The automotive industry is a major global manufacturing sector, consisting of companies that design, develop, build, and sell automobiles and parts. Its history dates back to 1885 with the first production line vehicle by Benz. The industry has diversified and globalized, with leaders such as Honda, Nissan, Toyota, Mercedes Benz, Audi, and BMW. Despite competition, vehicles continue to get more expensive.
The automotive industry is one of the largest manufacturing sectors in the global economy. It consists of many different companies, from those that design, develop and build automobiles to those that make parts for vehicles and those companies that sell the vehicles. The industry as a whole may also include those companies that repair and restock automobiles, depending on how broad a definition is used.
The history of the automotive industry dates back to 1885, when the German automaker Benz put the first vehicle on the production line. The car was a three-wheeler and historians estimate that the first model was delivered to customers the following year. The first official commercial automobile manufacturer in the United States did not exist until 1896, although amateur automobile production occurred before then in the United States and elsewhere.
As early as 1769, an inventor named Nicolas Cugot attached a steam engine to a vehicle and set it going in France. Historians credit Cugot with the first motor vehicle. In 1860, another French inventor invented the combustion engine. Unlike today’s combustion engines that run on gasoline, this engine created by Ettienne Lenoir ran on a gas mixture, called illuminating gas. It was a German inventor who developed the petrol combustion engine in 1876.
In the United States, the automobile industry was launched in 1896. The most famous American pioneer in the automobile industry was Henry Ford, but a number of men had a hand in the industry. They included Charles King, Ransom Olds, James W. Packard and Alexander Winton Packard. Men like David Dunbar Buick, Thomas B. Jeffrey and Edgar Apperson were also important in the early US auto industry, but the first cars put into production were launched by Frank and Charles Duryeas. As of 2011, historians of the modern auto industry can trace each of the surviving big three automakers, General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler, to the companies of these pioneers.
The automotive industry is global, encompassing not only the big three American automakers, but automakers from around the world as well. Some of the leaders of the automotive industry, such as Honda, Nissan and Toyota are from Japan. Hyundai is a Korean automaker and European luxury brands include Mercedes Benz, Audi and BMW. These are just some of the brands in an automotive industry that has diversified and globalized. The end result has been more choice for consumers and better made vehicles, however, vehicles continue to get more and more expensive, despite the competition.
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