In my last post I had discussed about, how the Passenger car industry is spread across the global markets? In this post, I will be discussing how Automobiles industry developed (from first vehicle a three wheeler, shown in 1st picture) and flourished across the globe.
Luxury of Mercedes or BMW, which we enjoy commonly nowdays while driving these cars is not d
eveloped in a day, it has passed through several stages and scrutinized several times on timeline. It’s the combined effort of uncountable technocrats across the planet; in fact it will not be wrong if we quote the “development as truly global”.
eveloped in a day, it has passed through several stages and scrutinized several times on timeline. It’s the combined effort of uncountable technocrats across the planet; in fact it will not be wrong if we quote the “development as truly global”.First Self- Propelled vehicle
The first functional self-propelled vehicle was a three-wheeler which was powered by steam and its inventor was Frenchman Nicholas Joseph Cugnot in 1769. Though this ride lasted only for about 15 minutes at about 6 mph but it served its purpose and marked its place in automobile history. The drive was through the front wheel and the weight of all the mechanism and made it difficult to steer hence it was very unsafe.
Internal Combustion Engine was created by Etienne Lenoir (a Belgian inventor) almost after a century and first gasoline powered vehicle is credited to Germans (Karl Benz and Gottlieb Daimler) in 1885.
In 1890, Emile Levassor and Armand Peugeot of France began producing vehicles with Daimler engines, and so laid the foundation of the motor industry in France and brought first motorized vehicle for sales to public.
By 1899, about 30 different manufacturers produced and sold various types of motor vehicles in the American market.
Ford’s Concept of Mass Production
U.S. inventor Henry Ford, built his first car in 1896, developed an automated production system i
n 1914, which revolutionized the future of this industry and many other industries forever.
Ford's assembly line with its moving belts allowed them to produce four times as many Model T’s as the year before and continually reduce prices, thus they were able to focus upon other things like adding new features to the product. Success was evident by the fact that by 1920, almost half of all the cars on the road worldwide were Model T’s.
Internal Combustion Engine was created by Etienne Lenoir (a Belgian inventor) almost after a century and first gasoline powered vehicle is credited to Germans (Karl Benz and Gottlieb Daimler) in 1885.
In 1890, Emile Levassor and Armand Peugeot of France began producing vehicles with Daimler engines, and so laid the foundation of the motor industry in France and brought first motorized vehicle for sales to public.
By 1899, about 30 different manufacturers produced and sold various types of motor vehicles in the American market.
Ford’s Concept of Mass Production
U.S. inventor Henry Ford, built his first car in 1896, developed an automated production system i
n 1914, which revolutionized the future of this industry and many other industries forever.Ford's assembly line with its moving belts allowed them to produce four times as many Model T’s as the year before and continually reduce prices, thus they were able to focus upon other things like adding new features to the product. Success was evident by the fact that by 1920, almost half of all the cars on the road worldwide were Model T’s.
Global Market Dominated by U.S. Manufacturers
U.S. manufacturers start looking nearby markets to sell their products and process of globalization started.
Ford began assembling cars in the UK in 1911
Ford began exporting to Japan in 1925 and built plants in several major European nations.
General Motors(GM) established an export company in 1911 and entered the Japanese market in 1927.
GM also expanded in Europe by purchasing companies, like Opel in Germany and Vauxhall in the United Kingdom.
Several U.S. manufacturers came into existence at this time including Cadillac and Chrysler among others.
Technology and Beyond
Towards end of 1930’s Automatic transmissions were introduced and manufacturers began to focus on other aspects of the car like style, aerodynamic, and fuel efficiency.
World War II
Car production faced a hault during World War II, as during this time all industrial capacities were utilised to national defense, but development was not at hault even at this time of crisis, war brought improvements to the industry in the form of efficient processes and systems. Postwar prosperity brought booming worldwide automobile demand.
Automobile Imports to U.S.
Luxury and sporty vehicles from Europe: Rolls Royce, Mercedes, Jaguar (later bought by Ford Mo
tor Company and repurchased by Tata Motors Ltd., India in 2008), and Porsche were the first imports to the U.S. market. Till 1960s, imports were around one percent of U.S. auto sales, which later improved from 10 percent share in 1968 to 15 percent in 1970 led by Volkswagen of Germany (and Beetle).
Japanese were most successful in anticipating the demand for fuel efficient vehicles and thus quickly gained market share giving a dent to U.S. manufacturer’s sales.
Design, quality, price, and economic operation’s combined effect was visible in selecting the purchase by consumers and thus market share of foreign manufacturers in U.S. car industry continue to rise (almost reached 40 percent of cars and 18 percent of trucks in 1998).
1990s once again brought the trend of luxury vehicles, manufacturers worked at their best to reduce new product development time and improve upon quality. Germans and Japanese were known for their quality & maintaining costs, car makers of these two countries made no mistake to take advantage of opportunity.
Decade observed the dominance of the United States' Big Three automotive company’s fade, while Japanese auto manufacturers strengthening market though later restricted by trade barriers.
Merger and Acquisitions
May 1998 merger announcement took the auto world by surprise and speculation towards restructuring of overall industry, since it was joining hands of two major near-equals, Daimler – Chrysler (de-merged in 2007) with no overlap in terms of product range. Daimler contributed production of luxury cars, and Chrysler restricted to smaller passenger cars, trucks, and utility vehicles.
Ford strengthen its portfolio by adding Volvo in 1999, and later Land Rover (recently purchased by Tata Motors Ltd., India).
GM also acquired stakes in Suzuki and Subaru.
Renault of France acquired 37 percent share of Nissan.
Volkswagen bought Italian luxury sports carmaker Automobili Lamborghini SpA and Rolls Royce Cars of Britain. South Korean leader Hyundai Motor Co. bought Kia Motors Corp. and Asia Motors Corp.
DaimlerChrysler also purchased a controlling share in Mitsubishi Motors.
Lost of battle for Top three Carmakers (GM, Ford and DC)
European Union reduced some trade restrictions and provided Japanese manufacturers to establish their presence in the western European market, thus competition boomed up in Europe in terms of quality and production efficiency to restructure old facilities and improve upon operations and systems, to remain in competition.
GM, Ford and DC continued to lose share to competition like Toyota and Honda (fact remains Japanese car makers expanded their product lines which were close to the product of these top manufacturers and sold them with the feature of Japanese quality and optimum pricing).
U.S. manufacturers start looking nearby markets to sell their products and process of globalization started.
Ford began assembling cars in the UK in 1911
Ford began exporting to Japan in 1925 and built plants in several major European nations.
General Motors(GM) established an export company in 1911 and entered the Japanese market in 1927.
GM also expanded in Europe by purchasing companies, like Opel in Germany and Vauxhall in the United Kingdom.
Several U.S. manufacturers came into existence at this time including Cadillac and Chrysler among others.
Technology and Beyond
Towards end of 1930’s Automatic transmissions were introduced and manufacturers began to focus on other aspects of the car like style, aerodynamic, and fuel efficiency.
World War II
Car production faced a hault during World War II, as during this time all industrial capacities were utilised to national defense, but development was not at hault even at this time of crisis, war brought improvements to the industry in the form of efficient processes and systems. Postwar prosperity brought booming worldwide automobile demand.
Automobile Imports to U.S.
Luxury and sporty vehicles from Europe: Rolls Royce, Mercedes, Jaguar (later bought by Ford Mo
tor Company and repurchased by Tata Motors Ltd., India in 2008), and Porsche were the first imports to the U.S. market. Till 1960s, imports were around one percent of U.S. auto sales, which later improved from 10 percent share in 1968 to 15 percent in 1970 led by Volkswagen of Germany (and Beetle).Japanese were most successful in anticipating the demand for fuel efficient vehicles and thus quickly gained market share giving a dent to U.S. manufacturer’s sales.
Design, quality, price, and economic operation’s combined effect was visible in selecting the purchase by consumers and thus market share of foreign manufacturers in U.S. car industry continue to rise (almost reached 40 percent of cars and 18 percent of trucks in 1998).
1990s once again brought the trend of luxury vehicles, manufacturers worked at their best to reduce new product development time and improve upon quality. Germans and Japanese were known for their quality & maintaining costs, car makers of these two countries made no mistake to take advantage of opportunity.
Decade observed the dominance of the United States' Big Three automotive company’s fade, while Japanese auto manufacturers strengthening market though later restricted by trade barriers.
Merger and Acquisitions
May 1998 merger announcement took the auto world by surprise and speculation towards restructuring of overall industry, since it was joining hands of two major near-equals, Daimler – Chrysler (de-merged in 2007) with no overlap in terms of product range. Daimler contributed production of luxury cars, and Chrysler restricted to smaller passenger cars, trucks, and utility vehicles.
Ford strengthen its portfolio by adding Volvo in 1999, and later Land Rover (recently purchased by Tata Motors Ltd., India).
GM also acquired stakes in Suzuki and Subaru.
Renault of France acquired 37 percent share of Nissan.
Volkswagen bought Italian luxury sports carmaker Automobili Lamborghini SpA and Rolls Royce Cars of Britain. South Korean leader Hyundai Motor Co. bought Kia Motors Corp. and Asia Motors Corp.
DaimlerChrysler also purchased a controlling share in Mitsubishi Motors.
Lost of battle for Top three Carmakers (GM, Ford and DC)
European Union reduced some trade restrictions and provided Japanese manufacturers to establish their presence in the western European market, thus competition boomed up in Europe in terms of quality and production efficiency to restructure old facilities and improve upon operations and systems, to remain in competition.
GM, Ford and DC continued to lose share to competition like Toyota and Honda (fact remains Japanese car makers expanded their product lines which were close to the product of these top manufacturers and sold them with the feature of Japanese quality and optimum pricing).
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