Automotive industry – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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Automotive industry
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The automotive industry designs, develops, manufactures, markets, and sells the world’s motor vehicles. The automotive industry is one of the most important economic sectors by revenue. The term automotive industry usually does not include industries dedicated toautomobiles after delivery to the customer, such as repair shops and motor fuel filling stations.

Contents
1 Worldwide Trends 2 History 3 Crisis in the automotive industry 4 World motor vehicle production 4.1 By Year 4.2 By Country 4.3 By Manufacturer 5 Company relationships 6 Top vehicle manufacturing groups (by volume) 6.1 Notes 7 Minor automotive manufacturers 8 See also 9 References 10External links

Worldwide Trends
In 2007, worldwide production reached a peak at a total of 73.3 million new motorvehicles produced worldwide.[1] In 2009, worldwide motorvehicle production dropped 13.5 percent to 61 million. Sales in the U.S. dropped 21.2 percent to 10.4 million units, sales in the European Union (supported by scrapping incentives in many markets) dropped 1.3 percent to 14.1million units. China became the world’s largest motorvehicles market, both by sales as by production. Sales in China rose 45 percent in 2009 to 13.6 million units.[2] In recent years, private Chinese manufacturers emerge. About 250 million vehicles are in use in the United States. Around the world, there were about 806 million cars and light trucks on the road in 2007; they burn over 260 billiongallons of gasoline and diesel fuel yearly.[3] In the opinion of some, urban transport systems based around the car have proved unsustainable, consuming excessive energy, affecting the health of populations, and delivering a declining level of service despite increasing investments. Many of these negative impacts fall disproportionately on those social groups who are also least likely to own and drivecars. [4][5] [6]The sustainable transport movement focuses on solutions to these problems.

History
The first practical automobile with a petrol engine was built by Karl Benz in 1885 in Mannheim, Germany. Benz was granted a patent for his automobile on 29 January 1886, and began the first production of automobiles in 1888, after Bertha Benz, his wife, had proved with the first longdistance tripin August 1888 – from Mannheim to Pforzheim and back – that the horseless coach was

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Automotive industry – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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absolutely suitable for daily use. Since 2008 a Bertha Benz Memorial Route commemorates this event. Soon after, Gottlieb Daimler and Wilhelm Maybach in Stuttgart in 1889designed a vehicle from scratch to be an automobile, rather than a horse-drawn carriage fitted with an engine. They also are usually credited as inventors of the first motorcycle in 1886, but Italy’s Enrico Bernardi, of the University of Padua, in 1882, patented a 0.024 horsepower (17.9 W) 122 cc (7.4 cu in) one-cylinder petrol motor, fitting it into his son’s tricycle, making it at least acandidate for the first automobile, and first motorcycle;.[7]:p.26 Bernardi enlarged the tricycle in 1892 to carry two adults.[7]:p.26 Main article: Automotive industry by country

Crisis in the automotive industry
Main article: Automotive industry crisis of 2008–2009

World motor vehicle production
See also: List of countries by motor vehicle production

By Year Global Production ofMotorvehicles
(cars and commercial vehicles) Year Production Change 1997 52,987,000 1998 57,987,000 1999 56,258,892 2000 58,374,162 2001 56,304,925 2002 58,994,318 2003 60,663,225 2004 64,496,220 2005 66,482,439 2006 69,222,975 2007 73,266,061 2008 70,520,493 Source
[8]

-2.70% [8] 2.98% [9] 3.80% [10] -3.50% [11] 4.80% [12] 2.80% [13] 6.30% [14] 3.10% [15] 4.10% [16] 5.80% [17] -3.70% [18]

2009…