Automotive industry in the context of Subaru

In microeconomics, an industry is a branch of an economy that produces a closely related set of raw materials, goods, or services. For example, one might refer to the wood industry or to the insurance industry.

When evaluating a single group or company, its dominant source of revenue is typically used by industry classifications to classify it within a specific industry. For example the International Standard Industrial Classification (ISIC) – used directly or through derived classifications for the official statistics of most countries worldwide – classifies "statistical units" by the "economic activity in which they mainly engage". Industry is then defined as "set of statistical units that are classified into the same ISIC category". However, a single business need not belong just to one industry, such as when a large business (often referred to as a conglomerate) diversifies across separate industries.

In economics, the secondary sector is the economic sector which comprises manufacturing, encompassing industries that produce a finished, usable product or are involved in construction.

This sector generally takes the output of the primary sector (i.e. raw materials like metals, wood) and creates finished goods suitable for sale to domestic businesses or consumers and for export (via distribution through the tertiary sector). Many of these industries consume large quantities of energy, require factories and use machinery; they are often classified as light or heavy based on such quantities. This also produces waste materials and waste heat that may cause environmental problems or pollution (see negative externalities). Examples include textile production, car manufacturing, and handicraft.

Detroit (/dɪˈtrɔɪt/ dih-TROYT, locally also /ˈdiːtrɔɪt/ DEE-troyt, French pronunciation: [detʁwa] , literally "Strait") is the most populous city in the state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from the Canadian city of Windsor, Ontario. It is the 26th-most populous city in the United States and the largest U.S. city on the Canada–United States border, with a population of 639,111 at the 2020 census. The Metro Detroit area, at over 4.4 million people, is the 14th-largest metropolitan area in the nation and second-largest in the Midwest (after the Chicago metropolitan area). The county seat of Wayne County, Detroit is a significant cultural center known for its contributions to music, art, architecture and design, in addition to its historical automotive and industrial background.

In 1701, French explorers Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac and Alphonse de Tonty founded Fort Pontchartrain du Détroit. During the late 19th and early 20th centuries, it became an important industrial hub at the center of the Great Lakes region. The city's population rose to be the fourth-largest in the nation by 1920, with the expansion of the automotive industry in the early 20th century. One of its main features, the Detroit River, became the busiest commercial hub in the world. In the mid-20th century, Detroit entered a state of urban decay that has continued to the present, as a result of industrial restructuring, the loss of jobs in the auto industry, and rapid suburbanization. Since reaching a peak of 1.85 million at the 1950 census, Detroit's population has declined by more than 65 percent. In 2013, Detroit became the largest U.S. city to file for bankruptcy, but successfully exited in 2014. In 2024, the U.S. Census Bureau reported that Detroit's population grew for a second consecutive year and led population growth in Michigan for the first time since the 1950s.

Bielsko-Biała (Polish: [ˈbjɛlskɔ ˈbjawa] ; Czech: Bílsko-Bělá; German: Bielitz-Biala), is a city in the Silesian Voivodeship, southern Poland, with a population of approximately 166,765 as of December 2022, making it the 22nd largest city in Poland, and an area of 124.51 km (48.07 sq mi). It is the core of the broader metropolitan area with around 335,000 inhabitants. It serves as the seat of the Bielsko County, Euroregion Beskydy, Roman Catholic Diocese of Bielsko–Żywiec and the Evangelical Church Diocese of Cieszyn.

Situated north of the Beskid Mountains, Bielsko-Biała is composed of two former towns which merged in 1951—Bielsko in the west and Biała in the east—on opposite banks of the Biała River that divides the historical regions of Silesia and Lesser Poland. The history of Bielsko dates back to the 13th century, while Biała was founded in the 16th century and obtained city rights in 1723. Despite the administrative separation, both towns effectively functioned as one urban area already in the 19th century. Industrialization, especially the textile and automotive industries, was of great importance for its development in the past. Between 1975 and 1998, the city was the seat of Bielsko-Biała Voivodeship and currently lies within the Silesian Voivodeship.

Volkswagen (VW; German pronunciation: [ˈfɔlksˌvaːɡŋ̍] ) is a German automobile manufacturer based in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony, Germany. Established in 1937 by the German Labour Front, it was revitalized into the global brand it is today after World War II by British Army officer Ivan Hirst. The company is well known for the Beetle and serves as the flagship marque of the Volkswagen Group, which was the world's largest automotive manufacturer by global sales in 2016 and 2017.

The group's largest market is China, which accounts for 40% of its sales and profits. The name Volkswagen derives from the German words Volk and Wagen, meaning 'people's car', or more directly 'folk's wain (wagon)'.

VinFast Auto Ltd. is a Vietnamese multinational automotive company founded by Vingroup, one of the largest private conglomerates in Vietnam that was founded by Pham Nhat Vuong.

Established in 2017 in Haiphong, it is the first Vietnamese car brand to expand into global markets as well as the first to expand into producing electric vehicles (EV) such as electric cars and electric scooters.

The Intercontinental Cup, officially the European/South American Cup and known from 1980 as the Toyota Cup for sponsorship reasons, was an international club football competition endorsed by UEFA (Europe) and CONMEBOL (South America), contested between representative clubs from these confederations, usually the winners of the UEFA Champions League and the South American Copa Libertadores. It ran from 1960 to 2004, when it was succeeded by the FIFA Club World Cup, although they both ran concurrently in 2000.

From its formation in 1960 to 1979, the competition was as a two-legged tie, with a play-off if necessary until 1968, and penalty kicks later. During the 1970s, European participation in the Intercontinental Cup became a running question due to controversial events in the 1969 match, and some European Cup-winning teams withdrew. From 1980, the competition was rebranded and contested as a single match played in Japan, regarded neutral territory for both contestants, and sponsored by multinational automaker Toyota, which offered a secondary trophy, the Toyota Cup. At that point, the Japan Football Association was involved at a logistical level as host, though it continued to be endorsed by UEFA and CONMEBOL.

Land Rover is a brand of predominantly four-wheel drive, off-road capable vehicles, owned by British multinational car manufacturer Jaguar Land Rover (JLR), since 2008 a subsidiary of India based Tata Motors. JLR builds Land Rovers in Brazil, China, India, Slovakia, and the United Kingdom. The Land Rover name was created in 1948 by the Rover Company for a utilitarian 4WD off-road vehicle. Currently, the Land Rover range consists solely of upmarket and luxury sport utility vehicles.

Land Rover was granted a Royal Warrant by King George VI in 1951. In 2001, it received a Queen's Award for Enterprise for outstanding contribution to international trade. Over time, Land Rover grew into its own brand, and for a while also a company, encompassing a consistently growing range of four-wheel drive, off-road capable models. Starting with the much more upmarket 1970 Range Rover, and subsequent introductions of the mid-range Discovery and entry-level Freelander line, in 1989 and 1997, as well as the 1990 Land Rover Defender refresh, the marque today includes two models of Discovery, four distinct models of Range Rover, and after a three-year hiatus, a second generation of Defenders have gone into production for the 2020 model year – in short or long wheelbase, as before.

Arlington Assembly is an automotive assembly plant in Arlington, Texas, United States, owned and operated by General Motors. It currently assembles the Chevrolet Tahoe, Suburban, GMC Yukon, and Cadillac Escalade full-size SUVs for the North American market.

The Arlington plant was opened in 1954 to assemble both automobiles and aircraft, but has focused on the former use for most of its history. Arlington Assembly was originally part of the Buick-Oldsmobile-Pontiac Assembly Division and was used to assemble Buicks, Oldsmobiles, and Pontiacs. The Buick-Oldsmobile-Pontiac Assembly Division was renamed General Motors Assembly Division in 1965 after it also began to assemble Chevrolet cars in 1963. Early automobile production included models like the Pontiac Chieftain and later, the Chevrolet Bel Air. The factory would continue to produce many large GM cars through the 1990s including products from Buick, Oldsmobile, Chevrolet and Cadillac. Arlington Assembly was the last GM B-body manufacturing facility when GM decided to consolidate operations and convert the plant to SUV production. The plant occupies 250 acres (1,000,000 square meters). Arlington Assembly has produced models for all of GM's primary American brands: Chevrolet, Pontiac, Oldsmobile, Buick, Cadillac, and GMC.

General Motors Company (GM) is an American multinational automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. The company is most known for owning and manufacturing four automobile brands: Chevrolet, Buick, GMC, and Cadillac, each a separate division of GM. By total sales, it has continuously been the largest automaker in the United States, and was the largest in the world for 77 years before losing the top spot to Toyota in 2008.

General Motors operates manufacturing plants in eight countries. In addition to its four core brands, GM also holds interests in Chinese brands Baojun and Wuling via SAIC-GM-Wuling Automobile. GM further owns a namesake defense vehicles division which produces military vehicles for the United States government and military, the vehicle safety, security, and information services provider OnStar, the auto parts company ACDelco, and a namesake financial lending service.

Mercedes-Benz Group AG (formerly Daimler-Benz, DaimlerChrysler, and Daimler) is a German multinational automotive company headquartered in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is one of the world's leading car manufacturers. Daimler-Benz was formed with the merger of Benz & Cie., the world's oldest car company, and Daimler Motoren Gesellschaft in 1926. The company was renamed DaimlerChrysler upon the acquisition of the American automobile manufacturer, Chrysler Corporation in 1998, it was renamed to Daimler upon the divestment of Chrysler in 2007. In 2021, Daimler was the second-largest German automaker and the sixth-largest worldwide by production. In February 2022, Daimler was renamed Mercedes-Benz Group as part of a transaction that spun-off its commercial vehicle segment as an independent company, Daimler Truck.

The Mercedes-Benz Group's marques are Mercedes-Benz for cars and vans (including Mercedes-AMG and Mercedes-Maybach). It has shares in other vehicle manufacturers such as Daimler Truck, BAIC Motor and Aston Martin. Since 2019, Smart left Daimler AG and became a 50/50 joint venture with Geely.

In the United States, the automotive industry began in the 1890s and, as a result of the size of the domestic market and the use of mass production, rapidly evolved into the largest in the world. The United States was the first country in the world to have a mass market for vehicle production and sales and is a pioneer of the automotive industry and mass market production process. During the 20th century, global competitors emerged, especially in the second half of the century primarily across European and Asian markets, such as Germany, France, Italy, Japan and South Korea. The U.S. is currently second among the largest manufacturers in the world by volume. By value, the U.S. was the world's largest importer and fourth-largest exporter of cars in 2023.

American manufacturers produce approximately 10 million units annually. Notable exceptions were 5.7 million automobiles manufactured in 2009 (due to crisis), and more recently 8.8 million units in 2020 due to the global COVID-19 pandemic.Production peaked during the 1970s and early 2000s at 13–15 million units.

Detroit is the largest city in the U.S state of Michigan, with a metropolitan area population of 4.4 million as of 2025. Detroit is home to 39 buildings taller than 300 feet (91 m), nine of which are skyscrapers with a height of 492 ft (150 m) or more. Detroit has one of the largest skylines in the Midwestern United States, with the third most skyscrapers above 492 ft (150 m) in the region, after Chicago and Minneapolis. The tallest skyscraper in Detroit is the 70-story Detroit Marriott at the Renaissance Center, which rises 727 ft (221.5 m) along the Detroit International Riverfront in the city's downtown. The skyscraper is one of seven towers in the Renaissance Center complex, which has served as the headquarters of General Motors since 1996, reflecting the city's role in the automotive industry. The Detroit Marriott is the tallest building in Michigan and was the tallest hotel building in the world upon completion in 1977; it is currently the third tallest in the Western Hemisphere.

Detroit's history of skyscrapers began in 1889, with completion of the historic 10-story Hammond Building—considered the city's first steel-framed skyscraper. Detroit grew to become the fourth-largest city in the United States by the 1920s, and witnessed a massive building boom during the Roaring Twenties. Many ornate skyscrapers were build during this period, including the Penobscot, Guardian, Fisher, Buhl, and David Stott buildings. This resulted in Detroit having one of the world's largest skylines at the time outside of New York City and Chicago. By 1930, the city had thirteen 300-foot buildings. The Great Depression brought an end to the boom.

Robot welding is the use of mechanized programmable tools (robots), which completely automate a welding process by both performing the weld and handling the part. Processes such as gas metal arc welding, while often automated, are not necessarily equivalent to robot welding, since a human operator sometimes prepares the materials to be welded. Robot welding is commonly used for resistance spot welding and arc welding in high production applications, such as the automotive industry.

A synthetic rubber is an artificial elastomer. They are polymers synthesized from petroleum byproducts. About 32 million tonnes (35 million short tons; 31 million long tons) of rubber is produced annually in the United States, and of that amount two thirds are synthetic. Synthetic rubber, just like natural rubber, has many uses in the automotive industry for tires, door and window profiles, seals such as O-rings and gaskets, hoses, belts, matting, and flooring. They offer a different range of physical and chemical properties which can improve the reliability of a given product or application. Synthetic rubbers are superior to natural rubbers in two major respects: thermal stability, and resistance to oils and related compounds. They are more resistant to oxidizing agents, such as oxygen and ozone which can reduce the life of products like tires.

Carbon dioxide cleaning (CO₂ cleaning) comprises a family of methods for parts cleaning and sterilization, using carbon dioxide in its various phases. Due to being non-destructive, non-abrasive, and residue-free, it is often preferred for use on delicate surfaces. CO₂ cleaning has found application in the aerospace, automotive, electronics, medical, and other industries. Carbon dioxide snow cleaning has been used to remove particles and organic residues from metals, polymers, ceramics, glasses, and other materials, and from surfaces including hard drives and optical surfaces.

Fiat S.p.A., commonly known as Fiat Group, was an Italian holding company whose original and core activities were in the automotive industry.

The Fiat Group contained many brands such as Fiat, Abarth, Ferrari, Maserati, Lancia and Alfa Romeo.