North America, Asia and Europe are three very different continents. Varieties in government, geography, climate, religion and culture affect the way each area designs, builds and sells cars. This paper will examine the similarities and differences of several leading car-producing countries. Specifically, I will compare and contrast the ideals of the United States, Germany and Japan. The comparison will begin during the late 1800s when the automobile was born. This paper will examine how each country developed and adopted the automobile. The next time period of study will be shortly after the turn of the century. During this period many automobile companies were formed and developed production and marketing strategies. Subsequently we will examine how the three auto manufacturers developed strategies to cope with the energy shortage of the 1970s. Finally, an attempt to predict the future of these three car-producing nations will be completed. In the second half of the 19th century, many inventors were attempting to develop self-propelled vehicles. These pioneers were scattered throughout the western civilized world unknown to each other, separated by countries and oceans. The list of automotive pioneers is a relatively short one. It just so happens that many of these men were German. Great inventors such as Nickolaus Otto: Creator of the internal combustion engine, Daimler/Benz: Inventors of the first motorcar, Rudolf Diesel: Developer of the diesel engine and electronics genius Robert Bosch. So it is no wonder that Europe was the birthplace of the automobile. The German inventor Benz is accredited for being first to put an automobile into production. In 1885 he built a three-wheeler with the aid of Daimler. According to Wright, â€Benz’s first automobile had a mid-mounted engine (currently very trendy in sports-car circles) with semi-elliptical leaf-spring suspension in the rear and none in the front. It had a tiller for steering. The engine was about a 1.7-liter (about the size of the base engine in the Omni and Horizon) one cylinder unit which put out 1.5 horsepower.â€(Wright, P.79, 1988). Many other Europeans contributed to the accent of the automobile besides the Germans. During the late 1800s in France, many inventors experimented with steam powered and petrol driven vehicles making Paris the automobile capital. England welcomed the introduction of the automobile with an 1896 Automobile Exposition in London. Soon automobile driving became popular in France, Germany and England. As you can see, the Automobile was born in Europe. Other continents suffered delays that differ from one country to another. In the United States, the Duryea brothers developed a horseless carriage in 1893. The brothers were inspired from the stories of great German inventors such as Karl Benz and his accomplishments. Several other inventors were experimenting with automobiles on American soil. Elwood Haynes of Kokomo Indiana claimed he built the first car in 1894, Alexander Winton was the first person to produce and sell an auto. Ransom E. Olds who produced a steam powered vehicle in 1887, and electric car builder William Morrison built his car in 1891. There were problems that retarded the development of the automobile in the United States such as lack of roads and the Selden Patent. Inventor George Selden became a lawyer and left the US for Europe. In 1879 he applied for a patent for a motorcar and received the patent in 1895. No one had ever sought to patent the whole car before. This clever scheme forced every inventor to pay royalties to Mr. Selden who was actually not the inventor of the motorcar. Auto companies produced cars under a license and paid royalties to Selden. Because of this patent, American inventors kept their projects hidden and unknown. By the turn of the century, America was quickly catching up with the Europeans. In the late 1800s America contained nine makers of autos. By 1900 over 4000 vehicles had been produced in the United States. This jumped to over 7000 the following year. Ballucci states â€From the start, then, the American automobile industry showed clearly what its path would be, and a very simple path it was: large scale production.†(Ballucci p.66, 1974) Japan entered the automotive scene rather late. Several contributing factors were to blame: Extreme isolation from the Western world, poor economic and social conditions were prevalent at the turn of the century. Shintaro Yoshida, who studied automobiles in the United States, developed the first real motorcar in 1902. Yoshida’s first car was 12 horsepower and could accommodate four passengers. His next auto was eighteen horsepower and could carry twelve people. The company DAT produced the â€DAT Car†in fairly large numbers. This company name was an acronym formed by the first letters of the names of the three major investors. Overall the automobile was a phenomenon that interested very few people in Japan due to the low standard of living at the turn of the century. In the early 1900s Germany began producing finely engineered automobiles. The world’s two oldest auto manufacturers, Daimler and Benz, merged to form Mercedes Benz. Opel became the first German manufacturer to mass-produce cars using American techniques. In the early 1930s Adolph Hitler commissioned Ferdinand Porsche to design â€the Peoples Car†or Volkswagen. In Japan, DAT was building the next generation car called Son-of-Dat or Datson which was later changed to Datsun to represent the Rising Sun of Imperial Japan. Japan borrowed many ideas from manufacturers from many countries. Mitsubishi entered into the automotive market in 1917 with the Model A. The design was based on the Italian made Fiat. Datsun used the British Austin Seven as a model of their car. The British automakers were furious with the duplication. After that, Datsun (now known as Nissan) has been careful not to make an exact copy. In the United States there became a growing demand for automobiles of all types. Henry Ford speeded up production by introducing the moving assembly line. Another important influence in automotive industry growth was the formation of the Automobile Board of Trade. This organization developed patent rights sharing so that better automobiles may be made, no matter who might make them. Germany sent its first wave of Volkswagen Beetles to the United States in the 1950s. Detroit ignored the little car. It seemed extremely harmless, however it never went away. The Beetle stood for everything that Detroit was not. It was based on the â€less is more theoryâ€. The Volkswagen Beetle barely changed from year to year, used five pints of oil instead of five quarts, got thirty miles per gallon, would go 30,000 miles on a set of tires, sported very little chrome, and never had jet fins. This little car was actually a counter-car or anti-car as compared to Detroit’s gas guzzlers of the day. The Beetle took the nation by storm. It was perfect for college-bound students and college professors who wanted to make a statement. Anyone who wanted reliable, inexpensive, basic transportation bought the Beetle. In fact, Volkswagen has sold over 20 million Beetles. That is the best selling car in history†the only car to beat Henry Ford’s Model T. In 1957 Los Angeles, California hosted the first imported automotive show in the United States. Spectators observed the Datsun Fairlady and the Toyota Bluebird. Most Americans had no idea that Japan produced automobiles. These early imports suffered from poor performance, severe vibrations, and inadequate brakes. The Japanese built very small cars that were designed for the narrow roads of cities like Tokyo. These vehicles were equipped with small engines that were capable of excellent gas mileage, but with gasoline at 30 cents per gallon economy was no concern. One of my previous students was an international student from the country of Japan. This auto student explained to me that the Japanese roads are so narrow, that most side view mirrors are removed because they come into contact with opposing traffic. The Japanese engineers quickly improved their designs. They used the Volkswagen as their target. The Japanese auto received improvements and upgrades very quickly and soon equaled the technology of the Germans. Japan sent executive Utaka Kateyama to the United States in order to create a dealer network for Japanese automobiles. Imagine trying to sell the concept of selling imported Japanese cars to a country that had strong memories of Pearl Harbor. When I was a kid the slogan â€made in Japan†signified poor quality or cheaply made. Thus, dealership advancements were slow to accept the Japanese automobile. The United States auto manufacturers historically produced large, inefficient cars with huge V8 engines and many accessories. Mass production, high sales volume and huge profits were the qualities that Detroit exhibited. During the 1970s, the oil producing nations (OPEC) placed an embargo on oil and created a gasoline shortage that caught the United States by surprise. The car had always represented freedom and the thought of the energy crisis was a threat to our freedom. Detroit had been producing huge gas-guzzlers and muscle cars while Germany and Japan had been producing small, fuel-efficient models. The Japanese were especially poised for the unseen energy crisis as they only produced small models. The foreign car market began to represent quality engineering and superb craftsmanship. Meanwhile, the American-made autos symbolized poor quality and craftsmanship. Because of poor American products and low quality control, a lawyer by the name of Ralph Nader led a campaign to launch the consumer movement. This time period was very dismal for the US as Detroit began to lose its entrenched success to Germany and Japan. Labor relations were low, American cars were not selling; there were fears that gasoline may cost up to five dollars per gallon. As a result, the Japanese automobiles were selling at record levels. In 1977 Detroit recalled more automobiles than it actually sold and Chrysler was on the verge of bankruptcy. Eventually in 1980 Japan replaced the United Stated as the world’s number one auto producing nation. Detroit was forced to improve quality control and improve technology in order to compete with the imported automobiles. The future for the US, Germany and Japan will rely on each countries ability to adapt technology to the automobile and societies willingness to accept new technology. Judging from the recent trends, the data supports the growth of Japanese automobile production, German production with a modest growth rate and the United States remaining virtually unchanged. I believe that these growth rates will remain consistent in the future as automobiles become more and more advanced. The US will continue to remain profit oriented while Germany and Japan will continue to focus on engineering and technology. Take for instance the technology of hybrid vehicles. The Japanese auto manufacturers Honda and Toyota introduced hybrid technology with the 2000 Insight and 2001 Prius. Technologically, they are two of the most advanced cars ever offered to consumers. The US auto makers again are slow to the punch with technology. I believe that Japan will again be the top auto-producing nation in the near future. The Japanese electronics technology is superior to our own and will play a major role in the development of automobiles that are environmentally sound. A wide range of consumers that wish to own and drive a vehicle that has a reduced impact on our environment will want these vehicles. As our US cities become overcrowded, I believe that we must turn to the German â€less is more†attitude and Detroit will adopt many Japanese ways of thinking as pertaining to automobile production. When I was a boy, I knew there were three types of people in this world: Ford, Chrysler and Chevy. My earliest memory of a foreign automobile was a Datsun pick-up. How significant is the fact that the name denotes â€The Rising Sunâ€. I also remember playing â€punch bug†every time the little German Beetle crossed my path. I had no idea that those two automobiles represented countries that would teach us many lessons about automobile design and production. In closing, I would like to mention that I believe the US will learn a great deal more from our foreign competition in the future.
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