Romanian Eagle

Chapter 39 Ford Model T

In Detroit, Henry Ford has been fascinated by the cars that Eder says are affordable to the masses since returning from Romania. In addition to launching the company's Ford truck (Dongfeng truck), the other time is researching a civilian vehicle. Fortunately, he has experience in the development of trucks, and he has a deep understanding of the structure that can be simplified.

On May 19, Ford was at the test site at the company's headquarters in Detroit, watching several engineers adjust a new car with two rows of seats on the square end. Beside the old Ford was his son Edsel Ford, and the two talked about Rockefeller's desire to take a stake in Ford.

Since the introduction of the wagon by Ford, the market has become very popular for this transportation vehicle that can replace the horse and cart. This truck can be seen in major cities and ports in the United States, which makes the major consortia also jealous of Ford, and they all hope to get a share of the auto industry. And it is the best choice to enter Ford, the largest car company in the United States, of which Rockefeller is the most eager consortium.

"Rockefeller has raised the price of 20% of the shares to $1.2 million. If we hadn't had an exclusive agreement, it is estimated that many small shareholders would be tempted." Edsel Ford told his father, old Ford, about the recent situation in the company.

"Don't pay attention to them. Now the company has sufficient funds. There is absolutely no need for the consortium to make our money, and they have no good intentions."

As a man with a desire to control, the old Ford knew the face of these consortia. In the beginning, it was just a shareholding, and then the number of shares in it was expanded, and finally the company was included in their system. Fortunately, the old Ford had already exchanged the money he earned for shares in the company. Now he owns a 61.2% stake (a bonus to Ford's van profits), making it impossible for these consortia to get around him.

Now that the prototype has been tuned by several engineers, chief test driver Martin is ready. Old Ford, who was standing next to him, yelled at Martin, "Hey, Martin, you're the best." The test driver turned his head and gave Old Ford a thumbs up.

Martin got on the prototype car, and the engineer started the engine in front of the car. With the sound of boom, boom, boom, everyone stood on the side of the venue and watched Martin step on the accelerator, and the prototype car galloped across the venue.

"It's really fast, it should have a speed of 60km/h." An engineer standing on the side of the field said, another person who measured the speed answered his question. "63km/h. I can't believe we made the best car at the cheapest price."

Old Ford stood beside the field and shouted loudly with his hands to his mouth. "Martin try how fast you can be." Hearing the old Ford shout, Martin showed his excellent driving skills. Stepping on the accelerator is accelerating, and the person who is doing the speed measurement next to him will calculate the result.

"Mr. Ford, it ran at a speed of 72km/h." The person who calculated the speed ran to the old Ford with the result, and excitedly said a surprising number when handed it to him. This would mean that this prototype, now the fastest family car, could rival a professional race car, much to the delight of old Ford.

After the car stopped, a group of people gathered around, and old Ford stepped forward and asked. "How does Martin feel?" "Very good, the operation is similar to other cars, and there is still a gap between other cars in terms of comfort."

For a car positioned as affordable for ordinary people, the reduction in comfort is understandable. After various tests, this prototype car has shown quite good capabilities, which amazes everyone.

"I'm going to call it the Model T," Ford said to his son and assistants, who agreed that he was the boss after all. So this Ford with a four-cylinder gasoline engine and 20 horsepower has a resounding name "Model T".

Back in the office, Edsel Ford asked his father, who was sitting behind his desk. "How much are we going to sell?" Old Ford pondered and answered after calculating the cost, labor, and transportation. "I'm going to sell one for $800,

Such a worker only needs to save enough money for a year to buy a Ford. "

Little Ford was surprised when he heard the price. This price is two-fifths of other cars, which will completely change the model of the auto industry. In the future, the car production model in the United States will follow Ford's example.

(Although Eder told the old Ford about the assembly line in advance, and the assembly line operation was also used when Ford produced trucks, and other American car factories also learned a little bit. However, due to the positioning problems of other car factories, the price did not drop too much. Big.)

Seeing little Ford's surprised expression, Henry Ford continued to speak. "According to our agreement with Volkswagen, the European market can only be given to them." Now Ford's production capacity cannot keep up, and there is no sales channel for Europe. Compared with the rich European continent in the Americas, the old Ford had to give up first.

Hearing what his father said, little Ford also knew that this was impossible. Behind Volkswagen is a European royal family, and if it defaults, it will be a fatal blow to Ford and his son. No one will believe them without integrity, so the old Ford can only know that this is a huge profit, but it still has to be launched.

Little Ford knew he had to do this, and then he could make a good name for himself. "Father, let's send the news of the newly developed Model T to Romania." Old Ford knew what his son meant and nodded in agreement. "You go and send them a telegram, and find more people from newspapers to report."

After Little Ford sent the telegram to Romania, the telegram made it to Eder's desk. "Just waiting for your car." The crown prince could think of Ford's helplessness when he looked at the telegram. Little Ford got a call back the next day, and Volkswagen was very interested in Ford's new Model T.

Two weeks later, the Ford Model T was launched in the United States, and the American people had no resistance at all in the face of the price of $800. The first batch of 5,000 Ford Model T cars that had just been put on the market were snapped up by the public, which made the old Ford overjoyed and ordered to expand the factory and increase the number of workers to fully produce the Model T cars. Other automakers either can only focus on high-end vehicles, or they follow in Ford's footsteps and start mass-producing cars.

In the United States, the news about the Ford Model T is also widely reported. In each report, Ford pays attention to integrity and authorizes the European market to Volkswagen of Romania in accordance with the agreement.

After Edel received the news, he knew that Ford wanted to add to his reputation and had no time to take care of it. Now there are more important things to do. Volkswagen's first Model T has been produced, and European automakers will also feel the power of the Model T.

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