The Auto Industry of Today
There is no industry more present in the worldwide community than the automobile industry. The automobile has changed the lives, culture, and economy of the people and nations that manufacture and demand them. Ever since the late 1800s when Benz and Daimler in Germany invented the first "modern" car, the industry has grown into a billion dollar industry affecting so many aspects of our lives. There are more than 400 million passenger cars alone on the roads today. During the early part of the twentieth century, the United States was home to more than 90 percent of the world's automotive industry, but has shrunk to about 20 percent in today's world (Tardiff 394). This drastic change has occurred by the booming economies in such nations as Japan, Germany, Canada, France, Italy, and other nations.
The US auto industry "sales totaled $205 billion, or 3.3 percent of the total Gross Domestic Product" (Tardiff 394). By the end of 19th century, there were about 500 auto manufacturers, but that number dropped sharply to 23 by 1917, and today the Big Three dominant the market. Ford, General Motors, and Chrysler make up the Big Three, which account for 21 percent of the world's motor vehicle production in 1997, with the Japanese industries coming in second, producing 19 percent. Germany produces 11 percent; Spain, France, Italy and South Korea each produce about 5 percent of the international market in 2000. In the US alone, the auto-industry, which includes its 500,000 car-related businesses, creates 12 million jobs (Broughty 290). The automobile is clearly an oligopoly, but each company's control of the market has gradually diminished because of rising foreign competition.
The US has three main auto manufact ...