Automobile
The automobile, or car, was invented in the 19th century by Karl Friedrich Benz, a German engineer. But it was Henry Ford, an American, who made the automobile popular by mass-producing it on the world's first moving automotive assembly line in Detroit, which became the "Automobile Capital of the World" in the 1950s.
The term "car" covers a wide variety of vehicles from "micro-city" cars to full sized body on frame pickup trucks. They have become a status symbol for people and are widely customizable. They most commonly use internal combustion engines. Cars use roads in order to transport travelers from one place to another (compare trains).
Manufacture
Many of the world's major auto companies have plants in the U.S., and the U.S. companied have plants and subsidiaries across the world, a pattern begun by Ford in the 1920s.
It is often difficult to tell if a car is a domestically or foreign produced vehicle simply by the name of the manufacturer. For example, in 2006 Japan-based manufacturer Toyota had 14 manufacturing plants in North America producing parts and cars such as the Camry, while American manufacture General Motors has operations in Mexico producing trucks such as the Silverado and Suburban for export to the United States.
Major car companies include Ford, General Motors(or GM), Chrysler, Toyota, Nissan, Honda, Mazda, BMW, Mercedes-Benz. Major American based manufacturers include Ford and General Motors, produce several brands such as Mercury, Lincoln, Chevrolet, and Hummer, however these often have many of the same "platforms" or basic car components.
Financial crisis
In 2008 a series of damaging blows drove the "Big Three" (GM, Ford and Chrysler to the verge of bankruptcy. Part of the cause was very high labor costs (much higher than the foreign plants in the U.S.), which prevents lower prices. The Big Three had in recent years stressed expensive, fuel-guzzling SUVs and large pickups. They were much more profitable than smaller, fuel-efficient cars. When gasoline prices shot past $4 in 2008, Americans stopped buying the big cars, and the Big Three saw their sales plummet. The Financial Crisis of 2008 played a role as no one was willing to loan GM the money to buy Chrysler. Consumer credit has tightened and it became much harder for people with average or poor credit to obtain a bank loan to buy a car, so sales fell further. Stock prices fell as shareholders worried about bankruptcy; GM's shares fell to 1942 levels. Intense debate is underway about a massive bailout, that would be in addition to a $25 billion loan Congress passed in September 2008 to assist in increasing fuel efficiency. Intense discussions
Fuel
President Bush has urged car manufacturers to produce cars that can run on renewable fuels such as ethanol and biodiesel, to cut down on America's dependence on foreign oil. Several manufacturers are also developing electric cars, hybrid cars and plug in hybrids.
Racing
Automobile racing is quite popular world wide, with several variations including:
External links
Bibliography
- CAR Research Memorandum. "The Impact of the U.S. Economy of a Major Contraction of the Detroit Three Automakers" (Nov 2008) online edition
- May, George S. ed. The Automobile Industry, 1920-1980 (1989), 520ppl comprehensive encyclopedia