2012 & 2013 Ford Cars, Trucks & SUVs Reviews & Ratings

Ford Review

Ford Ford Motor Company is one of the premier American car manufacturers, and arguably, one of the greatest of all time. The Ford brand began with Henry Ford's experiments with building a car in 1896. This vehicle went about 20 mpg and had a twin cylinder engine. Inspired, Henry left his job and created the Detroit Automobile Company, which had its first successful production run in 1903 with the Ford Model A. The Model A sold 1,708 units at $850 and had its engine below the cabin.

Henry Ford became very intrigued by the idea of speed at this point. He began building experimental models to quench his thirst for innovation, including the 999 in 1904, the Model C, and the Model B. The Model K followed in 1905 for $2500, and the Model N the year after, for only $500- a price successfully designed to crush the Oldsmobile company. Finally came the famous Model T in 1909- the vehicle that "only came in black." This model stormed the American market at $850 per unit and was popular for the following eighteen years. In fact, Ford created more than fifteen million cars between the years of 1908-1927. It was known as the "All-American" car; however, Ford continued to expand its business other places like Germany, France, and the UK. The Model A followed the model T at a reduced price of $450, and both it and Ford's new V8 model were sold with large engines and heavy horsepower.

Some other popular Ford models throughout the next few years were the sporty, stylish Ford Thunderbird (which had the capability of reaching 113 mph in 1958), the compact Ford Falcon (which created new design ideas around the same time), the iconic 1964 Ford Mustang (which sold over 500,000 models in its premiere year and a half and continues to be a huge hit with fast-paced and everyday drivers to this day), the Ford Thunderbird, the Ford Fairlaine, and the Ford Galaxie. Ford also increased its line with pickup trucks and off-road vehicles such as the F-Series, the Ford Ranger, and the Bronco. More recently, the Ford Taurus has seen extremely high popularity since its premiere in 1986, as has the Ford Fiesta since its premiere in 1976. In fact, it seems to be a trend that Ford mid-sized sedans are best-selling, reliable vehicles. This reflects Ford's history and its present. Not only serving its customers with one color or style of vehicle, Ford has come to really understand its customers and the market, and, in response, has produced extremely unique offerings. Today, Ford is still one of the world's premiere automobile manufacturers.

The Ford Motor Company also has luxury offshoots, Lincoln and Mercury, under its watchful eye. Ford competes heavily with the Chrysler Group's many different brands (especially Dodge and Ram), General Motors' various brands (especially Chevrolet), and the Toyota Motor Corporation, none of which have quite the claim to fame that Ford enjoys of being the Model T's manufacturer.