The Car Industry

The greatest business boom took place in the motor car industry.  There were three big car producers in the 1920s: Ford, Chrysler and General Motors.  By far the biggest at this time was the Henry Ford Motor Company.

Henry Ford set out to build a car that everyone could afford to buy.  Ford started mass-producing his first car, the Model T Ford in 1909.  It was slow, ugly and difficult to drive, but for the next eighteen years this car, nick named 'Tin Lizzie', was America's best selling car.  The big attraction of the Model T Ford was its price, it never increased and instead it kept on dropping.  Costing $1200 in 1909, the price in 1928 was only $295.   By the end of the 1920s Ford was producing more than one car per minute.  Source C shows an advertisement for the Model T:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Henry Ford was able to sell cars more cheaply because they were mass-produced and every part was standardised (only one colour and one engine size were available).  By producing large numbers of cars on an assembly line Ford needed fewer workers, and that cut the cost of paying wages.  By standardising the parts he cut production costs even further.

Mass production worked by breaking down the job of making a car into smaller jobs that could be done quickly and simply by an unskilled person.  A car would be pass down an assembly line and every time it stopped someone would add an extra part until finally it reached the end of the line and was finished. 

The car industry helped to make America richer in the 1920s.  Car production used up 20% of America's steel, 80% of her rubber, 75% of her plate glass, and 65% of her leather.  The more cars that were made, the more jobs that there were created in these industries.   By the end of the 1920s American cars used seven billion gallons of petrol a year.  This helped to create jobs in the oil industry and made the oil state of Texas rich.  New roads had to be built for the increased numbers of cars.  This meant more jobs for the construction and building industries.  And along these new roads sprang up thousands of garages, 'gas stations', restaurants, 'diners' and 'motels' - all creating even more jobs.  People with jobs could afford to spend part of their wages on luxury goods such as a new car or a vacuum cleaner! 

Text by Mr Huggins.