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First gas powered vehicle
The history of the automobile began in the 1880s when in 1886 in Germany Karl Benz registered the first patent in the industry for the first gas powered vehicle. -
First commercial car sale
the first commercial car sales was made by Charl and Frank Duryea in 1893. It was more a gas powered carriage than an automobile as we would understand. -
Car sales reduced
For the duration of World War II almost all car manufacturers were forced to curtail production reducing car sales dramatically. After the war ended, as soldiers returned to their hometowns, they started to buy cars. -
The "Car Boom"
As rationing of metals and other components lessened, automotive production started to ramp up. This period of increased demand and supply is often referred to as the “Car Boom”. During the “Car Boom” there was no control over pricing for cars in dealerships. -
Price Tag
Until 1958 when Senator Almer Stillwell Monroney introduced legislation requiring dealerships to place a sticker on every vehicle from any given manufacturer with a recommended retail price and a list of specifications. It came to be commonly known as the Monroney Sticker and was the most significant development in how cars were being sold. -
Production cost
Throughout the 50s and 60s the automotive market flourished. However in the early 70s, due to the increasing price of gasoline, production costs rocketed, and customers were made to feel the pinch. To offset rising costs, car manufacturers slashed the number of models on the production line. Despite this, the cost of manufacturing kept increasing, forcing up car prices. As a result dealers started to push the concept of leasing. -
The birth of used car
Prior to the 70s consumers typically changed cars every 5-6 years. With the advent of car leasing, the average buying cycle decreased to 2-3 years. This sparked a revival in production that saw many different models entering onto the marketplace again. Together these factors led to the birth of the used-car market. -
Technology
The next big change came in the 90s when the first wave of computer technologies became mainstays. Buyers started to shift to online at the beginning of their shopping experience. Selecting the right car became a much harder decision than previously because of the availability of the huge amount of new options. Websites of dealerships that at the beginning acted only as an online brochure started to act as almost the whole online dealership. -
Financial Crisis
Everything was developing well until the Financial crisis of 2007-2008. 2008 and 2009 were very hard years for the car industry. Total production dropped by 3.7% in 2008 and still further (by 12.4%) in 2009, when just 61 million cars were sold. -
Crisis solved
However, now car sales and the automotive market in general has started to recover. In 2014 car sales started to bounce back and 89 million cars were sold.
