The Ford Motor Company's mass-produced and affordable Model T made the car an essential part of American life. Before the Model T, cars were luxury items that could be purchased only by the rich. With the Model T, Henry Ford (1863–1947), who founded the Ford Motor Company in 1903, figured out how to make the car a necessary component of everyday life for regular working people.

To construct the Model T, Henry Ford devised labor-saving techniques that would increase production and reduce costs. Unlike his competitors, Ford Motor Company offered only one type of car. The parts for the Model T were interchangeable, and Ford said that people could buy the Model T "in any color they want so long as it's black." As the popularity of the car grew, Ford continued to fine-tune his production line, implementing a system of management that would become known as "Fordism...