隨后,兩人簽署了一項(xiàng)協(xié)議,勞斯公司成為惟一有權(quán)在英銷售萊斯汽車的公司,萊斯汽車也正式更名為“勞斯萊斯”。
1906年3月,勞斯萊斯公司取得了巨大成功,它生產(chǎn)的6缸汽車“銀靈”在短短一年內(nèi)就被譽(yù)為“世界上最好的車”。
第一次世界大戰(zhàn)開始后,為順應(yīng)國家的需求,萊斯設(shè)計(jì)了第一代航空引擎——“鷹號”,為戰(zhàn)爭提供了將近一半航空發(fā)動機(jī)。同時(shí),“鷹號”發(fā)動機(jī)參與了第一次橫貫大西洋的直線飛行和從英國始發(fā)至澳大利亞的第一次飛行。
1953年,勞斯萊斯成為維克斯公司的一員,進(jìn)入民用航空領(lǐng)域。
1990年,勞斯萊斯與德國寶馬公司共同成立了航空發(fā)動機(jī)合資公司。自2000年1月起,勞斯萊斯全權(quán)掌管這個(gè)合資企業(yè)。此公司的法定名稱是Rolls-Royce Deutschland Ltd & Co KG。
1998年3月,勞斯萊斯的母公司英國維克斯集團(tuán)將勞斯萊斯汽車公司出售給德國大眾公司,而為了取得勞斯萊斯汽車的品牌和經(jīng)營權(quán),寶馬公司耗資了4000萬英鎊。從 2003年起,勞斯萊斯經(jīng)營權(quán)由寶馬公司掌控。