In a CNN interview last week Ford CEO, Jim Hackett, mentioned that his company drove the biggest industrial disruption of the 20th century – more significant than the disruption being driven today by Elon Musk with Tesla. In response to a recent statement by Musk that Ford might not survive the next recession, Hackett admitted that he’s essentially competing with a rocket scientist. However, he also described the disruption created by Henry Ford. In 1908 when the Model T was introduced, there were 200,000 cars on the road. Nineteen years later when the Model T went out of production, there were 20 million cars on the road. The entire American landscape changed because of the ability to mass produce affordable automobiles – gas stations, motels, highways, and even traffic jams. It took 12 hours to build a vehicle before Henry Ford. That time went down to 52 minutes. And today, Ford builds an F-150 every 53 seconds. Of course the story of Elon Musk is still incomplete. He’s clearly made the business of producing electric vehicles something most automakers are now striving to develop. And the winners of a future business of mobility and autonomous transportation is wide-open. It seems as though Ford and other automakers are attempting to be a part of that future. It’s clear that Musk wants to lead in that new mobility world as well. The race has definitely begun. It will be interesting to watch the winners and the losers.
The Biggest Disruptor. Elon Musk or Henry Ford?
