Karl Friedrich Benz ( ; November 25, 1844 – April 4, 1929) was a German engine designer and
engineer, generally regarded as the
inventor of the first
automobile powered by an
internal combustion engine, and together with
Bertha Benz, pioneering founder of the automobile manufacturer
Mercedes-Benz which is now one of the leading car brands. Other German contemporaries,
Gottlieb Daimler and
Wilhelm Maybach working as partners, also worked on similar types of inventions, without knowledge of the work of the other, but Benz received a
patent for his work first, and, subsequently patented all the processes that made the
internal combustion engine feasible for use in an automobile. In 1879, his first engine patent was granted to him, and in 1886, Benz was granted a patent for his first automobile.