The Automobile Revolution

Automobiles, in general, refer to the humble car and the estimates suggest that there is a car for every eleven persons on earth amounting up to 590 million passenger cars. There are various variants of this four wheeler that cater to every cross section of the population. There are variants that could set you back by a couple of million dollars and other models that cost you a few thousands.

The earliest of modem cars was manufactured in the year 1895 and soon made its appearance in India. The dawn of the automobile actually goes back to 4000 years ago when the first wheel was used for transportation in India. In the beginning of the 15th century, Portuguese arrived in China and the interaction of the two cultures led to a variety of new technologies, including the creation of a wheel that turned under its own power. By 1600s small steam-powered engine models were developed, but it took another century before a full-sized engine-powered vehicle was created.

With the turn of time, the automobile industry gradually grew in continental Europe and England. Japan introduced quality initiatives that further enhanced the industry. Toyota from Japan was the pioneer of Total Quality Management and Six Sigma, which have been the guiding principles of the automobile industry for the last 50 years. Today, Toyota is the world’s biggest automobile company according to recent market estimates.

The global boom of the 1980’s was largely because of the automobile revolution. Some of the well-known players of the Indian automobile industry include: Hindustan Motors, MarutiUdyog, Fiat India Private Ltd, Ford India Ltd., General Motors India Pvt Ltd, Toyota Kirloskar Motor Ltd and Tata Motors among others.

“Automobile” today has transcended from being a medium of transportation to a medium of entertainment after the advent of super-fast cars. NASCAR and F1 races are huge crowd pullers every year. But there is a downside to this technological wonder, the emissions from automobiles seriously threaten the environment. The industry is looking forward to the second revolution in the form of more environment friendly cars for the future.