Posted by JeffC on March 12, 2009, 14:33:06, in reply to "For Gary Stewart and others"
198.45.19.49
Model T Costs
The standard 4-seat open tourer of 1909 cost $850 (equivalent to $20,300 today), when competing cars often cost $2,000-$3,000 (equivalent to $48,000-$72,000 today) in 1913, the price dropped to $550 (equivalent to $12,000 today), and $440 in 1915 (equivalent to $9,300 today). Sales were 69,762 in 1911, 170,211 in 1912, 202,667 in 1913, 308,162 in 1914, and 501,462 in 1915. In 1914, an assembly line worker could buy a Model T with four months pay.
By the 1920s, the price had fallen to $300 (equivalent to $3,200 today) because of increasing efficiencies of assembly line technique and volume. Henry employed vertical integration of the industries needed to create his cars. He specified how to make the wood crates that outside suppliers used to ship him parts. Then he disassembled the crates and used the preformed wood pieces in the bodies of his cars. He also used wood scraps to make charcoal and sold it under the brand name Kingsford, still a leading brand of charcoal today.
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