Ford® Service Information & More
Milito’s has Serviced Ford in Chicago since 1968.
Rely on Us for Ford Repairs and Maintenance Today!
It all started back in 1903 when Henry Ford and just 11 investors had a crazy idea and $28,000 – let’s start an American automotive company. More than 116 years later, they’re still working strong on the goal, “To become the world’s most trusted company, designing smart vehicles for a smart world.”
Their success is powered by a commitment to take things global with more than 200,000 people working in more than 90 facilities and plants all over the world . But more than that, they create vehicles that are “Ford Tough,” yet suit a family just as well as someone looking to go off-road.
Who Is Buying a Ford?
For 2017, Ford reported an annual sales number of $156.8 billion with a $7.6 billion income. But who is behind the wheel? In a survey done in 2018, 11% of respondents aged 18 to 29 years stated they own a Ford, with 13% being 30 to 49 years old and 13% being 50 to 64 years old.
While the Ford is mostly a well-oiled machine with only minimal owner complaints, no vehicle is flawless, and there are a few issues that may need to be addressed.
All of these problems and more can be fixed by the Ford service mechanics at Milito’s Auto Repair in Chicago.
If you’re looking for a reliable car but don’t want to pay for a brand new model, a used Ford is the way to go.
Here are five things that you should do:
The company’s Focus Flexifuel became the first vehicle available that ran on E85 flexible fuel. Although mostly found in Europe, they run on ethanol fuel mixtures; anything from gasoline to E85, or bioethanol fuel.
The company is using innovation to change lives. Ford began a nine-month pilot program to improve pregnancy outcomes in rural India where cell signals are nearly nonexistent. The team’s Ford Endeavour was equipped with a wireless cloud, so they could use four specially developed software applications to connect to doctors and medical records. With the Endeavor, they could help volunteer nurses and pregnant mothers travel to and from hospitals and remote villages.
The have produced several electric vehicles, including the Ranger EV, Transit Connect, Ford TH!NK, plus the Ford Focus Electric. The company said that they would invest another $4.5 billion to develop more plug-in electric vehicles by the year 2020..
Henry Ford attempted to start a car company with his name in 1901, called the Henry Ford Company. That went on to become the Cadillac Motor Company before Ford gave up the rights to use his name.
A few years later, Ford converted a factory with $28,000 received from twelve investors, creating the Ford Motor Company. Ford introduces the Model T in 1908, which went on to become one of the most popular cars in the world. After total world production of 15,458,781, production ended in May 1927.
History is made in 1913 at the Highland Park plant in Michigan when they begin operating as the first moving automobile assembly line in the world. Ford offers workers $5 per day for eight-hour work days and 15,000 job seekers vie for 3,000 jobs at the Model T Plant in Highland Park the next year. The pay rate before that was $2.34 per day for nine hours.
The 1 millionth Ford car was produced in 1915 and powered by Model T engine, the first Ford truck was released in 1917. Ford Motor Company spends $8 million to purchase Lincoln Motor Company in 1922 and a decade later, they build and introduce the first Ford V8 en-block engine-equipped car.
Thanks to the war, Ford begins to produce general-purpose “jeeps” for the U.S. military and ends up only producing military vehicles starting in Feb. 1942. They wouldn’t resume civilian production until July 1945.
Ford acquires 75 percent of Aston Martin Lagonda, Ltd. in 1987 and Ford’s worldwide earnings top $5.3 billion, making it the highest of any car company to date in 1988. Within the year, the company goes on to buy Jaguar cars for $2.5 billion.
The 90s saw Ford introduce the Explorer sport utility vehicle, which becomes the nation’s best-selling SUV model. They also start production of the Flexible-Fuel Vehicle (FFV) Taurus which can burn gasoline, ethanol, or mixtures of the two. They would also sell the first taxi cabs that run on natural gas to New York City before the end of the decade.
In 2005, they introduced a gas-electric hybrid SUV, the Mercury Mariner, which got the endorsement of the Sierra Club. Then in 2014, in just one day, Ford opened 88 dealerships in China. While in 2018, Ford announced that all passenger cars sold in North America would be discontinued over four years because of a decline in demand and loss of profitability.
The very first Ford was sold in 1903 for a whopping $850. The “Model A” had a 2-cylinder engine, and could reach a max speed of 30 mph.
The company had been in production for four years before Ford’s signature blue, oval logo was introduced.
Jim Morrison, legendary Doors singer, only ever owned one car — a 1967 Shelby GT 500.
The first vehicle that Henry Ford ever built was the quadricycle in 1896. It had four bicycle wheels, a tiller, a gas-powered 4-horsepower engine, and a gearbox.
Henry Ford and Thomas Edison were lifelong friends.