Automotive industry

Citroën assembly line in 1918

CEOs of major automotive companies together with German chancellor Angela Merkel at the Electromobility Summit 2013 in Berlin. F.r.t.l.: Neumann (Opel), Varin (former PSA), Zetsche (Daimler), Wan Gang (China)

The automotive industry refers to the design, manufacture, marketing and selling of motor vehicles. It is one of the world's biggest economic sectors in terms of the money it makes. The automotive industry began in the 1890s with hundreds of manufacturers making the "horseless carriage". The Ford Model T was one of the first cars to be sold for very little money. For a long time, the United States was the biggest producer of automobiles. In 1929, before the Great Depression, the world had 32,028,500 automobiles in use. The U.S. automobile industry had produced over 90% of them. At that time, the U.S. had one car per 4.87 persons.^[1] From the 1960s, Japan became the second biggest producer of automobiles in the world. China became the world leader in making automobiles in 2009.^[2]

Automotive Industry Media

An automotive assembly line at Opel Manufacturing Poland in 2015
SEAT, Škoda, and Volkswagen cars being transported by train in Kutná Hora, Czech Republic in 2014
The Thomas B. Jeffery Company automobile factory in Kenosha, Wisconsin around 1916
Fiat 1800 and 2100 sedans being assembled at a Fiat factory in 1961
A 2010 Hyundai Tucson used for a crash test by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety
An advertisement for the Pontiac 6, c. 1928
World motor production (1997–2016)
Percentage of exported cars by country (2014)^{[clarification needed]}
Global automobile import and export in 2011