In 1905, Ford Motor Company was the fourth-largest car producer in the United States, behind Cadillac, Rambler, and Oldsmobile.[1]:14 In the company's early years, most major components in its cars were manufactured by outside companies, including the "running gear" (the chassis, engine, transmission, drive shaft, and axles), which was supplied by the Dodge Brothers Company.[1]:11 That began to change in early 1906, when the Ford Manufacturing Company, a new, separate company created by Henry Ford and several Ford Motor Company stockholders, started to make engines and transmissions for the upcoming Ford Model N.[1]:15 The Ford Manufacturing Company was based at the Bellevue Avenue Plant, a leased factory off of Bellevue Avenue in Detroit.[1]:15?16 The Bellevue Avenue Plant was utilized until 1908, by which time almost all manufacturing of major components for Ford Motor Company cars was taking place at the Piquette Avenue Plant.[1]:14?15 Production of the Model N began at the Piquette Avenue Plant in July 1906.[1]:14 That same month, Henry Ford bought the Ford Motor Company shares owned by fellow company co-founder Alexander Malcomson.[1]:11, 15 While Malcomson was with the company, he and Henry Ford disagreed over the type of car that the Ford Motor Company should produce.[1]:15 Malcomson preferred expensive cars, like the Ford Model K; while Henry Ford favored inexpensive cars, like the Model N.[1]:15 Once Malcomson was no longer part of Ford Motor Company, Henry Ford, now with uncontested control, began to focus the company's efforts towards making cheap cars exclusively.[1]:15 By the end of 1906, due to the success of the Model N, Ford Motor Company became the largest automaker in the United States, a distinction that it would hold for twenty years.[1]:14
