Portrait of Henry Ford (ca. 1919)

The large-scale, production-line manufacturing of affordable automobiles was debuted by Ransom Olds at his Oldsmobile factory in 1902. This concept was greatly expanded by Henry Ford, beginning in 1914. As a result, Ford's cars came off the line in fifteen minute intervals, much faster than previous methods, increasing productivity eightfold (requiring 12.5 man-hours before, 1 hour 33 minutes after), while using less manpower. It was so successful, paint became a bottleneck. Only Japan black would dry fast enough, forcing the company to drop the variety of colors available before 1914, until fast-drying Duco lacquer was developed in 1926. This is the source of Ford's apocryphal remark, "any color as long as it's black". In 1914, an assembly line worker could buy a Model T with four months' pay. Ford's complex safety procedures—especially assigning each worker to a specific location instead of allowing them to roam about—dramatically reduced the rate of injury.

The combination of high wages and high efficiency is called "Fordism," and was copied by most major industries. The efficiency gains from the assembly line also coincided with the economic rise of the United States. The assembly line forced workers to work at a certain pace with very repetitive motions which led to more output per worker while other countries were using less productive methods.

Ransom E. Olds.

In the automotive industry, its success was dominating, and quickly spread worldwide seeing the founding of Ford France and Ford Britain in 1911, Ford Denmark 1923, Ford Germany 1925; in 1921, Citroen was the first native European manufacturer to adopt the production method. Soon, companies had to have assembly lines, or risk going broke; by 1930, 250 companies which did not, had disappeared. Development of automotive technology was rapid, due in part to the hundreds of small manufacturers competing to gain the world's attention. Key developments included electric ignition and the electric self-starter (both by Charles Kettering, for the Cadillac Motor Company in 1910-1911), independent suspension, and four-wheel brakes. Ford Model T, 1927, regarded as the first affordable American automobile Since the 1920s, nearly all cars have been mass-produced to meet market needs, so marketing plans often have heavily influenced automobile design. It was Alfred P. Sloan who established the idea of different makes of cars produced by one company, so buyers could "move up" as their fortunes improved. Reflecting the rapid pace of change, makes shared parts with one another so larger production volume resulted in lower costs for each price range.

For example, in the 1930s, LaSalles, sold by Cadillac, used cheaper mechanical parts made by Oldsmobile; in the 1950s, Chevrolet shared hood, doors, roof, and windows with Pontiac; by the 1990s, corporate powertrains and shared platforms (with interchangeable brakes, suspension, and other parts) were common. Even so, only major makers could afford high costs, and even companies with decades of production, such as Apperson, Cole, Dorris, Haynes, or Premier, could not manage: of some two hundred American car makers in existence in 1920, only 43 survived in 1930, and with the Great Depression, by 1940, only 17 of those were left. In Europe much the same would happen. Morris set up its production line at Cowley in 1924, and soon outsold Ford, while beginning in 1923 to follow Ford's practise of vertical integration, buying Hotchkiss (engines), Wrigley (gearboxes), and Osberton (radiators), for instance, as well as competitors, such as Wolseley: in 1925, Morris had 41% of total British car production. Most British small-car assemblers, from Abbey to Xtra had gone under. Citroen did the same in France, coming to cars in 1919; between them and other cheap cars in reply such as Renault's 10CV and Peugeot's 5CV, they produced 550,000 cars in 1925, and Mors, Hurtu, and others could not compete. Germany's first mass-manufactured car, the Opel 4PS Laubfrosch (Tree Frog), came off the line at Russelsheim in 1924, soon making Opel the top car builder in Germany, with 37.5% of the market.

Worldwide Trends

In 2007, worldwide production reached a peak at a total of 73.3 million new motorvehicles produced worldwide. 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 14.1 million 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. 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 billion gallons of gasoline and diesel fuel yearly. 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 drive cars. 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 long-distance trip in August 1888 - from Mannheim to Pforzheim and back - that the horseless coach was 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 1889 designed 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 a candidate for the first automobile, and first motorcycle; Bernardi enlarged the tricycle in 1892 to carry two adults.

Company relationships

It is common for automobile manufacturers to hold stakes in other automobile manufacturers. These ownerships can be explored under the detail for the individual companies. Notable current relationships include:

• Daimler AG holds a 20% stake in Eicher Motors, a 10.0% stake in KAMAZ, a 10% stake in Tesla Motors, a 6.75% stake in Tata Motors and a 3.1% in the Renault-Nissan Motors alliance. They are in the process of selling back their 40% stake in McLaren Group. This process will be finalized in 2011.
• Dongfeng Motor Corporation is involved in joint ventures with several companies in China, including: Honda, Hyundai, Nissan, Nissan Diesel, and PSA Peugeot Citroen.
• Fiat holds a 85% stake in Ferrari and a 20% stake in Chrysler, that can be increased to 35%; with the option of increasing its stake further.
• Ford Motor Company holds a 13.4% stake in Mazda and an 8.3% share in Aston Martin.
• Geely Automobile holds a 23% stake in Manganese Bronze Holdings.
• General Motors and Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation (SAIC) have two joint ventures in Shanghai General Motors and SAIC-GM-Wuling Automobile.
• Hyundai Kia Automotive Group holds a 38.67% stake in Kia Motors, down from the 51% that it acquired in 1998.
• MAN SE holds a 17.01% voting stake in Scania.
• Porsche Automobil Holding SE has a 50.74% stake in Volkswagen Group. Due to liquidity problems, Volkswagen Group is now in the process of acquiring Porsche.
• Renault-Nissan Motors have an alliance involving two global companies linked by cross-shareholding, with Renault holding 44.3% of Nissan shares, and Nissan holding 15% of (non-voting) Renault shares. The alliance holds a 3.1% share in Daimler AG.
• Renault holds a 25% stake in AvtoVAZ and 20.5% of the voting stakes in Volvo Group.
• Toyota holds a 51% stake in Daihatsu, and 16.5% in Fuji Heavy Industries, parent company of Subaru.
• Volkswagen Group and FAW have a joint venture.
• Volkswagen Group and Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation (SAIC) have a joint venture in Shanghai Volkswagen Automotive.
• Volkswagen Group holds a 37.73% stake in Scania (68.6% voting rights), and a 29% stake in MAN SE.
• Volkswagen Group has a 49.9% stake in Porsche AG. Volkswagen is in the process of acquiring Porsche, which will be completed in mid-2011.
• Volkswagen Group has a 19.9% stake in Suzuki, and Suzuki has a 5% stake in Volkswagen.

The table below shows the world's largest motor vehicle manufacturing groups, along with the marques produced by each one. The table is ranked by 2008 end of year production figures from the International Organization of Motor Vehicle Manufacturers (OICA) for the parent group, and then alphabetically by marque. Joint ventures are not reflected in this table. Production figures of joint ventures are typically included in OICA rankings, which can become a source of controversy.

Marque	Country of origin	Ownership	Markets
1. Toyota ( Japan)
Daihatsu		Subsidiary	Global, except North America and Australia
Hino		Subsidiary	Asia Pacific, North America and South America
Lexus		Division	Global
Scion		Division	North America
Toyota		Division	Global
2. General Motors Company ( United States)
Buick		Division	North America, Middle East, East Asia
Cadillac		Division	Global, except South America, South Asia, South East Asia, Pacific
Chevrolet		Division	Global, except Australia, New Zealand, South Korea
Daewoo		Subsidiary	South Korea
GMC		Division	North America, Middle East
Holden		Subsidiary	Australia, New Zealand
Opel		Subsidiary	Europe (except UK), Russia, South Africa, Asia
Vauxhall		Subsidiary	United Kingdom
3. Volkswagen Group AG ( Germany)
Audi		Subsidiary	Global
Bentley		Subsidiary	Global
Bugatti		Subsidiary	Global
Lamborghini		Subsidiary	Global
Porsche		Subsidiary	Global
Scania		Subsidiary	Global
SEAT		Subsidiary	Europe, South America, North Africa, Middle East
Škoda		Subsidiary	Global, except North America and South Africa
Volkswagen		Subsidiary	Global
Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles		Subsidiary	Global
4. Ford Motor Company ( United States)
Ford		Division	Global
Lincoln		Division	North America, Middle East, South Korea
Mercury		Division	North America, Middle East
Troller		Subsidiary	South America and Africa
Volvo (Cars)		Subsidiary	Global
5. Honda Motor Company ( Japan)
Acura (Cars)		Division	North America, East Asia, Russia
Honda		Division	Global
6. Nissan Motor Company ( Japan)
Infiniti (Cars)		Division	Global, except South America and Africa
Nissan		Division	Global
7. PSA Peugeot Citroën S.A. ( France)
Citroën (Cars)		Division	Global, except North America, South Asia
Peugeot		Division	Global, except North America, South Asia
8. Hyundai Motor Company ( South Korea)
Hyundai		Division	Global, except North America, South Asia
9. Suzuki Motor Corporation ( Japan)
Maruti Suzuki		Subsidiary	India, Middle East, South America
Suzuki		Division	Global, except North America, South Asia
10. Fiat S.p.A. ( Italy)
Abarth		Subsidiary	Global, except North America
Alfa Romeo		Subsidiary	Global
Ferrari		Subsidiary	Global
Fiat		Subsidiary	Global, except North America
Fiat Professional		Subsidiary	Global, except North America
Irisbus		Subsidiary	Global, except North America
Iveco		Subsidiary	Global, except North America
Lancia		Subsidiary	Europe
Maseratti		Subsidiary	Global