Ford Motor Co. and General Motors topped Time’s America’s Most Iconic Companies list published on Jan. 8 to coincide with the country’s 250th birthday — with Ford being named in the top spot.
The honor comes as the two Detroit automakers have had to make considerable changes to their business strategies in recent weeks to adjust for policy changes out of Washington, DC, and a lower-than-expected demand for electric vehicles.
But Time said in an article, which listed the top 101 iconic companies, that it was looking for companies that have had financial success and an impact on the nation’s culture. The magazine said that within those 250 years, the United States became “an incubator of globally relevant companies and brands, and an economic powerhouse.”
To showcase that legacy, Time and Statista conducted a nationally representative survey of U.S. residents to rank the 250 American companies. The ranking considered both a company’s commercial success as well as having a vital role in shaping culture and society, Time’s article stated.
The list shows many companies founded just 30 years after the country itself was founded, such as Colgate-Palmolive in 1806, and includes companies created in the 21st century such as OpenAI in 2015.
But in the No. 1 spot is Ford, which Time describes as a company that “has long aligned its brand with the American identity.”
Ford, founded in 1903, is known for putting America on wheels when founder Henry Ford perfected the use of an assembly line, consequently bringing down production costs. He famously paid his workers enough to buy his cars. Ford also created the modern distribution system known as the locally based dealer-franchise system.
“Ford transformed the manufacturing process and also transportation for the average American, reshaping the development of cities and suburbs,” Time wrote.
Ford is now at a key crossroads as it prepares to finance a $19.5 billion transformation of its business strategy to add more hybrids and gasoline models to its lineup and put less focus on EVs, all while it continues to try to make cars more affordable. Ford also is entering a new business segment: making battery energy storage systems in addition to batteries for EVs.
Bill Ford, Ford executive chair, told Time that this recognition is a mandate for the future.
“Just as my great-grandfather put the world on wheels to give people the freedom of movement, our approach to the modern era is rooted in that same spirit,” he said. “Innovation is not just about building batteries or technology for its own sake; it is about making people’s lives better.”
Behind Ford, in the No. 2 spot is Apple, followed by the Coca-Cola Company, then Walmart, Amazon, McDonald’s and in the No. 7 spot is GM.
GM, founded by William C. Durant in Flint in 1908, is the largest automaker in terms of annual sales. A spokesman for GM said the company did not have a comment on being named to the list.
Like Ford, GM is overhauling its business as the market and federal policies have shifted. The automaker announced on Jan. 8 that it would take a $7.1 billion hit to its net income in the fourth quarter of 2025 related to changes it has made to its EV production and restructuring its business in China.
GM topped Microsoft, then Google and Nike in the top 10.
Jamie L. LaReau is the senior autos writer for USA Today Co. who covers Ford Motor Co. for the Detroit Free Press. Contact Jamie at jlareau@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @jlareauan. To sign up for our autos newsletter. Become a subscriber.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Time names Ford, GM as 2 of America’s ‘most iconic’ companies
Reporting by Jamie L. LaReau, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
