AUTOMOTIVE INDUSTRY

all those companies and activities involved in the manufacture of motor vehicles, including most components, such as engines and bodies, but excluding tires, batteries, and fuel. The industry's principal product is passenger automobiles; commercial vehicles, though important to the industry, are secondary. The modern design of automotive vehicles is discussed in the article automobile, and automobile engines are described in gasoline engine. The history of the automobile industry, while brief compared with that of many other industries, has exceptional interest because of its effects on 20th-century history. Although the automobile originated in Europe, the United States completely dominated the world industry for the first half of the 20th century through the invention of mass-production techniques. In the second half of the century the situation altered sharply as western European countries and Japan became major producers and exporters. Additional reading General histories Informative general accounts of the U.S. automotive industry include: R.M. Cleveland and S.T. Williamson, The Road Is Yours (1951); M. Denison, The Power to Go (1956); and J.B. Rae, American Automobile Manufacturers: The First Forty Years (1959), and The American Automobile (1965). Comparable accounts for the United Kingdom are H.G. Castle, Britain's Motor Industry (1950); and Kenneth Richardson, The British Motor Industry 18961939 (1977). Economic and social studies Two comprehensive works on the impact of the automobile are C.D. Buchanan, Mixed Blessing: The Motor in Britain (1958); and J.B. Rae, The Road and the Car in American Life (1971). J.J. Flink, America Adopts the Automobile, 18951910 (1970), is a unique description of the acceptance of the motor vehicle. Biographical works A brief biography of Henry Ford is R. Burlingame, Henry Ford: A Great Life in Brief (1954, reissued 1964). A.P. Sloan, Jr., has a good autobiography, My Years with General Motors (1963). The best biography of a leading British automotive figure is P.W.S. Andrews and E. Brunner, The Life of Lord Nuffield (1955). A unique perspective on the German automotive industry is Ferry Porsche, with John Bentley, We at Porsche (1976). Modern industry Excellent analyses of the American automobile industry in the 1950s and early 1960s are C.E. Edwards, The Dynamics of the United States Automobile Industry (1965); and L.J. White, The Automobile Industry since 1945 (1971). A comparable study for the United Kingdom is G. Maxcy and A. Silbertson, The Motor Industry (1959). A study of the industry and its management can be found in Gerald Bloomfield, The World Automotive Industry (1978). An authoritative work on the automotive industry in developing countries is J. Baranson, Automotive Industries in Developing Countries (1969).