Automotive Industry
Background
The first introduction of the automobile revolutionized the way the people thought about travel. Since the introduction of the first automobile in Mannheim, Germany by Karl Benz in 1885 the automobile has taken over as the primary mode of transportation. There are “590 million passenger cars worldwide, roughly one car for every eleven people, as of 2002 (WorldMapper)”. After Karl Benz was granted his patent for his automobile he opened the first car company, Benz & Cie. Although there was many others trying to make the first automobile Karl Benz is credited with inventing the modern automobile. Approximately 25 Benz vehicles were built and sold before 1893. Daimler and Maybach founded Daimler Motoren Gesellschaft (Daimler Motor Company, DMG) in 1890 and under the brand name; Daimler sold their first automobile in 1892. It was not until 1902 when large-scale production-line manufacturing of affordable automobiles was debuted by Ransom Olds at his Oldsmobile factory. This concept was expanded later by Henry Ford beginning in the 1914.
As a result of Henry Ford’s forward thinking with the production process cars came of the line much faster than previously and took less man power to do so. Due to this innovation an individual could buy a Model T for four months pay, evidently bringing the automobile to the masses. By using the assembly line production, which made specialization of each worker more efficient and effective this business model was repeated worldwide. Development of automotive technology was rapid because of the large number of small manufacturers trying to fight for market share.
Current Production & Players
“The automotive industry is the industry involved in the design, de ...