Essay on The American Automotive Industry

challenges, however, are the most difficult ones to face and overcome. Some environmental issues that

The automobile has had a profound impact on the United States. It has brought us

Purchasing a car is one of the biggest and most important decisions that someone will make during their lifetime. Over the past several years, the prices of a vehicle have increased significantly due to the rise of inflation. Economists compare averages of vehicles to calculate and determine the cost of every vehicle that ends up on the car lot. To determine the cost they interpret all the above information and include everything from the cost of making the vehicle to the time of selling it. In the long run, the demand for vehicles is inelastic because they become a necessity for many people. However, in the short run, the demand is elastic because the purchase of a new vehicle can be put off for a while.

The American economy is a vibrant, free-market system that is constantly developing out of the choices and decisions made by millions of citizens who play multiple, often overlapping roles as consumers, producers, investors and voters. The changes in the organization and performances of the manufacturing industry over the last century have helped shape the American economy. The Automotive industry perhaps made the biggest changes to their manufacturing processes. I will be reviewing the role of the industrialist Henry Ford and his innovative methods that changed the organization and performance of the American manufacturing industry forever. He produced an affordable car, paid high wages and helped create a middle

The US automobile manufacturing industry includes about 200 companies with combined annual revenue of about $250 billion. Major companies are GM, Ford, and Chrysler (which is controlled by Italy 's Fiat). The industry is highly concentrated: the top three companies account for more than 90 percent of revenue.

Around the year of 1893, the first gasoline American car with an internal combustion engine was built and since that year until the late 18th century electric vehicles were introduced in the United States. Moreover, the Hybrid Lohner-Porsche became the first car that runs on gasoline and electricity. Hybrid combined two, the electric and the internal combustion engine propulsion systems, or more power sources to drive the vehicle. The new hybrid vehicles are more efficient and powerful in the term of technology and economy; it provides an improved car that is environmental friendly. Ford Company is a leading automaker in hybrid vehicles; the company started to produce this kind of automobiles back in 2000. One of their economic cars is the

The emergence of foreign competitors can partly be attributed to the US government and the $33 Billion Highway Act of 1956. By greatly enhancing both regional and interstate roads, there was a greater reason than ever before for the typical

1 BACKGROUND 1.1 Ford Motor Company Ford was the pioneer of the motor vehicle, just over 100 years ago. Today, Ford Motor Company is a family of automotive brands consisting of: Ford, Lincoln, Mercury, Mazda, Jaguar, Land Rover, Aston Martin, and Volvo, employing 350,321 (Yahoo Finance) workers in more than 200 countries. 1.2 Motor Industry The American oligopoly in the motor industry, consisting of Ford, General Motors and Chrysler, has suffered from poor financial results recently. As reported by www.guardian.co.uk (16/06/03), “the big three US car-makers are wrestling with the combined effects of over-capacity, growing competition from Europe and Japan, huge pension and health care costs, and a damaging increase in

The international automakers invested more than $72 billion to capitalize 425 facilities and offices. This created jobs for 123 thousand Americans with $9.3 billion and products purchased from US suppliers for $104 billion to produce 5.3 million vehicles in which 46% of all US vehicle production. There are nearly 10 thousand dealership franchises sold that employ more than 500 thousand American gaining $29 billion. Further, nearly 900 thousand US-built vehicles were exported. These figures clearly shows that there has been a domino effect of success in the US auto industry and it means that it is a great contributor to the US economy.

When the “Sub-Prime Mortgage Crisis” began in 2008, it triggered a global recession. Demand decreased across all industries, but the auto industry was hit especially hard due to vehicles being big ticket items. Even prior to the recession, the high prices of raw materials and fuels, as well as increased pressure from the government and consumers for automakers to build “greener” cars meant trouble for automakers. Within the industry, Canadian and the American auto makers were hurt the most. The strong presence of unions meant that they had a much higher labour cost than their competitors. Also General Motors, Ford and Chrysler, known as the “Big Three” primarily focused on manufacturing pickup trucks and SUVs because of

In 2013, Detroit shined again, and combined came in higher than its global competitors. Research showed U.S. car companies held 46% of auto sales and this surpassed the competition in Japan, Germany and Korea (Wood, 2014). Detroit automakers were nearly destroyed in 2009 when hit by a crippling recession. The American tax payers bailed the companies out, and they have recently started to show the growth it takes to succeed and be number one. The recession has also forced the American auto industry to become more efficient and competitive. It has overall decreased the number of employees and reduced costs in other ways to protect the company’s well-being and the taxpayer’s investment.

Since it’s inception in the 1900’s, the auto industry has become a global economic powerhouse and juggernaut of cultural influence. In recent decades, the industry has faced various crises and yet has remained one of the most powerful drivers of global economic activity. In the U.S. alone, 1 in every 22 jobs derives from the auto industry (Cutcher-Gershenfeld, J., 2015, para 1). Generally speaking, industry analysts are optimistic about the U.S. market and less so in other markets (Strategy&, 2015, para. 3).

Contributing 3 percent to 3.5 percent to the overall Gross Domestic Product, the automotive industry is essential to the United States’ economy.1 The automotive industry would critically affect our national economy if it ceased to exist. In 2008 through 2010, the automotive industry suffered a crisis. Many things lead up to the crisis, putting the economy into an unstable condition and putting distress into the minds of the American people. This forced some of the country’s automakers to go into bankruptcy, causing a fall in the workforce. Eventually, the crisis was solved, and the economy returned to its stable state. This whole disaster started through one event. Fueled by the 2008 recession, the automotive industry suffered a crisis that hurt the United States’ national economy.

The automotive industry in India is one of the largest automotive markets in the world, previously one of the fastest growing markets globally. It started out as a small venture in the 1940s but witnessed a rapid growth with the entry of some big manufacturers like Mahindra & Mahindra and Maruti in mid and late 1900s. In 2000, this industry became an important sector of the Indian economy and a major foreign exchange earner for the country.

Global competition is an important factor for many industries including the auto industry because a breakdown to it 's simplest form, personal accomplishment and group camaraderie is achieved in the process. What is something if it doesn 't mean something to someone else? To illustrate this, I look at the most innosent form of competition between my two dogs. One was whining because the other had the ball. I threw out two balls and they fought over the newest one. The essential point is the same with people. We find value in what other people want, especially if it is popular or new. It makes it seem more valuable. We also find value in knowing that we have others wanting to beat us at what we do. Look at American football for instance. Everyone wants their team to be the top team and we pay a lot of money, and spend a lot of energy to watch the fight and engage in the rivalry. Competition is good because it creates something to out-perform. It creates a sense of worth that what we are doing is making a difference even for a short time. "Americans dominated the industry in the first half of the twentieth century" (Bland, n.d.) However, " By 2000 Japan became the largest car producing nation in the world." (Bland, n.d.) When a country finds a product that they can manufacture well, we find global customers that will pay for exports. This helps our economy flourish because it creates jobs. When that same company has global pressure to