Nonetheless, automotive technology was advancing at a rapid clip. Disk brakes arrived on the scene way back in 1902, patented by British engineer Frederick Lanchester. The catalytic converter was invented in France in 1909, and the V8 engine appeared there a year later. One of the biggest improvements of all, especially in the eyes of women, was the self-starter. It was badly needed. All early internal combustion engines were started by turning over the motor with a hand crank, a procedure that required a good deal of strength and, if the motor happened to backfire, could be wickedly dangerous, breaking many an arm with the kick. In 1911, Charles Kettering, a young Ohio engineer and auto hobbyist, found a better way— a starting system that combined a generator, storage battery, and electric motor. It debuted in the Cadillac the following year and spread rapidly from there. Even an innovation as useful as the self-starter could meet resistance, however. Henry Ford refused to make Kettering's invention standard in the Model T until 1926, although he offered it as an option before that.
Sometimes buyers were the ones who balked at novelty. For example, the first truly streamlined car—the 1934 Chrysler Airflow, designed with the help of aeronautical engineers and wind tunnel testing—was a dud in the marketplace because of its unconventional styling. Power steering, patented in the late 1920s by Francis Davis, chief engineer of the Pierce-Arrow Motor Car Company, didn't find its way into passenger cars until 1951. But hesitantly accepted or not, major improvements in the automobile would keep coming as the decades passed. Among the innovations were balloon tires and safety-glass windshields in the 1920s; frontwheel drive, independent front suspension, and efficient automatic transmissions in the 1930s; tubeless and radial tires in the 1940s; electronic fuel injection in the 1960s; and electronic ignition systems in the 1970s. Engineers outside the United States were often in the vanguard of invention, while Americans continued to excel at all of the unseen details of manufacturing, from glass making and paint drying to the stamping of body panels with giant machines. (Process innovation) Sometimes buyers were the ones who balked at novelty. For example, the first truly streamlined car—the 1934 Chrysler Airflow, designed with the help of aeronautical engineers and wind tunnel testing—was a dud in the marketplace because of its unconventional styling. Power steering, patented in the late 1920s by Francis Davis, chief engineer of the Pierce-Arrow Motor Car Company, didn't find its way into passenger cars until 1951. But hesitantly accepted or not, major improvements in the automobile would keep coming as the decades passed. Among the innovations were balloon tires and safety-glass windshields in the 1920s; frontwheel drive, independent front suspension, and efficient automatic transmissions in the 1930s; tubeless and radial tires in the 1940s; electronic fuel injection in the 1960s; and electronic ignition systems in the 1970s. Engineers outside the United States were often in the vanguard of invention, while Americans continued to excel at all of the unseen details of manufacturing, from glass making and paint drying to the stamping of body panels with giant machines. (Process innovation)
Brutal competition was a hallmark of the business throughout the 20th century. In 1926 the United States had no fewer than 43 carmakers, the high point. The fastest rising among them was General Motors, whose marketing strategy was to produce vehicles in a number of distinct styles and price ranges, the exact opposite of Henry Ford's road to riches. GM further energized the market with the concept of an annual model change, and the company grew into a veritable empire, gobbling up prodigious amounts of steel, rubber and other raw materials, and manufacturing components such as spark plugs and gears in corporate subsidiaries. Brutal competition was a hallmark of the business throughout the 20th century. In 1926 the United States had no fewer than 43 carmakers, the high point. The fastest rising among them was General Motors, whose marketing strategy was to produce vehicles in a number of distinct styles and price ranges, the exact opposite of Henry Ford's road to riches. GM further energized the market with the concept of an annual model change, and the company grew into a veritable empire, gobbling up prodigious amounts of steel, rubber and other raw materials, and manufacturing components such as spark plugs and gears in corporate subsidiaries. As the auto giants waged a war of big numbers, some carmakers sold exclusivity. Packard was one. Said a 1930s advertisement: "The Packard owner, however high his station, mentions his car with a certain satisfaction—knowing that his choice proclaims discriminating taste as well as a sound judgment of fine things." Such a car had to be well engineered, of course, and the Packard more than met that standard. So did the lovingly crafted Rolls-Royce from Great Britain and the legendary Maybach Zeppelin of Germany, a 1930s masterpiece that had a huge 12-cylinder engine and a gearbox with eight forward and four reverse gears. (The Maybach marque would be revived by Mercedes seven decades later for a car with a 550-horsepower V12 engine, ultra-advanced audio and video equipment, precious interior veneers, and a price tag over $300,000.)
At the other extreme was the humble, economical Volkswagen —literally, "people's car"—designed by engineer Ferdinand Porsche. World War II delayed its production, but it became a runaway worldwide hit in the 1950s and 1960s, eventually eclipsing the Model T's record of 15 million vehicles sold. Japan, a leader in the development of fuel-efficient engines and an enthusiastic subscriber to advanced manufacturing techniques, also became a major global player, the biggest in the world by 1980.
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