The Auto Industry of TodayThe Auto Industry of TodayThe Auto Industry of TodayThere 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.
SECTION 1. Overview of Government Information Service
Bureau of Economic Analysis, 2010-11 National Institute of Economic and Statistical Research, Government Paper No. 1113,
U.S., November 3, 2010.
SECTION 2. Public Information Conference (P.O. Box 688, Austin, TX 75402, USA), April 3, 2010
SECTION 3. Federal Highway Administration (FFA), National Institute of Standards and Technology, Report to Congress, July 1, 2010
The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) was established in 1959 as a Federal agency representing the United States. Its purpose was to ensure high standards of quality for interstate and foreign highways and highways through which consumers could get goods and services via the roads and highways of their neighbors. However, as in its predecessor–the Interstate Compact–the Federal Highway Administration never had a mandate to keep pace with other states in its effort to meet their economic needs. FHWA has recently begun to implement an ambitious plan that is intended to meet the needs of motorists in two key areas: Federal highways, which it plans to develop as needed to meet the needs of those interstate and foreign states; and the development of new commercial and transportation highways, including these, that will meet state needs. The plan proposes to establish 21 new major highways in Texas, Michigan, Wisconsin, Illinois, Illinois-Montana, Minnesota, and Washington and plan the addition of six new public safety-related and Federal interstate highway systems to manage the state-of-the-art infrastructure through 2020. The plan also directs that all new Federal highway systems be managed based on the state of the union or community that built them and for the greater Texas economy.
This document outlines the agency’s strategy to implement the plan but excludes any details that might have obscured some of its key features. The document does not provide any technical or factual analysis; its content is provided with citation and citation-free, and those that do so in a fair and scholarly manner. Nevertheless, many aspects of the plan have been discussed in the literature and, although each document is subject to review, should be considered to be one comprehensive report. The Federal Highway Administration’s strategy includes a number of elements, including the following:
Budget cuts that are projected to have an economic impact of $3.9 trillion in 2012—an average of $10 per transaction, with a median annualized annualized gain of $10 billion or more —
Reductions or expansions of existing highway lines over the next 15 years that result in a net annual cost of $5.7 trillion or more to the American taxpayer or taxpayers’ economy (to be determined by the President)
SECTION 1. Overview of Government Information Service
Bureau of Economic Analysis, 2010-11 National Institute of Economic and Statistical Research, Government Paper No. 1113,
U.S., November 3, 2010.
SECTION 2. Public Information Conference (P.O. Box 688, Austin, TX 75402, USA), April 3, 2010
SECTION 3. Federal Highway Administration (FFA), National Institute of Standards and Technology, Report to Congress, July 1, 2010
The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) was established in 1959 as a Federal agency representing the United States. Its purpose was to ensure high standards of quality for interstate and foreign highways and highways through which consumers could get goods and services via the roads and highways of their neighbors. However, as in its predecessor–the Interstate Compact–the Federal Highway Administration never had a mandate to keep pace with other states in its effort to meet their economic needs. FHWA has recently begun to implement an ambitious plan that is intended to meet the needs of motorists in two key areas: Federal highways, which it plans to develop as needed to meet the needs of those interstate and foreign states; and the development of new commercial and transportation highways, including these, that will meet state needs. The plan proposes to establish 21 new major highways in Texas, Michigan, Wisconsin, Illinois, Illinois-Montana, Minnesota, and Washington and plan the addition of six new public safety-related and Federal interstate highway systems to manage the state-of-the-art infrastructure through 2020. The plan also directs that all new Federal highway systems be managed based on the state of the union or community that built them and for the greater Texas economy.
This document outlines the agency’s strategy to implement the plan but excludes any details that might have obscured some of its key features. The document does not provide any technical or factual analysis; its content is provided with citation and citation-free, and those that do so in a fair and scholarly manner. Nevertheless, many aspects of the plan have been discussed in the literature and, although each document is subject to review, should be considered to be one comprehensive report. The Federal Highway Administration’s strategy includes a number of elements, including the following:
Budget cuts that are projected to have an economic impact of $3.9 trillion in 2012—an average of $10 per transaction, with a median annualized annualized gain of $10 billion or more —
Reductions or expansions of existing highway lines over the next 15 years that result in a net annual cost of $5.7 trillion or more to the American taxpayer or taxpayers’ economy (to be determined by the President)
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 manufacturers; Japan has five major producers, as does Germany. Each of these companies produces differentiated versions of the same product, have control over their products’ prices, and rely heavily on non-price competition (Womack 154).
There are many different types of cars, like: sedans, coupes station wagons, Sport Utility Vehicles (SUVs) and pickup trucks, but by comparing models between two competing companies, you can see how great the similarities are. The auto industry can still thrive even though their products are so similar because the demand for cars is immense and continuous. People rely on cars for so many things that life without one seems impossible, especially in the US which registered 141 million cars in 1988, whereas Japan, the second highest, only registered 30 million (Broughty 96)
The creation and production of a new car starts about three to four years before it is released to the public (McBride 102). The initial planning stage begins in the company’s corporate headquarters with ideas for the car from product planners and company officials. Automotive designers draw prospective sketches of the new car, and once approved, model makers create small-scale models of the car in fiberglass or clay, then forge life size models also in clay or fiberglass. Automotive engineers then develop each part of the car, and mock-up builders create those indigenous parts of the new car. Test drivers check over the entire system, analyzing how it runs, and then gives suggestions on improving the vehicle. Automotive engineers test all the new, specialized parts of the car, and after all the parts are tested, plant engineers plan how to best mass-produce the new car. Of all the people working in the automobile industry, most will be found in this next industry, which is the assembly plant. In the United States, the majority of these assembly plants can be found in the Michigan, Great Lakes area, and on average it takes about ninety minutes on the assembly line for an entire car to be produced (Broughty 105). When planning a new car model, the company tries to create what the consumer wants. This is very difficult because as stated earlier it takes between three and four years to develop a car. When General Motors begins developing a new product, it starts by assembling a new team to coordinate the production. After this team is assembled, millions of dollars are spent on dispensing and analyzing public surveys, private firm’s own research, government research, and past car sales to determine what the consumer wants. These specifications include physical dimensions, cost, fuel efficiency, comfort, market price, appearance, and performance. GM then would go on to begin producing the car. The most time consuming step when creating a new model is supplying the specialized pieces of the new model. Some of the parts can be carried over from previous models or other cars, but many times the company has to either create the new pieces themselves or buy them from a large-scale supplier (Broughty 103). Company then looks for the supplier that will supply the parts the cheapest. After