Answer:
A. Henry Ford and Alfred Sloan represent different influential forces in the development of American manufacturing.
Explanation:
While Henry Ford made automobiles more affordable by changing production techniques and improving working hours and wages, Alfred Sloan associated automobiles with prestige and luxury through advertising and marketing and setting up the country’s first national consumer credit agency. The passage elaborates how both of them in very different ways changed the picture of American manufacturing. Hence, they both represent different influential forces in its development, which is the main idea of the passage.
While both options C and D are factually correct, they both cover only one half of the passage each and not the main idea of it, in its totality. Option B, on the other hand, is incorrect as both Henry Ford and Alfred Sloan made landmark changes during the first half of the twentieth century, with the latter focusing on products that provided prestige.