Rearview Mirror: 7 Days that changed the auto industry

The auto industry is always evolving, but even major changes – such as the consumer shift to pickup trucks – are usually a gradual process.

But there have been times when a seismic shift can be traced back to a single day. We’ve rounded up a list of seven separate days that shook the automotive world.

Carl and Bertha Benz in an 1894 Benz Victoria modelPhoto by Mercedes-Benz

August 5, 1888

Historians credit Carl Benz with developing possibly the first gasoline-powered car, with his wife Bertha providing funding from her wealthy family and getting her hands dirty helping build it. But Carl couldn’t convince anyone that this noisy horseless carriage could actually replace a horse, and he was ready to give up on it.

Knowing he wouldn’t approve of her plan, Bertha rose early that summer morning, left Carl a note, and took two of their sons in the “Patent-Motorwagen” to visit her parents 100 kilometres away. She stopped in small towns so the local papers would report on her trip, and took a different route home to drum up even more publicity. The car’s long-distance reliability proven, 25 people placed orders, jump-starting the company that eventually became Mercedes-Benz.

Workers build the 10 millionth Model T Ford in 1924Photo by Ford

January 14, 1914

On this day, Henry Ford watched a Model T roll off his first integrated moving assembly line. He didn’t invent the assembly line itself — Oldsmobile used one for its Curved Dash automobile, introduced in 1901 and considered the world’s first mass-produced car. It was moved between groups of workers who did several tasks and then sent it to the next station. The first Model Ts, introduced in 1908, were built similarly. But Ford gradually improved the system, rolling a steady line of cars past workers who each did one job.

The integrated system was the finishing touch. There were separate moving lines for building the components, which then took them to the vehicle assembly line for workers to put on the cars. Ford had painted the Model T in single colours before, to save time and money – all-green in 1910, blue-only in 1911 – but the 1914 Model T was the first for black-only, the cheapest paint and quickest to dry. The entire system reduced the time needed to build a car from almost 12 hours each to just 90 minutes. Ford’s annual U.S. production went from 168,220 cars in 1913 to more than half a million by 1915. Plentiful and cheap, the Model T was the primary pivot from horses to automobiles, and its assembly-line concept is used by every mainstream automaker today.

July 7, 1958

On this date, the U.S. Congress passed the Automobile Information Disclosure Act of 1958. It created what’s now known as the “Monroney Sticker” — that piece of paper glued to the window of every new vehicle, showing such information as the manufacturer’s suggested retail price (MSRP), the vehicle’s options and their price, and freight charge.

Prior to its passage, dealers often charged whatever they wanted, since customers had no way of knowing exactly what they were getting. Oklahoma senator Almer “Mike” Monroney first chaired a 1955 Senate committee that looked into complaints from dealers who said they were bullied by the auto manufacturers. It prompted Monroney to then look closer at deceptive practices by dealers to consumers. The sticker was later expanded to add fuel efficiency, emissions ratings, and vehicle origin. You may still have to haggle over dealer markups, but you know the base price where you’re starting.

1960 Chevrolet CorvairPhoto by General Motors

November 30, 1965

This was the day Ralph Nader published his book Unsafe At Any Speed. Those who never read it thought it was entirely an attack on the Chevrolet Corvair and crashes involving it, but that was only the first chapter. Nader also wrote that automakers, federal transportation agencies, auto insurers, and even police investigators were blaming drivers for high fatality rates, when he thought vehicle engineering – including confusing gearshift patterns, inadequate brakes, and limited safety features – and poor road design were equally at fault.

The book prompted U.S. Congressional hearings on vehicle safety. These led to the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act of 1966, which mandated the federal government to establish vehicle safety standards. To set and enforce the standards, Congress also created the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), responsible for crash testing and vehicle-recall procedures. The U.S. vehicle fatality rate was 5.3 persons per 100 million miles travelled when Nader’s book came out; within ten years it dropped to 3.3, and today it’s about 1.2.

Cars with catalytic converters couldn’t use leaded gasolinePhoto by Jil McIntosh

December 31, 1970

On this day, U.S. President Richard Nixon signed the Clean Air Act into law. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) had been created a few weeks earlier. The new law targeted vehicle emissions and included a requirement for catalytic converters, eventually mandated for the 1975 model year.

At the time, most gasoline contained lead, which became airborne in vehicle exhaust and was a serious health hazard. The U.S. government had repeatedly tried to regulate it, from its first attempts in the 1920s to Nixon’s 1970 plan to heavily tax it, while oil companies successfully fought it each time. But automakers couldn’t duck the cat-con mandate, and leaded gas damaged these expensive units. Once fuel companies had to offer unleaded for converter-equipped vehicles, the EPA passed laws restricting and finally eliminating leaded gasoline.

Many U.S. gas stations ran out of fuel during the oil embargoPhoto by National Archives

October 6, 1973

On this date, Egyptian and Syrian military troops attacked Israel, triggering the Yom Kippur War. When the Soviet Union sent supplies to the Arab forces, the U.S. pledged emergency aid to Israel. In turn, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries – known as OPEC, it included Saudi Arabia, Iran, and Iraq – cut oil exports to any country supporting Israel.

Gas prices soared, and many American stations rationed fuel or ran dry. Most people drove big-and-thirsty cars, and the domestic automakers couldn’t ramp up small-car production quickly enough. Suddenly, the tiny Japanese cars most Americans had laughed at now looked really good, and their sales rose sharply. The oil embargo lifted after five months and the American automakers rebounded, but the Japanese had their foothold. They redesigned their cars to American preferences but still kept them small, and so were “dressed for success” when fuel prices rose sky-high again six years later. Honda went from selling 4,200 cars in the U.S. in 1970 to more than 375,000 in 1980; and imports became a permanent part of the American auto scene.

October 22, 1997

That’s the day Toyota took the wraps off the all-new Prius at the Tokyo Motor Show. The company had displayed a concept version two years prior, but this was the production version of the world’s first mass-produced hybrid vehicle. It went on sale in Japan on December 10, 1997.

While the Prius was the first to go into production, the Honda Insight hybrid beat it to Canada, arriving in December of 1999. The Prius landed here the following July, but quickly established itself as the sales leader. It sat five to the Insight’s two-passenger configuration; it had an automatic continuously-variable transmission (CVT) to the Insight’s five-speed manual; and the Toyota could drive on electricity alone, while the Honda’s electric motor only assisted the gas engine.

The concept was so new that salespeople and auto writers couldn’t mention either one without a complete explanation of how they worked — but today, hybrids are so commonplace that they’re generally considered to be conventional automobiles.

Rearview Mirror: 7 Days that changed the auto industry

August 5, 1888

January 14, 1914

July 7, 1958

November 30, 1965

December 31, 1970

October 6, 1973

October 22, 1997

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Rearview Mirror: 7 Days that changed the auto industry

August 5, 1888

January 14, 1914

July 7, 1958

November 30, 1965

December 31, 1970

October 6, 1973

October 22, 1997

Post a Comment

Post a Comment

Biểu mẫu liên hệ

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