Of course the idea of an automobile can be dated all the way back to when the wheel was first invented; however, I am going to place you back to when major progress was made to the auto industry. The first automobile was built in France by Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot in 1769. Not long after came the first automobile patent in the United States which was granted to Oliver Evans in 1789. Evan produced his first self-propelled automobile in 1805. Although self-propelled, this vehicle wasn’t anything like how our vehicles work today. Finally, in 1870 an inventor by the name of Seigfried Marcus put an internal liquid fuel engine in a horse carriage which made him the first man to propel a vehicle by means of gasoline. As were finding out today this may have been our biggest mistake as a civilization due to global warming concerns. However, when directly eyeing the auto industry, this was necessary to jump start the idea that has effects each and every one of us everyday.

Karl Benz built his first automobile in 1885, was granted a patent in 1886, and began producing automobiles in 1888. Notice the last names if you are not familiar with the history of the auto industry. In 1889 Gottlieb Daimler and Wilhelm Maybach designed a vehicle from scratch rather than using a horse carriage fitted with an engine. By the 1900s, mass production on vehicles was under way in France and the United States. The first company formed to exclusively build cars was Panhard et Levassor in France. Next came the United States auto industry startup called Duryea Motor Wagon Company founded by brothers Charles and Frank Duryea.

Oldsmobile had a production line up and running in 1902 and would dominate this era of automobile production. By 1903, Cadillac, Winston and Ford were all producing cars in the thousands. A few years later in 1908 the Ford Model T was introduced and became the most widely produced and available car of the era. In 1910 the Mercer Raceabout debuted as the world’s first sports car. Slightly over a decade later the Austin debuted and was the most widely copied vehicle ever and served as a template for cars around the world. Later in 1934 the Citroen Traction Avant was the first mass produced vehicle with front wheel drive. Finally, Oldsmobile introduced the first automatic transmission in 1940 and no longer than 10 years all automobile manufactures were offering the same technology. 1950 and 60′s was when the auto industry had the ability to really focus on the wants rather than the needs of consumers. The classics we love to see are in prototypes. 1962 hits and the first super car was introduced as the Ferrari 250 GTO. 1964 sets a mark and Ford releases the Mustang that became the best selling and most collected car of its era. In 1977 Honda introduced the Accord and it went on to become the most popular car of 1990s. A huge win for Chrysler, their 1983 release of the minivans were introduced and pushed station wagons out of the market. Many of these vehicles lasted decades and many can still be found today. More recently, Toyota has recently surpassed General Motors in leading worldwide auto sales and now holds the number one selling brand in the world.

As for the future of vehicles, manufactures are moving towards hybrid and hydrogen automobiles. Hybrid automobiles use a mix of technologies such as combustion engines, electric motors, gasoline, and batteries. Normally, the vehicles run on batteries that are found in a pack in the vehicle, and once the battery is dead the gasoline kicks in. Hydrogen automobiles generally use the hydrogen in one of two methods; combustion or fuel-cell conversion. Hydrogen can be obtained through various methods utilizing natural gas or coal. One can almost say history repeats itself, simply with a different goal. As noted at the beginning of this article, a gasoline powered engine was a major jump start to the auto industry. Now we have most everything else we can want and need, and the main focus is finding the best way to power the vehicle again that can both be environmentally safe and cost effective. This is because fossil fuels have been the number one proven cause of global warming, the supply is inevitably going to diminish, and the price is definitely not going down.

For the sake of argument, let’s say that Michael Jordan is the greatest basketball player to ever play in the NBA. Danny Ferry was at the time, one of the greatest college basketball players of his day. Michael Jordan was not select as the first pick in the NBA draft after he finished his career with North Carolina-he was selected by the Chicago Bulls with the third overall pick-and the rest is history. When Danny Ferry completed his days at Duke University, he was the first player selected in the draft, but he chose to ply his trade in Europe. After a few years he came back to the NBA and played with the Cleveland Cavaliers as a mediocre player on a mediocre team. This article is not a sport critique of basketball players, but I am trying to draw an analogy. What if an NBA GM issued a statement such as “Michael Jordan is an African American and Danny Ferry is a Caucasian, therefore, I will only draft African Americans from this time forward”? A statement such as this would probably cause quite a stir not only in the NBA, but across the entire country.

If a police officer stops a car full of kids in an affluent neighborhood because they don’t look like they belong there, it is called racial profiling. The ACLU would be on the case as soon as this information became public and the officer could face disciplinary charges.

Neither of the above examples would be accepted in today’s “enlightened” society, but how many times have your heard “I will never buy an American car…they’re not as good as the Japanese”? I’ve never understood society’s acceptance of this type of prejudice. I am not saying this as an out of work auto worker, or a flag waving patriot blinded by the red, white and blue, but as a quality professional with over 25 years experience. I have personally been on the receiving end of upset plant or quality managers in Ford, General Motors and Chrysler assembly plants. I have been in plants where components rolled off the same line and into two boxes-one goes to an American OEM and one to Honda or Toyota.

When I graduated from college in the early 1980′s, the Midwest was in terrible shape. I was an industrial engineer who could not find a job. With minimal experience, I was competing for “entry level” jobs against people with 5-10 years experience; I ended up working through a series of jobs with very limited futures. Right or wrong, I believed that the condition of the American Automotive Industry was at the root of the problems. It is well documented that the “big three” was struggling with the quality of their cars and trying to introduce more fuel efficient cars into their platforms, that just a few years earlier were filled with “muscle cars”. The Japanese really caught Detroit with their shorts down. As a young idealist, I was going to do my part and buy American. Over the years I’ve owned ten American cars, (five GM, three Chryslers and two Fords). And over the years I’ve been extremely satisfied with my American Cars. My favorite of all of the cars was a 1996Ford Escort. I owned that vehicle for 8 years and put over 230,000 mile on it. The car had the original suspension, original motor original transmission and the original clutch when I replaced it. The body looked great, and other then the normal scratches, was in great shape. By the way, I didn’t trash the car, I gave it to my 16 year old daughter who learned to drive on it and also learned to drive a stick shift (a lost art for many young people-but that is story for another time). After much soul searching and self justification, I convinced myself to look at all models of cars-not just American cars. I searched the web, shopped around and finally found a good deal on a Toyota Matrix. Working in the Automotive Industry as a Quality Manager at the time, I was very excited at the prospect of getting a vehicle produced from the acclaimed “Toyota Production System”. If I could be so happy with a simple ford Escort, I couldn’t wait to see what joys were ahead of me as I got behind the wheel of a Japanese masterpiece. The honeymoon lasted about two months, when the first hubcap fell off. A new one was purchased at the dealer, and it promptly fell off. This has been an ongoing battle from the entire time I’ve owned the car. There are other minor issues with the car, but nothing more then an inconvenience. The vehicle has been a reliable car with over 140,000 miles and has never left me stranded, but the allure of a Toyota was overrated. It’s just a car, like my Buick, Fords, Chevys, and Chryslers. There is nothing magic about the name of the rear of the car.

Honda and Toyota and Nissans etc all make very good cars-as does Ford, General Motors and Chrysler. There is no comparison between cars of today and those of thirty years ago. In the mid 1970′s you could look in a newspaper for a used car and find one listed with “high mileage” and it would turn out to be 65,000 and the owner needed to get rid of it before it fell apart on him. Now a car is broken in at 65,000 and may need a new set of tires. Please don’t paint today’s American Automotive Industry with a 30 year old brush. If you do, we may paint ourselves into a corner that there is no easy way out of. I’m not suggesting that everyone needs to buy American, only that we need to stop spreading negative “rumors” about the Big Three.

The rise in foreign investment has led to the rapid growth of automobile production, its export and developing of a more strong automobile industry. Overseas companies are making huge investments and are installing extensive production capacities in many developing countries. Today, the increase in the purchasing power and standards of living of people has resulted in the increased demand of automobiles especially four-wheelers in the developing nations. The fast pace of life and changes in lifestyles necessitates safer mobility for commuting to and from the work place and for traveling long distances. Research & development has resulted in increased productivity, better quality of automobiles and automotive accessories all across the globe. Low cost vehicles that are scooters and motorcycles have led to the massive growth of some of the fastest developing economies. The future of automotive industry in the developing countries seems bright and promising because of its further growth potential. Major automotive giants are shifting their production facilities to almost all emerging markets with the main purpose of gaining better access and reduction in their production costs.

According to the figures, South America and Asia have witnessed a boom in the past years. The various factors such as cheap financing and price discounts, rising income levels and infrastructure development have helped increasing the growth and development of automotive sector in the majority of developing countries around the world. The global automobile industry along with components and parts is expected to reach US$ 1.9 trillion by 2015, growth and it is thus evident that the economical potential of the auto industry is very high.

Reasons for the boost witnessed in the certain regions for the automobile industry are due to the availability of infrastructure facilities such like power supply, machinery, capital and availability of raw materials with efficient and relatively cheaper labor.

Auto motive industry is providing employment to a population of about 25 million people in the world. This industry not only provides millions of jobs to the people, but also produces billions of dollars in terms of worldwide revenues to many countries that are linked directly or indirectly with automobile industry. This industry is developing new markets worldwide but major shares still remain in the prominent automotive manufacturing regions. North American regions like New England, New York and the Mid-Atlantic, Central New York, Pittsburgh/Cleveland, Western Great Lakes, St. Lawrence Valley, Ohio and Eastern Indiana, Kanawha and middle Ohio Valley, St. Louis, the Southeastern region, Gulf Coast, Central Florida, and the West Coast are the major contributors towards the automotive industry in the USA. The European Union has the largest automotive production regions in the World. The key automobile manufacturing regions are United Kingdom, Rhine-Ruhr River Valley, Upper Rhine – Alsace – Lorraine region, and the Po Valley in Italy.

The global automotive component industry is highly diverse and comprises of various product segments like engine parts, drive transmission and steering parts, suspension & braking parts, electrical parts and other auto components parts.