GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — The auto industry and arguably the world would look very different if it weren’t for Henry Ford. Beyond automobiles, Ford’s practices transformed the manufacturing sector, using efficiency to build industries to new heights.
Not every one of Ford’s genius ideas turned to gold, however. The industrialist experienced his share of failure. Ford Motor Company was his third foray into the up-and-coming automobile market. He lost when he ran for a Senate seat in 1918 and experts say Ford’s refusal to adapt his business strategies cost him his stranglehold on the car market in the 1920s.
The Lake Line: The railroad that connected Grand Rapids to the lakeshore
One of his biggest failures was a boondoggle more than 3,000 miles away: an experiment/investment meant to help cement Ford Motor Company as the industry’s top dog.
Ford purchased a swath of land in the Amazon rainforest and established a settlement to secure a rubber supply for his cars while testing his lifestyle theories on an unenthusiastic band of Brazilians. He named the settlement Fordlandia.
BUYING IN BRAZIL
Several factors brought about Ford’s grand experiment in Brazil. By the 1920s, automobiles shifted from a novelty item to a mass-market necessity. American car manufacturers produced about 2.3 million automobiles in 1920. By 1930, they were churning out more than 5 million annually…