Fording the Amazon
Date
2010-06
Authors
Nasson, Bill
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
AOSIS OpenJournals
Abstract
In 1928, with the Wall Street Crash and the start of the Great Depression only a year away, prospects for
the Ford Motor Company still looked rosy. Henry Ford’s celebrated Model T had been a major success.
His firm’s new Model A was just around the corner and had already received 700 000 orders. But there
were flies in the ointment. Market competition from newer car manufacturers with lower production
costs was denting sales and squeezing profits. The wages of Ford’s mass assembly line workers could
not be slashed because they were the essential purchasers of the vehicles they produced. Suppliers
of key motor components, particularly the big rubber companies of Firestone, Goodyear and General,
would not discount their prices. Thus, although Ford’s factories continued to expand, allowing him to
maintain his status as the world’s richest man at the pinnacle of his wealth and power, lowering the
vehicle production costs was becoming a preoccupation. Yet, the rising demand for rubber after the First
World War continually frustrated Ford’s plans.
Description
The original publication is available at http://www.sajs.co.za/
Keywords
Book review, Fordlandia, Greg Grandin, Ford Motor Company, Henry Ford
Citation
Nasson, B. 2010. Fording the Amazon. South African Journal of Science, 106(5/6), doi: 10.4102/sajs.v106i5/6.272