Ford Motor Company (F.N) Model T and Tesla (TSLA.O) Model Y both dominate their respective market segments, but neither Ford nor Tesla have been able to rapidly expand their model lineup.

Although Musk is venturing into driverless cars and smart robots, he is still under pressure to develop his long-promised “low-cost home” Tesla.

Investors are worried that Tesla's car series is gradually becoming obsolete with the Model Y four years ago, and that the leader in the electric vehicle sector is losing its first-mover advantage. Automakers from Detroit to Shanghai are catching up. Since the end of 2021, Tesla's stock price has fallen by more than half, and this year it has dropped 29%.

Henry Ford (Henry Ford) would sympathize with him as a spiritual heir.

Ford faced a similar dilemma in 1924. Sales of the Model T, which has been the US sales champion since 1909, have declined. Competitors are seizing market share. Company executives thought it was time to build a new Hyundai.

Henry Ford disagreed. He sticks to his “Tin Lizzie” (the Ford Model T) — and his opinion is the only thing that matters.

“This battle was long and bloody,” historian Steven Watts in “The People's Tycoon: Henry Ford and the American Century” (The People's Tycoon: Henry Ford and the American Century) It is written in one book, “This is a battle for the core and soul of the company.”

Just like the electric car market before Musk, the car market before Ford almost didn't exist. In 1902, the year before Ford entered the market, the best-selling car was the steam-powered Locomobile (pot camel), which sold 2,750 units. Cars are playthings for the rich, a luxury item, and too expensive for most people. Ford wants to change that.

“I want to build a car for VW,” Ford in his autobiography “My Life and Work” (My life and work) It reads, “It will be big enough for home use, yet small enough for individuals to drive and maintain... it's inexpensive, and people with decent wages can own one.”

Production of the Model T began in 1908. More than 10,000 vehicles were produced in 1909, 170,000 in 1913, 500,000 in 1916, and 2 million in 1923.

What made the Model T so popular? As Barron's wrote: “It's not something artistic and beautiful, but something practical and sturdy.” The Ford Model T is reliable and inexpensive.

But trouble soon came. In 1924, the Wall Street Journal noticed that the price of Chevron (CVX.N) was $495, bringing Ford's lowest price of $380 in the industry “closer” to its rivals for the first time.

In 1925, General Motors (GM.N) made the same profit as Ford — about $100 million — even though its sales volume was only half that of Ford. GM's high profit margins and better business practices paid off.

The situation has gotten worse. Ford's market share fell from 51% in 1924 to 32% in 1926.

Clarence Barron, founder of Barron's, is well aware of Henry Ford's boycott of new models.

“He won't listen to public calls or pleas from colleagues,” Barron wrote on July 26, 1926. “Someone asked him, 'Aren't you giving people what they want? ' , he answered firmly: 'No, I'll give them what I know they should have. '”

There's a story that dates back to 1912, when Henry Ford wasn't around, executives secretly built an “improved Ford” prototype. When the bosses came back, they showed off this prototype.

“Mr Ford called for a hammer.” He started destroying that thing. “With every hit, he shouted, 'This is how I feel about your new car. '”

Despite this, the company's leadership insisted on replacing the T model, and in the late summer of 1926, Ford made a compromise. He then devoted himself wholeheartedly to the development of a new car. This new car was named Model A, which symbolizes a new beginning.

Production of the Model T stopped on June 1, 1927, and delivery of the new car was promised on August 1. However, that date has passed. Like Musk, Ford isn't good at meeting deadlines.

Although the re-equipment took longer than expected, and the cost reached 250 million US dollars (about 4.3 billion US dollars today), the car had already begun to go offline by November.

Ford dealers across the country have reported sell-out sales. The Model A is externally known as the “Baby Edition of Lincoln,” and the price is the same as the Model T, which is $385.

However, it failed to restore Ford's former superior position. Ford had to compete with Chevrolet in the entry-level car market, and GM — a brand with every price point — came first.

Some people think that Ford lost its dominant position due to Henry Ford's refusal to keep pace with the times, and that the new Model A arrived too late.

Another view is that Ford made the choice in the early 20th century to focus on one model, and William C. Durant (William C. Durant) — America's most popular horse-drawn carriage manufacturer — began buying car companies. He merged Buick, Cadillac, Oz, and Chevrolet into GM, a corporate cluster.

Durant was forced to quit GM in 1920. After years of quick wealth planning, he went bankrupt and died in obscurity in March 1947. Ford lived a month longer than him, and the nation mourned.

Back in 2024, Musk seemed more interested in the “Moon Landing” project — like his SpaceX Rocket Company — rather than a definitive project.

In the process of focusing on autonomous driving, Musk is working on another lunar landing project. In a few years, maybe driverless cars will be everywhere. After a generation, kids might be surprised to hear that their elders actually drove — just like kids in T-cars heard their parents used to ride in horse-drawn carriages.

“Although I'm not fully betting on the company, going out of my way to make autonomous driving a reality is an obvious move,” Musk recently tweeted. “Everything else is like a horse-drawn carriage variant.”

Henry Ford lost his dominant position in the market because he insisted on cheap cars for too long. Elon Musk is likely to lose market dominance by waiting too long.