Henry Ford family sole ownership of the company. By the mid-1920s, sales of the Model T began to decline due to rising competition. Other auto makers offered payment plans through which consumers could buy their cars, which usually included more modern mechanical features and styling not available with the Model T. Despite urgings from Edsel, Henry refused to incorporate new features into the Model T or to form a customer credit plan. By 1926, flagging sales of the Model T finally convinced Ford to make a new model. He pursued the project with a great deal of technical expertise in design of
Edsel Ford In 1932, he had an aluminum, boat-tailed speedster automobile custom designed by Ford's first designer, E. T. (Bob) Gregorie and featuring Ford's brand-new V8, the first low-cost, eight-cylinder engine. This car was sold at an auction during the Amelia Island Concours d'Elegance in 1976. After becoming the president of Ford, he long advocated the introduction of a more modern automobile to replace the Model T, but was repeatedly overruled by his father. Dwindling market share finally made introduction of a new model inevitable: the Model A. During the design of the Model A in 1927, Henry Ford assured mechanical quality