henry ford

English - English

Definition of henry ford in English English dictionary: (1863-1947) USA automobile manufacturer, pioneer in the assembly line technique of mass production; a US businessman and engineer, who started making cars in 1896 and established the Ford Motor Company. He developed the idea of the assembly line (=system in which each worker is responsible for one small part of the process of making something) , and this made it possible to produce cars in large numbers (1863-1947). born July 30, 1863, Wayne county, Mich., U.S. died April 7, 1947, Dearborn, Mich. U.S. industrialist and pioneer automobile manufacturer. Ford worked his way up from a machinist's apprentice (at age 15) to the post of chief engineer at the Edison Company in Detroit. He built his first experimental car in 1896. In 1903, with several partners, he formed the Ford Motor Company. In 1908 he designed the Model T; demand became so great that Ford developed new mass-production methods, including the first moving assembly line in 1913. He developed the Model A in 1928 to replace the Model T, and in 1932 he introduced the V-8 engine. He observed an eight-hour workday and paid his workers far above the average, holding that well-paid labourers become the consumers that industrialists require, but strenuously opposed labour unions. As the first to make car ownership affordable to large numbers of Americans, he exerted a vast and permanent influence on American life. See also Ford Foundation; United States manufacturer of automobiles who pioneered mass production (1863-1947)

henry ford