Issue 2: Fall 2004 : The Automotive Industry

Automotive History

The history of the automobile begins with the technological breakthroughs that occurred in Europe during the early 1800's and continues a century later with the pioneering efforts of American manufactures to begin mass-producing cars. The world economic downturn leading up to World War II led to consolidation in the fragmented automobile manufacturing market, while in the Postwar period, renewed economic growth, television advertising, and a expanding road system accelerated sales for automobile producers in many industrialized countries. Design, service, and speed became trademarks of the successful companies, as evidence by the every growing range of car models and the increasing popularity of NASCAR racing in the United States.

Table of Contents

Introduction
Automotive History
Global Automobile Industry
    North American Market
    European Market
    East Asian Market
Automobile Manufacturing
Retail
Company Research
Statistics
Associations
Industry News and Analysis
Electronic Resources

However, as the industry matured, manufacturers had to reach an accommodation with labor unions, increasing government controls, and consumer expectations for annual changes in product design. Trade conflicts led to Voluntary Export Restraints (VERs) and new questions about the value of globalization. The automobile, while providing greater personal freedom and economic growth, also served as the basis for questioning the value of technological progress. Scholars considered the effects of urban sprawl (and the advantages of urban planning), and the tradeoffs between economic growth, pollution, and conservation. Subsequent industry mergers, the ongoing threat of oil crises, and environmental degradation continues to affect the automobile industry today.

The list of resources below provide access to the rich and varied literature on automobile manufacturing and marketing history. These titles though are only illustrative of the popular and scholarly literature that has built up over the past two centuries around the industry.

Subjects

Additional works relating to automotive history in the Library of Congress may be identified by searching the Online Catalog under appropriate Library of Congress subject headings. Selecting the subject headings below will link you directly to the Catalog and automatically execute a search for the authorized subject selected and the corresponding subdivision.

• Advertising--Automobiles--[Country]--History. For example:
  Advertising--Automobiles--France--History
• Automobile dealers
• Automobile Industry and Trade--[Country]--History. For example:
  Automobile Industry and Trade--Japan--History
• Automobile industry and trade--Military aspects--[Country]--History. For example:
  Automobile industry and trade--Military aspects--Germany--History
• Automobile repair shops
• Automobile travel--[Country]--History. For example:
  Automobile travel--United States--History
• Automobiles--Motors--Exhaust gas--Environmental aspects
• Automobiles--Pollution control devices--History
• Automobiles--Social aspects
• Automobiles, racing--History
• Selling--Automobiles--United States--History
• Stock car racing--United States--History

Industry Histories

The ongoing conflict between these two men provide the backdrop for explaining the changes in management and productivity at Ford.

Compares the perceived value of mass production and its impact on industry with the realities of the workplace.

One in a series of works written in the aftermath of the energy crisis appealing for changes in automobile standards and production.

The companion volume to the PBS documentary highlighting the contributions by past and present innovators in the industry. Heavily illustrated with color and black-and-white photographs

Looks at the interaction, and subsequent tensions, between the dominant industry and the social elite of Detroit.

Chronicles the advertising and promotion campaigns undertaken to mass market cars in the American market.

Measures the technological and business developments in Europe, especially in Germany, of automobile production thru the war years and later.

A core source providing a comprehensive compilation of automobile information.

A cultural history that tells the struggle between billboard advertisers and the automotive industry on the one hand, and environmentalists on the other, for the American vision.

Details the history of why manufacturers and the public did not accept the electric vehicle, and reaches a pessimistic conclusion about the technology’s future.

Lasch questions the desirability and inevitability of progress using the automobile as a metaphor for some of the major societal changes that took place in the last half of the 20th century.

A standard reference source for the history of Automobile production.

A standard reference source for the history of Automobile production.

Details labor relations in the American automobile industry thru a series of case studies.

In identifying production factors in the global automobile manufacturing industry, the authors provide insight into what worked, and didn’t work, for various automobile manufacturers.

Company Histories

Chronicles the artistic and industrial imprint Henry Ford left on his company.

Accounts the conflicts and indecision of the company's leadership that led to its demise.

Scholarly look at the social, political, and economic ramifications of the changes Henry Ford brought to American industry.

An early and informative history of the growth of the automobile history and its impact on the world economy.

Demonstrates the ability of one individual to forge the future of not only a company, but also an industry.

Surveys the landscape of the automobile industry and one company's inability to navigate effectively during periods of upheavals.

Detailed overview of the company, focusing on the various speciality divisions within Chrysler and the companies successful petition to the United States government for $1 billion dollars in loan guarantees to avoid bankruptcy.

Chronicles the impact of low-cost family cars on the American automobile market.

Retail Industry, History

Highlights recent developments in the automotive production chain throughout the world. Chapters on specific countries or regions begin with a short history of automotive retailing in that area os the world.

Spotlights dealership business practices through the years, from the architectural changes in showrooms to superstores, and the increasing sophistication of marketing tactics.

Internet Resources

Automotive History
http://www.autoshop-online.com/auto101/histtext.html

History (Automotive)
http://web.mel.org/viewtopic.jsp?id=765&pathid=1418

Automotive Industry
http://www.competia.com/express/automobile.html

AV's World Automobile Industry
http://www.pommert.de/virtualia/garage/

The Center for the Study of Automotive Heritage, University of Michigan - Dearborn.
http://www.umd.umich.edu/dept/acad/casl/csah/index.html

Dealership Competition in the U.S. Automobile Industry.
http://www.reu.com/samples_pwd/03-ramrattan.pdf

Early Cars: Fact Sheet for Children by the Smithsonian
http://www.si.edu/resource/faq/nmah/earlycars.htm

The Evolution of the U.S. Automobile Industry and Detroit as its Capital.
http://www.druid.dk/conferences/winter2002/gallery/klepper.pdf

The History of the Automobile: Reading List by the Smithsonian.
http://www.si.edu/resource/faq/nmah/autohist.htm

Highway History Bibliography
http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/infrastructure/bibrecnt.htm

Mileposts of Automobile History
http://www.aaca.org/bntc/mileposts/mileposts.htm

Society of Automotive Historians, Inc.
http://www.autohistory.org/