Mark II (BMW) Mini Cooper

Current Production

1993 Ford Escort A 1993 Ford Escort station wagon, a modern automobile.

In 2005 63 million cars and light trucks were produced worldwide. The world's biggest car producer (including light trucks) is the European Union with 29% of the world's production. In non-EU Eastern Europe another 4% are produced. The second largest manufacturer is NAFTA with 25.8%, followed by Japan with 16.7%, China with 8.1%, MERCOSUR with 3.9%, India with 2.4% and the rest of the world with 10.1%. (vda-link)

Large free trade areas like EU, NAFTA and MERCOSUR attract manufacturers worldwide to produce their products within them and without currency risks or customs, additionally to being close to customers. Thus the production figures do not show the technological ability or business skill of the areas. In fact much if not most of the Third World car production is used western technology and car models (and sometimes even complete obsolete western factories shipped to the country), which is reflected in the patent statistic as well as the locations of the r&d centers.

The automobile industry is dominated by relatively few large corporations (not to be confused with the much more numerous brands), the biggest of which (by numbers of produced cars) are currently General Motors, Toyota and Ford Motor Company. It is expected, that Toyota will reach the No.1 position in 2006. The most profitable per-unit car-maker of recent years has been Porsche due to its premium price tag.

The automotive industry at large still suffers from high under-utilization of its manufacturing potential.

Future of the car

In order to limit deaths, there has been a push for self-driving automobiles. There have been many notable efforts funded by the NHTSA, including the many efforts by the NavLab group at Carnegie Mellon University. Recent efforts include the highly publicized DARPA Grand Challenge race.

Toyota FCHV Toyota FCHV (Fuel Cell Hybrid Vehicle). A fuel cell hybrid car which runs from the hydrogen which Toyota Motor developed,. 2005

A current invention is ESP by Bosch that is claimed to reduce deaths by about 30% and is recommended by many lawmakers and carmakers to be a standard feature in all cars sold in the EU. ESP recognizes dangerous situations and corrects the drivers input for a short moment to stabilize the car.

The biggest threat to automobiles is the declining supply of oil, which does not completely stop car usage but makes it significantly more expensive. Beginning of 2006 1 liter of gas costs approx. 1.6 US$ in Germany and other European countries. If no cheap solution can be found in the relatively near future individual mobility might suffer a major setback. Nevertheless, individual mobility is highly prized in modern societies so the demand for automobiles is inelastic. Alternative individual modes of transport, such as Personal rapid transit, could make the automobile obsolete if they prove to be cheaper and more energy efficient.

Hydrogen cars, driven either by a combination of fuel cells and an electric motor, or alternatively, a conventional combustion engine, are thought to replace fossil fuel powered cars in a few decades. The biggest obstacle for a mass market of hydrogen cars is the cost of hydrogen production by electrolysis, which is inefficient and requires a comparatively expensive source of electrical energy. However Hydrogen produces 5 times as much energy than 93 octane gasoline and promises to be cheaper with mass production and none CO2, but steam H2O emissions as result of the combustion. BMW's engineering team promises a high horsepower hydrogen fuel engine in it's 7-series sedan before the next generation of the car makes it's debut.

Lexus LF-A Lexus LF-A concept car at the 2006 Greater Los Angeles Auto Show

The electric car in general appears to be a way forward in principle; electric motors are far more efficient than internal combustion engines and have a much greater power to weight ratio. They also operate efficiently across the full speed range of the vehicle and develop a lot of torque at zero speed, so are ideal for cars. A complex drivetrain and transmission would not be needed. However, despite this the electric car is held back by battery technology - so far a cell with comparable energy density to a tank of liquid fuel is a long way off, and there is no infrastructure in place to support it. A more practical approach may be to use a smaller internal combustion engine to drive a generator- this approach can be much more efficient since the IC engine can be run at a single speed, use cheaper fuel such as diesel, and drop the heavy, power wasting drivetrain. Such an approach has worked very well for railway locomotives, but so far has not been scaled down for car use.

Recently the automobile industry has determined that the biggest potential growth market (in terms of both revenue and profit), is software. Cars are now equipped with a stunning array of software; from voice recognition and vehicle navigation systems to in-vehicle distributed entertainment systems (DVD/Games), to telematics systems such as GMs Onstar not to mention the control subsystems. Software now accounts for 35% of a cars value, and this percentage is only going to get larger. The theory behind this is that the mechanical systems of automobiles are now essentially a commodity, and the real product differentiation occurs in the software systems. Many cars are equipped with full blown 32bit real-time memory protected operating systems such as QNX.

  • engine
    • carburetor or fuel injection
      fuel pump
      engine configuration: Wankel or reciprocating (V, inline, flat).
      engine management systems
      exhaust system
      ignition system
      self starter
      emissions control devices
      turbochargers and superchargers
      front engine
      rear engine
      mid engine

Automobile ancillary power

  • Ancillary power — mechanical, electrical, hydraulic, vacuum, air
  • drivetrain
    • transmission (gearbox)
      • manual transmission
        semi-automatic transmission
        fully-automatic transmission
    • Layout
      • FF layout
        FR layout
        MR layout
        MF layout
        RR layout
    • Drive Wheels
      • Two-wheel drive
        Four-wheel drive
        Front-wheel drive
        Rear-wheel drive
        All-wheel drive
    • differential
      • limited slip differential
        locking differential
    • axle
      Live axle
  • brakes
    • disc brakes
      drum brakes
      anti-lock braking systems (ABS)
  • wheels and tires
    • custom wheels
  • steering
    • rack and pinion
      Ackermann steering geometry
      Caster angle
      Camber angle
      Kingpin
  • suspension
    • MacPherson strut
      wishbone
      double wishbone
      multi-link
      torsion beam
      semi-trailing arm
      axle
  • body
    • crumple zones
      monocoque (or unibody) construction
      doors
      headlight styling
      spoiler
      Japan Black (fore-runner of modern automotive finishes)
  • interior equipment
    • passive safety
      • seat belts
        airbags
        child safety locks
    • dashboard
      shifter for selecting gear ratios
      ancillary equipment such as stereos, air conditioning, cruise control, car phones, positioning systems, cup holders, etc.
  • exterior equipment
    • windows
      • Power window
        windshield
        Daytime running lamps

Links

This guide is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia.

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