[BRENT in 10-uh-C]

Originally Posted by Railcarmover

Ford lost no time reading the market after the debacle of the T and the A.In ways, the model a was a failure.It didn't hold the market as long as planned,and the depression only highlighted its shortcomings with the public.There is a good argument in Ford not recouping his investment in retooling for the A during its run.In fact,they lost money from '29 to '46,almost the full run of the 'A' platform..war contracts were 'cost plus a dollar'.By mid 1930 it was clear something needed to be done,and Ford finally followed the market instead of leading it,with yearly model changes beginning in '32.Color was not going to save Ford,the only thing that did was the profits from the model T..it carried them for almost 20 years..

You are correct in that the A was somewhat of a failure as far as ROI was concerned however I am now wondering, was there any US-manufactured vehicle during that same or later era whose production that lasted any longer? It appears to me that technology was advancing pretty quickly where a vehicle was obsolete within a few years with regard to styling and mechanical advancements.