Практикум по переводу текстов Часть II по специальностям

ОГАОУ СПО «Старооскольский техникум строительства, транспорта

III курс
23.02.03 Техническое обслуживание и ремонт автомобильного

IV курс

в качестве методических рекомендаций для преподавателей

Данное учебное пособие предназначено для студентов I - III курсов по специальности 23.02.03 Техническое обслуживание и ремонт автомобильного транспорта (по программе базовой подготовки)и студентов III – IV курсов по специальности 23.02.03 Техническое обслуживание и ремонт автомобильного транспорта (базовый уровень среднего профессионального образования).

Предлагаемое пособие нацелено на реализацию задач развивающего учебного курса по английскому «Практикум. Работа с текстами по специальности с использованием различных аспектов речи».

Пособие составлено в соответствии с ФГОС, на основе рабочей программы учебной дисциплины «Английский язык» для специальностей среднего профессионального образования, составленной в соответствии с примерной программой дисциплины «Иностранный язык, одобренной на заседании ПЦК общественных и гуманитарных дисциплин и утверждённой методическим советом ОГАОУ СПО «Старооскольский техникум строительства, транспорта и жилищно-коммунального хозяйства»,».

Может использоваться как дополнительное пособие к базовым учебникам для аудиторной и внеаудиторной работы студентов по чтению, переводу английских научно-популярных текстов.

Печатается по решению методического совета

ОГАОУ СПО «Старооскольский техникум строительства, транспорта

и жилищно-коммунального хозяйства»

Established in 1871, Benz & Cie. was the most important of several companies founded by Karl Benz. DMG was founded by Gottlieb Daimler and his partner Wilhelm Maybach in 1890, but Daimler died in 1900 and Maybach left DMG in 1907, by which time the two companies were rivals. In 1924, owing to economic necessity after World War One, they entered into an "Agreement of Mutual Interest" (valid until the year 2000), however, this initial agreement still allowed each company to manufacture and sell their products under their original brand names. It was only after the 1926 official merger, that the brand Mercedes-Benz was created and used.

Mercedes-Benz is the brand name applied to the models of one of the premier automotive manufacturers in the world and, because of its tie to Karl Benz, it is also the name of the world's oldest continuously produced automobile line. In 1926 when the new company, Daimler-Benz was established through merger, a new logo also was created that would include a symbol for each and integrate the names of the two former companies. A three-pointed star had been designed by Gottlieb Daimler, to show the ability of his motors for land, air, and sea use. This star first appeared on a DMG model in 1909, so it was chosen for the new logo. However the brand name Daimler had been licensed for use on other automobiles (in France and the United Kingdom), so the name of its seminal Mercedes model was chosen for the DMG portion of the logo. The traditional laurel symbol of Karl Benz was added along with his name to complete the new logo. The logo with a plain ring, as seen today, was not used until 1937.

Mercedes-Benz automobiles have introduced - both in the past and present - many technological and safety features (see details below). It was in 1998, when Daimler-Benz and Chrysler agreed to combine their businesses - known as the "merger of equals", that a new entity, DaimlerChrysler AG was created.

The origins of the Daimler-Benz company founded through a merger in 1926 date back to the mid-1880s, when Gottlieb Daimler (1834-1900) working with Wilhelm Maybach (1846-1929), and Karl Benz (1844-1929) independently invented the internal combustion engine-powered automobile, in southwestern Germany. Although they were merely sixty miles apart, these pioneers were unaware of each other's early work.
Companies of Karl Benz and Gottlieb Daimler
Karl Benz had his shop in Mannheim and invented the world's first true automobile powered by an internal combustion engine in 1885. It had three wheels. He was granted a patent for his automobile, dated January 29, 1886, for what he called the "Benz Patent Motorwagen". Among many inventions, Benz patented his first engine in 1879 and included in his 'integral' design for the Motorwagen patent application, a high-speed single-cylinder four-stroke engine of his own design.

In 1885, Gottlieb Daimler and design partner Wilhelm Maybach, working in Cannstatt, Stuttgart, were granted a patent dated August 29, 1885 for what is generally recognized as the prototype of the modern gas engine, that they named the "grandfather clock engine".

On March 8, 1886, Daimler purchased a stagecoach made by Wilhelm Wimpff & Sohn and he and Maybach adapted it to hold this engine, thereby creating a four-wheeled carriage propelled by an engine, as many had before them. The only distinction about this carriage was that it carried an internal combustion engine. None of many similar attempts to adapt carts, boats, or carriages, in many countries, were propelled by this type of engine. On the official history pages of the Mercedes-Benz Internet site it is referred to as "a carriage — without a drawbar but with the conventional drawbar steering. A carriage without horses..." Daimler and Maybach later purposely built, from scratch, the first four-stroke engine powered automobile with four wheels in 1889. They founded DMG in 1890 and sold their first automobile in 1892.

Stationary engines were his major business and he invented many improvements to them and their application, but Karl Benz continued to refine his Motorwagen through several models and sold his first automobile in 1888. He built his first four-wheeled model in 1891. Benz & Cie, the company started by the inventor, became the world's largest manufacturer of automobiles by 1900.

In 1899, DMG automobiles built at Untertürkheim (a city district of Stuttgart) were raced successfully by Emil Jellinek (1853-1918), an automobile enthusiast and dealer. He had the name of his daughter, Mercedes, painted on the automobiles for good luck. Wanting faster race cars, it was Jellinek who spurred the development of the seminal 1900 DMG model that would be the first of the DMG Mercedes series, bearing the name of his daughter.

After suggesting some design specifications, he promised to purchase thirty-six of the new DMG model if Maybach would name the new 35 hp engine contained in it the Daimler-Mercedes engine. A contract of five hundred and fifty thousand marks was made for these new models. Within weeks he contracted for thirty-six of another DMG model with 8 hp engines. He was granted an exclusive concession to sell the new DMG automobiles in Austria-Hungary, France, Belgium, and USA.

That new model later would be named "Mercedes 35 hp" and it was a very important advance in automobile design. The contract called for delivery of the first automobile to Jellinek in the Fall, but it did not reach him until December 22, 1900. He became obsessed with the name Mercedes and even had his name changed to Jellinek-Mercedes. Jellinek was invited to sit on the DMG board of directors, which he did from 1901 until 1909, when he retired from automotive activities in favor of diplomatic appointments.

The name change also was helpful in preventing legal troubles, because after the death of Daimler, DMG had sold exclusive rights to the name, Daimler, and technical concepts to companies abroad. As a result, luxury automobiles branded Daimler were, and still are, built in England. A fire that gutted the old Steinway piano factory in New York, which had been converted to produce the new Mercedes models, cut short the dream of American production.

During the Second World War, Daimler-Benz is known to have exploited more than 30,000 forced workers and prisoners of war, some of whom would eventually strike, and be sent to concentration camps. This working force soon became essential to the production capacity of the company after 1941, and was a key to the construction of Nazi Germany's Luftwaffe and war machine.

Mercedes-Benz has also produced higher volume, less expensive cars. Interestingly, the prototypes of the Volkswagen were built and tested in Stuttgart, in cooperation with Porsche. Before that, Mercedes-Benz had a similar rear-engined, yet rather unsuccessful, small car, the 130 H. In recent years Mercedes have produced the relatively cheap A-Class. Also the Smart brand of small affordable automobiles has been part of the Mercedes-Benz Group since 1994 and are still producing cars today in conjunction with DaimlerChrysler AG.

The 1990s saw Mercedes-Benz purchase engine builder Ilmor, and campaign cars at the famed Indy 500 race under the USAC/CART rules, eventually winning that race with Al Unser, Jr. at the wheel. The 90's also saw the return of MB to GT racing, and the Mercedes-Benz CLK GTR, which took the company to new heights (both figuratively) by dominating the FIA's GT1 class and (literally) by notably taking flight at the end of a long straight at La Sarthe.

Mercedes-Benz is currently active in three forms of motorsport, Formula Three, DTM and Formula One. In Formula One, the company part owns Team McLaren and has supplied the team with engines since 1995. This partnership has brought great success, including back to back Drivers Championships for Mika Häkkinen in 1998 and 1999 and a Constructors championship in 1998. The collaboration with McLaren has been extended into the production of roadgoing cars such as the Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren.
Business alliances. Studebaker-Packard Corporation
In 1958 Mercedes-Benz entered into a distribution agreement with the Studebaker-Packard Corporation of South Bend, Indiana (USA), makers of Studebaker and Packard brand automobiles. Under the deal, Studebaker would allow Mercedes-Benz access to their U.S. dealer network, handle shipments of vehicles to those dealers, and in return receive compensation for each car sold. Studebaker also was permitted to use the German automaker’s name in its advertisements, which stressed Studebaker's quality over quantity.

When Studebaker entered into informal discussions with Franco-American automaker Facel Vega about offering their Facel Vega Excellence model in the United States, Mercedes-Benz objected to the proposal. Studebaker, which needed Mercedes-Benz distribution payments to help stem heavy losses, dropped further action on the plan.

Mercedes-Benz maintained an office within the Studebaker works in South Bend from 1958 to 1963 when Studebaker's U.S. operations ceased. Many U.S. Studebaker dealers converted to Mercedes-Benz dealerships at that time. When Studebaker closed its Canadian operation and left the automobile business in 1966, remaining Studebaker dealers had the option to convert their dealerships to Mercedes-Benz dealership agreements.
Production & purchasing
Besides its native Germany, Mercedes-Benz are also manufactured or assembled in: South Africa, Thailand, Malaysia, United States of America, Argentina, (Buses, Trucks and the van Sprinter. the first factory of Mercedes-Benz outside of Germany), Brazil, India, Nigeria, United Kingdom (The SLR supercar is built here at the McLaren Technology Centre in Woking), Egypt, Austria (G-Class), China, Turkey.

Mercedes-Benz automobiles are available at dealerships in over 130 countries and their work fleet (trucks and commercial vehicles) are available from a select group of dealers worldwide as well as the factory-direct. As with several European brand automobiles, Mercedes has offered a European delivery option for purchasing of a Mercedes Benz automobile. Mercedes’ European delivery program (begun by Mercedes in 1963) varies depending upon where the purchase is finalized. For example, if arranged for on the eastern seaboard of the United States, the program may offer two transatlantic coach tickets on Lufthansa to Frankfurt, Germany with ground transportation to the designated European delivery factory in Sindelfingen, Germany. If European delivery is arranged for on the west coast of the United States, the program will offer a free companion ticket with the purchase of a business class ticket on Lufthansa, arranged for by Mercedes Benz’s travel agent. Once in Germany, purchasers utilizing European delivery are given one night in a Sindelfingen hotel. Purchasers get a free, optional factory tour and lunch and then are given possession of their automobile. The automobile may stay within Germany for 6 months without registering within the European Union, but only includes 15 days worth of no-deductible insurance courtesy of Mercedes Benz. North American consumers can then drop off their Mercedes Benz in fourteen designated drop-off locations located in Germany, France, Spain, Switzerland, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom at no extra charge. Drop-off locations in Italy are offered but for an additional fee.

Certain car types are not eligible for Mercedes’ European Delivery program and any car purchased through this program must be destined for export to the purchaser’s country of origin and must comply with the regulations of the destination country. Fortunately, taking possession of the car in Germany and utilizing the European Delivery does not expose the purchaser to the currency fluctuations of the euro since the purchase is really deemed finalized in the country of origin. Additionally, purchasers may experience savings as great as 7% of what they would have paid without European delivery (i.e.: a standard sale through their North American dealer).

Car models
Significant car models were produced in:

1936: 260 D World's first diesel production car

1938: W195 Speed Record-breaker

1953: "Ponton" Models

1954: 300SL "Gullwing"

1959: "Fintail" Models

1960: 220SE Cabriolet

1963: 600 "Grand Mercedes"

1965: Mercedes-Benz S-Class

1966: 300SEL 6.3

1969: C111 experimental vehicle

1972: Mercedes-Benz W107 350SL

1974: 450SEL 6.9

1974: 240D

1975: 280

1976: 300D

1979: 500SEL

1983: 190E 2.3-16

1986: First 'E-Class'

1993: First 'C-Class'

1995: First 'Joint Mercedes-Benz & AMG'

1995: Mercedes-Benz SL73 AMG Biggest Engine Put Into a Mercedes-Benz, 7.3L V12

1996: Mercedes-Benz SL60 AMG Very Rare 6.0L V8, 408hp, 0-62mph in 5.1 seconds

1996: Mercedes-Benz RENNtech E7.4RS| world's fastest street sedan

1997: Mercedes-Benz M-Class

1998: Mercedes-Benz CLK GTR

1991: 600SEL

2004: Mercedes-Benz CLK DTM AMG

2004: Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren

2005: Mercedes-Benz CLS

2007: Mercedes-Benz S63 AMG

2007: E320 and GL320 Bluetec

The most recent new joint-venture model, expected to reach production, is the mid-engine P8 supercar. Based around a unique carbon fiber monocoque, manufactured by McLaren, the P8 was originally predicted to receive the new naturally aspirated 6.3L V8 from Mercedes-AMG, but experts now say that the engine will be modified for the car and will probably be twin- turbocharged to produce in excess of 600 bhp. The car is still in development, but likely to reach production to go on sale in early 2008, and have a price tag less than that of the SLR.

In 1994, this was altered so that the prefix reflected the model ("class", German "Klasse", in Mercedes-Benz terminology) and a number the displacement. The suffix was retained in some cases, for example "L" for long wheelbase, and "CDI" for Diesel (CDI = Common rail Direct Injection). Thus, the 500E in the example above became the E500 ("E-Klasse", 5 liters displacement). It should also be noted that while in the past the model number generally accurately reflected the actual engine displacement, this is currently not always the case - for example the E200 CDI and E220 CDI actually both have a 2.2 liter displacement, and the C240 actually has a 2.6 litre engine. Also, there is a huge difference in power (and price) between some cars with the same engine number, such as CLK55 and CL55.

1978 Mercedes-Benz C111-III - sports car with tail fin

1981 Mercedes-Benz Auto 2000 - 4 door sedan.

1986 Mercedes-Benz NAFA - microcar

1991 Mercedes-Benz C112 - sportcar and mule

Mercedes-Benz F 100 - Car introducted in 1991.

Mercedes-Benz F 200 Imagination - 2 door coupe introduced in 1996 Paris Motor Show

Mercedes-Benz F 300 Life Jet - 3-wheel Car/Motorcycle unveiled in 1997 Frankfurt Motor Show

1999 Mercedes-Benz Vision SLR - Prototype of Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren, unveiled in 1999 North American International Auto Show

Mercedes-Benz Vision SLA - convertible version of Vision SLR, unveiled in 2000 North American International Auto Show

Mercedes-Benz F 400 Carving - A 2-seat roadster unveiled in 2002 Tokyo Motor Show

Mercedes Benz F 500 Mind - 4-door fastback sedan unveiled in 2003 Tokyo Motor Show

Mercedes-Benz F 600 HYGENIUS - compact fuel cell car, unveiled in 2005 Tokyo Motor Show

Mercedes-Benz Bionic - Car unveiled in 2005 DaimlerChrysler Innovation Symposium in Washington, modelled after boxfish.

Mercedes-Benz Ocean Drive- This car is a 4-door convertible.


Buses, vans & trucks
Mercedes-Benz also produces buses, mainly for Europe and Asia. The first factory to be built outside of Germany after WWII was in Argentina. It originally built Truck-Buses, named Colectivo in Buenos Aires, Argentina (1950-1987), but now builds buses.

MB produce a range of vans. The current range consists of:

Mercedes-Benz Vito - Light Van based on the Viano MPV with loaded weight of approx 1 tonne

Mercedes-Benz Sprinter - Mid-sized van with loaded weights of 2 to 6 tonne (produced as a Dodge in USA and Canada with the name Freightliner Sprinter. A joint venture.)

Sprinter 414 416CDI ambulance

Sprinter 316CDI light ambulance

Mercedes-Benz Vario - Heavy van with similar load to a light truck (7.5 tonne)

The current range consists of:

Mercedes-Benz Atego - Light truck from 7 to 16t

Mercedes-Benz Axor - Mid-sized truck from 18 to 26t in rigid and articulated

Mercedes-Benz Actros - Heavy duty rigid and premium articulated - 18 to 50t

Mercedes-Benz Econic - Low floor version of the Axor for refuse and specialist applications

Mercedes-Benz Unimog - For special purpose applications and transport across extreme terrain

1828L (F581) Mobile Casualty Treatment Centre

1517L Mobile Casualty Treatment Centre
Tuners, robot cars & bicycles
MB automobiles are very popular among performance-oriented buyers, and many companies have come to notice as tuners of these cars, adding even more performance and or luxury to the brand.

AMG is MB's perfomance-tuning division specializing in high performance versions of many of the Mercedes-Benz range. AMG engines are hand-built. AMG has been owned by Mercedes-Benz since 1999: Brabus, Lorinser, Carlsson, Kleemann, RENNtech, Kicherer.

In the 1980s Mercedes built the world's first robot cars, together with the team of Professor Ernst Dickmanns at Bundeswehr Universität München. Partially encouraged by Dickmanns' success, in 1987 the European Union's EUREKA programme initiated the Prometheus project on autonomous vehicles, funded to the tune of nearly 800 million Euros. A culmination point was achieved in 1995, when Dickmanns´ re-engineered autonomous S-Class Mercedes took a long trip from Munich in Bavaria to Copenhagen in Denmark and back. On highways the robot achieved speeds exceeding 175 kilometres per hour (roughly 110 miles per hour; there is no general speed limit on the German Autobahn). The car's abilities left a big impression on many observers, and heavily influenced robot car research and funding decisions world-wide.

Mercedes-Benz Accessories GmbH introduced 3 new bicycles in 2005, named Automatic Bike, Fitness Bike, Mountain Bike.[14] The bikes are sold in Australia, Germany, Russia.

Mercedes-Benz Carbon Bike

Mercedes-Benz Fitness Bike

Mercedes-Benz Hybrid Bike

Mercedes-Benz Mountain Bike

Mercedes-Benz Street Bike

In LUPIN III, The mercedes SSK Appear in the movie.

Anti-lock brakes (ABS) were used first in Mercedes-Benz cars in 1978. They have been standard equipment on all Mercedes-Benz cars since model year 1989.

Mercedes-Benz - first cars to use traction control Introduced in 1986 to reduce wheelslip/spin in wet or icy conditions.

The first airbags offered in the European market were in Mercedes-Benz automobiles in 1980. Also the first manufacture to include airbags as standard safety equipment on its cars.

Mercedes-Benz was the first to introduce pre-tensioners to seat belts on the 1981 S-Class. In the event of a crash, a pre-tensioner will tighten the belt almost instantaneously, preventing the passenger from jerking forward in a crash.

Stability control, brake assist, and many other types of safety equipment were all developed, tested, and implemented into passenger cars – first by Mercedes-Benz. Mercedes-Benz has not made a large fuss about its innovations and has even licensed them for use by competitors - in the name of improving automobile and passenger safety.

The fastest (production) automatic road car in the world, is the Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren at 334 km/h (208 mph). The car was co-developed by DaimlerChrysler and McLaren Cars. It is assembled at the McLaren Technology Centre in Woking, England. Although some consider the Bugatti Veyron 16.4 as the fastest automatic, the transmission used in that car is an automated manual and not a traditional automatic with a torque converter.

The fastest street-legal saloon car in the world is the Mercedes-Benz BRABUS (tuned) W211 'E V12' - based on the E-Class saloon. The car uses a tuned version of the M275 AMG biturbo V12 engine which now produces 640 bhp (471 kW) and over 1000 Nm (757 lb-ft) of torque, the top speed was recorded as 350.2 km/h (217.6 mph) in Nardo, Italy.

The (W211) E320 CDI which has a (VTG) turbocharged, 3.0L V6 common rail diesel engine, set new world endurance records. It covered 100,000 miles (the equivalent of four times round the Earth, which has a circumference of approximately 24,900 miles) in record time with an astonishing average speed of 224.823 km/h (140 mph). Three identical cars did the endurance run (one set above record) and the other two cars set world records for time taken to cover 100,000 km and 50,000 miles respectively. After all three cars had completed the run their combined distance of 300,000 miles is one-and-a-quarter times the distance from Earth to the moon (all records were FIA approved).

The most powerful naturally aspirated eight cylinder engine in the world is the Mercedes-AMG, 6208cc M156 V8 engine. It is the first engine in the world to combine large displacement with the high-revving concept, allowing it to produce around 20 percent more torque than comparable naturally aspirated engines in this performance class. The V8 engine will be badged '63 AMG' and will replace the '55 AMG' M113 engine in most models (exceptions include the SL55 and G55 AMG which will retain the M113 engine). The M156 engine can produce up to 518bhp, and although some models using this engine do have this output (like the S63 and CL63 AMGs) specific output varies slightly across other models in the range.

"Mercedes Benz", a song by Janis Joplin, Michael McClure and Bob Neuwirth, famously sung a cappella by Janis Joplin, was intended as a gentle satire on materialism, but, ironically, has since been used in the automobile brand's advertising and later was used in a BMW advertisement on German TV; the driver of a BMW Z3 convertible raised his eyebrows after the first "buy me a Mercedes-Benz" and threw out the tape after "my friends all drive Porsches".

Mercedes-Benz was the most popular brand name mentioned in Billboard Top 20 songs in 2003 and again 2005.

Since 1948, Mercedes-Benz has built the Unimog, or "Universal Motor-Gerät", a 4WD truck. It features extreme offroad capability due to offset axles and elastic frame, drive shafts for numerous additional machines, hydraulic and pneumatic connections, etc. Despite its high price, the Unimog is popular as allround work horse, as snow plow, expedition vehicle in desert, jungle, and mountains, and it has won the truck class at high speed desert races such as Paris-Dakar[citation needed], and is used in some countries by their armed forces.

Mercedes-Benz claims all of the wood used in its modern automobiles is raised on tree farms. This claim has not been confirmed.

The first Daimler-Benz factory to be built outside of Germany after World War II was in Argentina. It originally built a massive number of trucks, some of which were slightly modified (by Mercedes-Benz) to Truck-Busses, popularly named Colectivo (in Buenos Aires).

The "New Russians" cliché includes driving a Mercedes S 600, see Russian jokes: New Russians.

In the popular animated show The Simpsons, Dr. Hibbert runs into and kills the family's cat with his Mercedes-Benz SUV.

In September 2003, Mercedes-Benz introduced the world's first 7-speed automatic transmission called '7G-TRONIC'.

A Mercedes-Benz advertisement is seen before The Lost World: Jurassic Park on an original VHS copy of the 1997 movie (since Mercedes-Benz SUVs are used in the film).

In the comedy Rat Race, Jon Lovitz and his family steal Adolf Hitler's 1930s Mercedes-Benz from a neo-Nazi museum when their Ford Aerostar is sabotaged. The vehicle is later destroyed by a female biker gang (after Lovitz accidentally flips the bird at them) and crashes into a World War II veterans Convention (with Lovitz looking like and speaking like Hitler because of the ordeal).

The vehicle in the 8 minute short film C'était un rendez-vous, a no-holds-barred romp through the streets of 1976 Paris, was commonly believed to be a Ferrari 275 GTB, due to the engine sound. A recent interview with the producer, Claude Lelouch, revealed that the camera-carrying vehicle was actually a 6.9L Mercedes-Benz 450SEL 6.9, with sound dubbed over.

Jeremy Clarkson has said in a recent Top Gear episode that the Mercedes-Benz S-Class contains technology to be found on other cars in the future. Clarkson states, "If you want to know what toys are going to be fitted in your ordinary family saloon in like 10 years time, there is only one place to look..." "It's more than just a car, it's a glimpse into the future, it's a showcase of everything that can be done and everything that everyone else will be doing very soon."

Mercedes-Benz are currently in the process of developing a "fatigue warning system" for motorists.

Professional skateboarder/MTV actor Bam Margera owns a Mercedes S55 AMG with a custom Heartagram hood ornament instead of the regular Mercedes one. The Heartagram is the logo for the Finnish rock band H.I.M.
General Motors Corporation
General Motors Corporation, also known as GM or GMC, is the world's largest car manufacturer. Founded in 1908, in Flint, Michigan, GM employs approximately 327,000 people around the world. With global headquarters at the Renaissance Center in Detroit, Michigan, USA, GM manufactures its cars and trucks in 33 countries. The European headquarters is based in Zurich, Switzerland. In 2005, 9.17 million GM cars and trucks were sold globally under the following brands: Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, GMC, Daewoo, Holden, Hummer, Opel, Pontiac, Saab, Saturn and Vauxhall. Chevrolet outsold its oldest domestic rival Ford Motor Co. in 2005 for the first time in over 3 decades, closing an over 700,000 unit sales gap. GM operates a finance company, GMAC Financial Services, which offers automotive, residential and commercial financing and insurance. GM's OnStar subsidiary is a vehicle safety, security and information service provider.

GM is the majority shareholder in GM Daewoo Auto & Technology Co. of South Korea and has product collaborations with Suzuki Motor Corporation, Toyota Motor Corporation and Isuzu Motors Ltd. of Japan. GM also has advanced technology collaborations with Toyota Motor Corporation of Japan, DaimlerChrysler AG and BMW AG of Germany and vehicle manufacturing ventures with Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation of China, AutoVAZ and Avtotor of Russia and Renault of France.

GM Parts and accessories are sold under the GM, GM Performance Parts, GM Goodwrench and ACDelco brands through GM Service and Parts Operations, which supplies GM dealerships and distributors worldwide. GM engines and transmissions are marketed through GM Powertrain. GM's largest national market is the United States, followed by China, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Germany. GM leads all other automakers in Strategic Vision's Total Quality Index (TQI).

Early history
General Motors was founded on Wednesday, September 16, 1908 in Flint, Michigan, as a holding company for Buick, then controlled by William C. Durant, and acquired Oldsmobile later that year. The next year, Durant brought in Cadillac, Elmore, Oakland (later known as Pontiac) and several others. In 1909, General Motors acquired the Reliance Motor Truck Company of Owosso, Michigan, and the Rapid Motor Vehicle Company of Pontiac, Michigan, the predecessors of GMC Truck. A Rapid became the first truck to conquer Pikes Peak in 1909. Durant lost control of GM in 1910 to a bankers trust, because of the large amount of debt taken on in its acquisitions.

Durant left the firm and helped establish the Chevrolet Motor Company in 1911 with brothers Gaston and Louis Chevrolet. After a brilliant stock buy back campaign, he returned to head GM in 1916, with the backing of Pierre S. du Pont. Chevrolet entered the General Motors fold in 1917; its first GM car was 1918's Chevrolet 490. Du Pont removed Durant from management in 1920, and various Du Pont interests held large or controlling share holdings until about 1950.

In 1918 GM purchased the McLaughlin Motor Car Company of Oshawa, Ontario, Canada, manufacturer of the McLaughlin-Buick automobile, and renamed it General Motors of Canada Ltd., with R.S. "Colonel Sam" McLaughlin as its first president.

GM surpassed Ford Motor Company in the late 1920s thanks to the leadership of Alfred Sloan. While Ford continued to refine the manufacturing process to reduce cost, Sloan was inventing new ways of managing a complex worldwide organization, while paying special attention to consumer demands. Car buyers no longer wanted the cheapest and most basic model; they wanted style, power, and prestige, which GM offered them. Thanks to consumer financing, easy monthly payments allowed far more people to buy GM cars, while Ford was moralistically opposed to credit.

In 1930, GM also began its foray into aircraft design and manufacturing by buying Fokker Aircraft Corp of America (U.S. subsidiary of Fokker) and Berliner-Joyce Aircraft, merging them into General Aviation Manufacturing Corporation. Through a stock exchange GM took controlling interest in North American Aviation and merged it with its General Aviation division in 1933, but retaining the name North American Aviation. In 1948, GM divested NAA as a public company, never to have a major interest in the aircraft manufacturing industry again.

General Motors bought the internal combustion engined railcar builder Electro-Motive Corporation and its engine supplier Winton Engine in 1930, renaming both as the General Motors Electro-Motive Division. Over the next twenty years, diesel-powered locomotives - the majority built by GM - largely replaced other forms of traction on American railroads. (During World War II, these engines were also important in American submarines and destroyer escorts.) Electro-Motive was sold in early 2005.

World War II
General Motors produced vast quantities of armaments, vehicles and even aircraft during World War II. During the war, the U.S. auto companies were concerned that the Nazis would nationalize American owned factories in Germany. In the spring of 1939, the Nazis had assumed day to day control of American owned factories in Germany, but decided against nationalizing them.

GM's William P. Knudson served as head of U.S. wartime production for President Franklin Roosevelt who had referred to Detroit as the Arsenal of Democracy. Today, Detroit is the headquarters for the U.S. Army Tank-Automotive and Armaments Command, known as TACOM.

Nevertheless, while General Motors has claimed that its German operations were outside its control during World War II, this assertion appears to be contradicted by available evidence. General Motors was not just a car company that happened to have factories in Germany; GM management from the top down had extensive Nazi connections, both on a business and personal level.

American GM Vice President Graeme K. Howard (later colonel Graeme K. Howard) was a committed Nazi, with such views expressed in his book, America and the New World Order. Adolf Hitler awarded GM boss James D. Mooney the Order of Merit of the Golden Eagle for his services to Nazi Germany. General Motors’ internal documents show a clear strategy to profit from their German military contracts even after the outbreak of war between America and Germany.

Defending the German investment strategy as “highly profitable”, GM’s Alfred P. Sloan told shareholders in 1939 that GM’s continued industrial production for the Nazi government was merely sound business practice. In a letter to a concerned shareholder, Sloan said that the manner in which the Nazi government ran Germany "should not be considered the business of the management of General Motors...We must conduct ourselves as a German organization. . . We have no right to shut down the plant."

After 20 years of researching General Motors, Bradford Snell stated that: "General Motors was far more important to the Nazi war machine than Switzerland ... Switzerland was just a repository of looted funds. GM was an integral part of the German war effort. The Nazis could have invaded Poland and Russia without Switzerland. They could not have done so without GM".

After GM's massive lay-offs hit Flint, Michigan, a strike began at the General Motors parts factory in Flint on June 5, 1998, which quickly spread to five other assembly plants and lasted seven weeks. Because of the significant role GM plays in the United States, the strikes and temporary idling of many plants noticeably showed in national economic observations.

In the late 1990s, GM had regained market share; its stock had soared to over $80 a share by 2000. However, in 2001, the stock market drop following the September 11, 2001 attacks, combined with historic pension underfunding, caused a severe pension and benefit fund crisis at GM and many other American companies and the value of their pension funds plummeted. A weak U.S. dollar and private health care (as opposed to nationalized health care in other countries) costs also put GM at a disadvantage to its Japanese, Korean, and European counterparts. In successive moves, GM responded to the crisis by fully funding its pension fund; however, its Other Post Employment Benefits Fund (OPEB) became a serious issue resulting in downgrades to its bond rating in 2005. The company expressed its disagreement with these bond rating downgrades. In 2006, GM responded by offering buyouts to hourly workers to reduce future liability; over 35,000 workers responded to the offer, well exceeding the company's goal. GM has gained higher rates of return on its benefit funds as a part of the solution. Stock value has begun to rebound - as of October 30, 2006 GM's market capitalization was about $19.19 billion. GM stock began the year 2006 at $19 a share, near its lowest level since 1982, as many on Wall Street figured the ailing automaker was bound for bankruptcy court. But GM is still afloat. The company's stock in the Dow Jones industrial average has posted the biggest percentage gain in 2006.

Since 2000, GM has remained the world's largest auto maker, ranked according to sales.

Recent news media have uncovered a proposed plan in which GM would purchase most, if not all of the Chrysler Group from DaimlerChrysler. Various plans have been proposed, including a large cash payment or a stock trade between GM and DCX.

In 1984, GM acquired Electronic Data Systems Corporation (EDS), a leading data processing and telecommunications company, to be the sole provider of information technology services for the company. EDS became independent again in 1996, signing a 10-year agreement to continue providing IT services to General Motors.

Hughes Electronics was formed in 1985 when Hughes Aircraft was sold by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute to GM for $5.2 billion. GM merged Hughes Aircraft with its Delco Electronics unit to form Hughes Electronics. This division was a major aerospace and defense contractor, civilian space systems manufacturer and communications company. The aerospace and defense business was sold to Raytheon in 1997 and the Space and Communications division was sold to Boeing in 2000. Hughes Research Laboratories became jointly owned by GM, Raytheon, and Boeing. In 2003, the remaining parts of Hughes Electronics was sold to News Corporation and renamed DirecTV Group.

General Motors acquires Hughes Aircraft Company, regarded as one of the leading defense electronics firms in the world. It is to remain independently managed as a subsidiary of Hughes Electronics Corporation - a new wholly-owned subsidiary of General Motors. Delco Electronics Corporation becomes a subsidiary of Hughes Electronics Corporation.

In touring cars (mainly in Europe) Vauxhall is a key player and former champion in the British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) series and competes with a Vauxhall Astra VXR in BTC spec. Opel is one of the three participants in the DTM series (along with Audi and Mercedes Benz) and is a former champion and competes with a unique 500 bhp vehicle that resmbles the Opel Vectra. Chevrolet competes with a Lacetti in the FIA World Touring Car Championship (WTCC).

In Australia, there is the prestigious V8 Supercar Championship which is battled out by the two main rivals of Holden& Ford. The current Holden Racing Team cars are based on the Holden Commodore and run a 5.0-litre V8-cylinder engine producing 600+BHP (approx 500Kw Power) @ 7500rpm). These cars have a top speed of 300+km/h (185mph) and run 0-100km/h in less than 4 seconds. The Holden Racing Team is Australia's most successful team in Australian Touring Car History. In 2006 both the Teams and Drivers championship was won by the very closely linked Toll HSV Dealer Team
Corporate structure and leadership
General Motors is structured into the following groups:

GM Automotive

GMAP - Asia Pacific

GME - Europe

GMLAAM - Latin America Africa Mid-East

GMNA - North America

GMAC Finance and insurance services

Other Operations

Current members of the board of directors of General Motors are: Percy Barnevik, Erskine Bowles, John Bryan, Armando Codina, George Fisher, Karen Katen, Kent Kresa, Ellen Kullman, Philip Laskawy, Eckhard Pfeiffer, and Rick Wagoner (chairman). Jerome York, who was elected to the board on February 6, 2006 to represent Kirk Kerkorian abruptly resigned on October 6, 2006, following the decision by GM to break off talks about an alliance with Nissan and Renault.

Rick Wagoner is also the chief executive officer of the company (since June 1, 2000), succeeding John F. Smith, Jr.

Thomas Neal Nov.19,1912 - November 16, 1915

Pierre S. du Pont Nov.16,1915 - February 7, 1929

Lammot du Pont Feb.7, 1929 - May 3, 1937

Alfred P. Sloan, Jr. May 3, 1937 - April 2, 1956

Albert Bradley April 2, 1956 - August 31, 1958

Frederic G. Donner Sept. 1, 1958 - October 31, 1967

James M. Roche November 1, 1967 - December 31, 1971

Richard C. Gerstenberg Jan. 1, 1972 - November 30, 1974

Thomas A. Murphy December 1, 1974 - December 31, 1980

Roger B. Smith Jan. 1, 1981 - July 31, 1990

Robert C. Stempel August 1, 1990 - November 1, 1992

John G. Smale November 2, 1992 - December 31, 1995

John F. Smith, Jr. Jan. 1, 1996 - April 30, 2003

G. Richard Wagoner, Jr. May 1, 2003–present
Chief Executive Officers of General Motors:
Chief Executive Officers of General Motors[8]

Alfred P. Sloan, Jr. May 10, 1923 - June 3, 1946

Charles E. Wilson June 3, 1946 - Jan. 26, 1953

Harlow H. Curtice February 2, 1953 - August 31, 1958

Frederic G. Donner Sept. 1, 1958 - October 31, 1967

James M. Roche November 1, 1967 - December 31, 1971

Richard C. Gerstenberg Jan. 1, 1972 - November 30, 1974

Thomas A. Murphy December 1, 1974 - December 31, 1980

Roger B. Smith Jan. 1, 1981 - July 31, 1990

Robert C. Stempel August 1, 1990 - November 1, 1992

John F. Smith, Jr. November 2, 1992 - May 31, 2000

G. Richard Wagoner, Jr. June 1, 2000–present

George E. Daniels Sept. 22, 1908 - October 20, 1908

William M. Eaton October 20, 1908 - November 23, 1910

James J. Storrow November 23, 1910 - Jan. 26, 1911

Thomas Neal Jan. 26, 1911 - November 19, 1912

Charles W. Nash November 19, 1912 - June 1, 1916

William C. Durant June 1, 1916 - November 30, 1920

Pierre S. du Pont November 30, 1920 - May 10, 1923

Alfred P. Sloan, Jr. May 10, 1923 - May 3, 1937

William S. Knudsen May 3, 1937 - Sept. 3, 1940

Charles E. Wilson Jan. 6, 1941 - Jan. 26, 1953

Harlow H. Curtice February 2, 1953 - August 31, 1958

John F. Gordon Sept. 1, 1958 - May 31, 1965

James M. Roche June 1, 1965 - October 31, 1967

Edward N. Cole November 1, 1967 - Sept. 30, 1974

Elliott M. Estes October 1, 1974 - Jan. 31, 1981

F. James McDonald February 1, 1981 - August 31, 1987

Robert C. Stempel Sept. 1, 1987 - July 31, 1990

Lloyd E. Reuss August 1, 1990 - April 6, 1992

John F. Smith, Jr. April 6, 1992 - October 5, 1998

G. Richard Wagoner, Jr. October 5, 1998 - April 30, 2003
General Motors was named one of the 100 Best Companies for Working Mothers in 2004 by Working Mothers magazine. GM has also given millions of dollars in computers to colleges of Engineering through its PACE Awards program.
Environment and alternative vehicles
General Motors has long worked on alternative-technology vehicles, and has recently led the industry with clean burning Flex Fuel vehicles that can run on either E-85 (ethanol) or gasoline. The company was the first to use turbochargers and was an early proponent of V6 engines in the 1960s, but quickly lost interest as the muscle car race took hold. They demonstrated gas turbine vehicles powered by kerosene, an area of interest throughout the industry in the late 1950s, but despite extensive thermal recycling (developed by Chrysler) the fuel consumption was too high and starting torque too low for everyday use. They were also an early licensee of Wankel engine technology, even developing the Chevrolet Monza around the powerplant, but abandoned the alternative engine configuration in view of the 1973 oil crisis. In the 1970s and 1980s, GM pushed the benefits of diesel engines and cylinder deactivation technologies with disastrous results due to poor durability in the Oldsmobile diesels and drivability issues in the Cadillac 4-6-8 variable cylinder engines. In 1987 GM, in conjunction with Aerovironment built the Sunraycer which won the inaugural World Solar Challenge and was a showcase of advanced technology. Much of the technology from Sunraycer found its way into the Impact prototype electric vehicle (also built by Aerovironment and was the predecessor to the EV1.

In 1996, GM introduced the EV1, the first modern mass-produced electric car, which was available by lease only (see below: Controversy over EV1). Despite the positive publicity generated by this vehicle and a long waiting list for the cars, the company cancelled the program after only a tiny production run, reportedly due to a "lack of consumer interest". GM forced the return of EV1 vehicles even though some owners wanted to keep them. The story of GM's non-support for its own product is portrayed in the 2006 documentary “Who killed the electric car?”. The EV1 lived on in the powertrain of the S10 factory built electric vehicle assembled in Shreveport, Louisiana by General Motors. The electric motor had slightly decreased horsepower from the EV1 it was borrowed from because it was not as aerodynamic as the EV1 and so traded horsepower for range. See here for more information.

There is a GM hybrid powered bus: GM Magic Bus.

GM has prided its research and prototype development of hydrogen powered vehicles, to be produced in early 2010, using a support infrastructure still in a prototype state. The economic feasibility of the technically challenging hydrogen car, and the low-cost production of hydrogen to fuel it, has also been discussed by other automobile manufacturers such as Ford and Chrysler.
Marketing
At one time, each of GM's automotive divisions were targeted to specific market segments and despite some shared components, each distinguished itself from its stablemates with unique styling and technology. The shared components and common corporate management created substantial economies of scale, while the distinctions between the divisions created an orderly upgrade path, with an entry-level buyer starting out with a practical and economical Chevrolet and moving through offerings of the different divisions until the purchase of a Cadillac. The divisions were not competing with each other as much as passing along the same customer who would thus always be buying a GM product.

The postwar automobile industry became enamored with the concept of "planned obsolescence", implemented by both technical and styling innovations with a typical 3-year product cycle. In this cycle, a new basic body shell is introduced and then modified for the next two years with minor styling changes. GM, Ford, and Chrysler competed vigorously in this new restyling environment.

By 1958, the divisional distinctions within GM began to blur with the availability of high-performance engines in Chevrolets and Pontiacs. The introduction of higher trim models such as the Chevrolet Impala and Pontiac Bonneville priced in line with some Oldsmobile and Buick offerings was also confusing to consumers. By the time Pontiac, Oldsmobile and Buick introduced similarly styled and priced compact models in 1961, the old "step-up" structure between the divisions was nearly over.

The 1960s saw the creation of compact and intermediate classes. The Chevrolet Corvair was a 6-cylinder answer to the Volkswagen Beetle, the Chevy II was created to match Ford's conventional Falcon and the Chevrolet Camaro/Pontiac Firebird was GMs counter measure to the Ford Mustang. Among intermediates, the Oldsmobile Cutlass nameplate became so popular during the 1970s that Oldsmobile applied the Cutlass name to most of its products in the 1980s. By the mid 1960s, most of GM's vehicles were built on a few common platforms and in the 1970s GM began to use nearly identical body panel stampings, differing only in internal and external trim items.

The 1971 Chevrolet Vega was GMs launch into the new subcompact class. Problems associated with its innovative aluminum engines would damage GMs reputation more than perhaps any other vehicle in its history. During the late 1970s, GM would initiate a wave of downsizing starting with the Chevrolet Caprice which was reborn into what was the size of the Chevrolet Chevelle, the Malibu would be the size of the Nova, and the Nova was replaced by the troubled front-wheel drive Citation.

By the 1980s, GM frequently "rebadged" one division's successful vehicle into several models across the divisions, all positioned close to one another in the market place. Thus a new GM model's main competition might be another model spawned off the same platform. This led to market "cannibalization" with the divisions spending time stealing sales from one another. Even today, the company's GMT360 mid-sized light truck platform has spawned the basic Chevrolet Trailblazer, Oldsmobile Bravada, GMC Envoy, Isuzu Ascender, Buick Rainier and Saab 9-7X. Though each model had a more or less unique mission, the trucks can hardly be discerned from one another.

In the late 1990s, the U.S. economy was on the rise and GM and Ford gained market share producing enormous profits primarily from the sale of light trucks and sport-utility vehicles. From 2000 to 2001, the Federal Reserve in a move to quell the stock market, made twelve successive interest rate increases. Following the September 11, 2001 attacks, a severe stock market decline magnified the effect of GM's history pension and benefit fund underfunding, precipitating a crisis. At the same time, this crisis happened at other U.S. companies with similar histories, such as Ford, DaimlerChrysler, and United Airlines. GM began its Keep America Rolling campaign, which boosted sales, and other auto makers were forced to follow suit. The U.S. automakers saw gross margins deteriorate.

In 2004, GM redirected resources from the development of new sedans to an accelerated refurbishment of their light trucks and SUVs for introduction as 2007 models in early 2006. Shortly after this decision, fuel prices increased by over 50% and this in turn affected both the trade-in value of used vehicles and the perceived desirability of new offerings in these market segments. The current marketing plan to extensively tout these revised vehicles as offering the best fuel economy in their class (of vehicle). GM claims its hybrid trucks will have gas-mileage improvements of 25%, besting the current fuel-economy leaders, Toyota and Honda. In the summer of 2005, GM announced that its corporate chrome emblem "Mark of Excellence" will begin appearing on all recently introduced and all-new 2006 model vehicles produced and sold in North America. The move is seen as an attempt by GM to link its name and vehicle brands more closely.

In 2005, GM promoted sales through an employee discount to all buyers. Marketed as the lowest possible price, GM cleared an inventory buildup of 2005 models to make way for its 2006 lineup. While the promotion was a temporary shot in the arm for sales, it did not help the company's bottom line. GM has since changed its marketing strategy to a no haggle sticker policy in which all vehicle proces are lowered, but incentives are reduced, if not eliminated.
Economics
In March 2005, the Government of Canada provided C$200 million in incentives to General Motors for its Ontario plants, and last fall it provided C$100 million to Ford Motor Co. to expand production and provide jobs, according to Jim Harris. Similar incentives were promised to non-North American auto companies like Toyota, Premier Dalton McGuinty said the money the province and Ottawa are pledging for the project is well-spent. His government has committed C$400 million, including the latest Toyota package of C$125 million, to the province's automobile sector, which helped finance $5 billion worth of industry projects.

For the first time, in 2004 the total number of cars produced by all makers in Ontario exceeded those produced in Michigan.

For the first time in 2004 GM sold more vehicles in other countries than inside the US.

GM in China
General Motors is the second best selling foreign auto maker in China after Volkswagen, operating under the name of "Shanghai GM", with a 12.5% market there. The Buick brand is especially strong, led by the Buick Excelle subcompact. Cadillac initiated sales in China in 2004, starting with imports from the United States. GM pushed the marketing of the Chevrolet brand in China in 2005 as well, moving the former Buick Sail to that marque. The company manufactures most of its China-market vehicles locally, through its Shanghai GM joint venture. The SAIC-GM-Wuling Automobile joint-venture is also successful selling trucks and vans under the Wuling marque.
Corporate restructuring
After gaining market share in the late 1990s and making enormous profits General Motors stock soared to over $80 a share. However, in 2000, twelve successive interest rate hikes by the Federal Reserve to quell the stock market, and a severe stock market decline following the September 11, 2001 attacks, caused a pension and benefit funds crisis at General Motors and many other American companies. General Motor's rising retiree health care costs and Other Post Employment Benefit (OPEB) fund deficit prompted the company to enact a broad restructuring plan. Although GM had already taken action to fully fund its pension plan, its OPEB fund became an issue for its corporate bond ratings. GM had expressed its disagreement with the bond ratings; moveover, GM's benefit funds were performing at higher than expected rates of return. Then, following a $10.6 billion loss in 2005, GM acted quickly to implement its restructuring plan. For the first quarter of 2006 GM earned $400 million, signaling a turnaround had already begun even though many aspects of the restructuring plan had not yet taken effect.

In February 2005, GM successfully bought itself out of a put option with Fiat for $2 billion USD (€1.55 billion). In 2000, GM had sold a 6% stake to Fiat in return for a 20% share in the Italian automaker. As part of the deal, GM granted Fiat a put option which, if exercised between January 2004 and July 2009, could have forced GM to buy Fiat. GM had agreed to the put option at the time, perhaps to keep it from being acquired by another automaker such as DaimlerChrysler competing with GM's Opel and Vauxhall marques. The relationship suffered, and Fiat had failed to improve. In 2003, Fiat recapitalized, reducing GM's stake to 10%.

In February 2006, GM slashed its annual dividend from 2.00 to $1.00 per share. The reduction saved $565 million a year.

In March 2006, GM divested 92.36 million shares (reducing their stake from 20% to 3%) of Japanese manufacturer Suzuki, in order to raise $2.3 billion. GM originally invested in Suzuki in the early 1980s.

On March 23, a private equity consortium including KKR, Goldman Sachs Capital, and Five Mile Capital purchased $8.8 billion, or 78% of GMAC, GM's commercial mortgage arm. The new entity, in which GMAC will own a 21% stake, will be known as Capmark Financial Group.

On April 3, 2006, GM announced that it would sell 51% of GMAC as a whole to a consortium led by Cerberus Capital Management, raising $14 billion over 3 years. Investors also include Citigroup's private equity arm and Aozora Bank of Japan. The group will pay GM $7.4 billion in cash at closing. GM will retain approximately $20 billion in automobile financing worth an estimated $4 billion over three years.

GM sold its 8% stake in Isuzu on April 11, 2006, to raise an additional $300 million.

On June 26, 2006, 35,000 GM workers had agreed to company buyouts, well over the company goal significantly reducing GM's operating costs and future liability. 12,600 workers from Delphi, a key supplier to GM, agreed to buyouts and an early retirement plan offered by GM in order to avoid a strike, after a judge agreed to cancel Delphi's union contracts. 5,000 Delphi workers were allowed to flow to GM.

Consumer advocates, activists, commentators, journalists, and documentary makers claim GM had deliberately sabotaged their company's zero emission electric vehicle efforts through several methods: failing to market, failing to produce appropriate vehicles, failing to satisfy demand, and using lease-only programs with prohibitions against end of lease purchase.

The process of obtaining GM's first electric vehicle the EV1 was difficult. The vehicle could not be purchased outright. Instead, General Motors offered a closed-end lease for three years, with no renewal or residual purchase options. The EV1 was only available from specialist Saturn dealerships, and only in California and Arizona. Before reviewing leasing options, a potential lessee would be taken through a 'pre-qualification' process in order to learn how the EV1 was different from other vehicles. Next came a waiting list with no scheduled delivery date.

Several weeks before the debut of the movie, the Smithsonian Institution announced that its EV1 display was being permanently removed and the EV1 car put into storage. GM is a major financial contributor to the museum, and both parties denied that this fact contributed to the removal of the display.

GM allege that during the four years available to the public, only 800 EV1's were released. Over $1 billion was spent on the EV1 program, with a great portion used for consumer incentives and marketing. With a waiting list of 5,000 applicants, only 50 individuals actually were willing to accept a lease on the EV1. Suppliers ceased production of replacement parts due to the low demand for the EV1. This made repairs and continued safety of the vehicles difficult.[citation needed]

General Motors (GM) has responded to allegations made in the film through a blog post entitled Who Ignored the Facts About the Electric Car? by Dave Barthmuss of their communications department. He does not address the movie directly, since he claims he has not seen it, but tells GM's side of the story

Sadly, despite the substantial investment of money and the enthusiastic fervor of a relatively small number of EV1 drivers - including the filmmaker - the EV1 proved far from a viable commercial success.

Barthmuss notes investments in electric vehicle technology since the EV1: Two-Mode Hybrid, plug-in hybrid, and fuel cell vehicle programs. The filmmakers suggested that GM did not immediately channel its technological progress with the EV1 into these projects, and instead let the technology languish while focusing on more immediately profitable enterprises such as SUVs.

Unlike the movie, GM is bullish on hydrogen, according to Barthmuss:

Although hydrogen fuel cell technology was cast as a pie-in-the-sky technology by the moviemakers, GM is making great progress in fuel cell research and development and is on track to achieving its goal to validate and design a fuel cell propulsion system by 2010 that is competitive with current combustion systems on durability and performance, and that ultimately can be built at scale, affordably.

According to GM, not all of the EV1's were destroyed. Many were donated to research institutions and facilities, along with museums. Some are still owned by General Motors themselves, and are kept at their Technical Design center in Warren, Michigan, and can occasionally be seen on the road within a close area of the tech center.

There is no other major automaker on the road offering a fully electric vehicle designed for everyday use on public transportation routes, however Think_Nordic, at one time under the ownership of Ford, have produced a range of electric vehicles in limited numbers.

Ford Motor Company
Ford Motor Company is an American multinational corporation and the world's third largest automaker based on vehicle sales in 2005. Based in Dearborn, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit, the automaker was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated in 1903. Ford now encompasses many global brands, including Lincoln and Mercury of the US, Jaguar, and Land Rover of the UK, and Volvo of Sweden. Ford also owns a one-third controlling interest in Mazda. Ford also recently purchased the Rover name (which is no longer in use) to keep others from using it to capitalize on Land Rover.

Ford has also been one of the world's ten largest corporations by revenue and in 1999 ranked as one of the world's most profitable corporations. In recent years, it has not fared as well and since 1995 has lost market share in the U.S. for eleven years in a row. In December 2006 the company announced that it expects Toyota to overtake it as the number 2 auto-maker in the US market. In Feb 2007, reports put Ford behind not only Toyota, but DaimlerChrysler AG in unit sales for January. Ford introduced methods for large-scale manufacturing of cars and large-scale management of an industrial workforce, especially elaborately engineered manufacturing sequences typified by moving assembly lines. Henry Ford's combination of highly efficient factories, highly paid workers, and low prices revolutionized manufacturing and came to be known around the world as Fordism by 1914.

Ford was launched in a converted wagon factory in 1903 with $28,964 in cash from twelve investors. During its early years, the company produced just a few Model As a day at its factory on Mack Avenue in Detroit, Michigan. Groups of two or three men worked on each car from components made to order by other companies. Ford and his company would go on to become the first to mass produce a product using machinery and assembly lines, rather than having the same workers doing the entire assembly of one vehicle. Henry Ford was 40 years old when he founded the Ford Motor Company, which would go on to become one of the largest and most profitable companies in the world, as well as being one of the few to survive the Great Depression. The largest family-controlled company in the world, the Ford Motor Company has been in continuous family control for over 100 years.

Corporate governance
Members of the board as of early 2007 are: Sir John Bond, Richard Manoogian, Stephen Butler, Ellen Marram, Kimberly Casiano, Alan Mulally (President and CEO), Edsel Ford II, Homer Neal, William Clay Ford, Jr., Jorma Ollila, Irvine Hockaday, Jr., John L. Thornton and William Clay Ford (Director Emeritus).

The main corporate officers are: Lewis Booth (Executive Vice President, Chairman (PAG) and Ford of Europe), Mark Fields (Executive Vice President, President [The Americas]), Donat Leclair (Executive Vice President and CFO), Mark A. Schulz (Executive Vice President, President [International Operations]) and Michael E. Bannister (Group Vice President; Chairman & CEO Ford Motor Credit Company).

By 2005, corporate bond rating agencies had downgraded the bonds of both Ford and GM to junk status, citing high U.S. health care costs for an aging workforce, soaring gasoline prices, eroding market share, and dependence on declining SUV sales for revenues. Profit margins decreased on large vehicles due to increased "incentives" (in the form of rebates or low interest financing) to offset declining demand.

In the face of falling truck and SUV sales, Ford moved to introduce a range of new vehicles, including "Crossover SUVs" built on unibody car platforms, rather than body-on-frame truck chasses. Ford also developed alternative fuel and high efficiency vehicles, such as the Escape Hybrid.

In December 2006, the company raised its borrowing capacity to about $25 billion, placing substantially all corporate assets as collateral to secure the line of credit. Chairman Bill Ford has stated that "bankruptcy is not an option", but economists have stated that the company's impending contract renewal with the United Auto Workers in the summer of 2007 could be brutal. The UAW has vowed to attempt to retain the jobs banks, a system which retains idled workers on the payroll, rather than laying them off, in order to maintain contracted US employment levels.

The automaker reported a net loss of $12.7 billion during 2006, and has estimated that it will not return to profitability until 2009.
"The Way Forward"
In the latter half of 2005, Chairman Bill Ford asked newly-appointed Ford Americas Division President Mark Fields to develop a plan to return the company to profitability. Fields previewed the Plan, dubbed The Way Forward, at the December 7, 2005 board meeting of the company; and it was unveiled to the public on January 23, 2006. "The Way Forward" includes resizing the company to match current market realities, dropping some unprofitable and inefficient models, consolidating production lines, and shutting fourteen factories and cutting 30,000 jobs.

These cutbacks are consistent with Ford's roughly 25% decline in U.S. automotive market share since the mid-late 1990s. Ford's target is to become profitable again in 2009, a year later than projected. Ford's realignment also includes the sale of its wholly owned subsidiary, Hertz Rent-a-Car to a private equity group for $15 billion in cash and debt acquisition. The sale was completed on December 22, 2005. A joint venture with Mahindra and Mahindra Limited of India ended with the sale of Ford's 15 percent stake in 2005.

Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Ford also became President of the company in April 2006, with the retirement of Jim Padilla. Five months later, in September, he stepped down as President and CEO, and naming Alan Mulally as his successor. Bill Ford continues as Executive Chairman, along with an executive operating committee made up of Mulally, Mark Schulz, Lewis Booth, Don Leclair, and Mark Fields.

Brands and marques
Today, Ford Motor Company manufactures automobiles under several names including Lincoln and Mercury in the United States. In 1958, Ford introduced a new marque, the Edsel, but poor sales led to its discontinuation in 1960. Later, in 1985, the Merkur brand was introduced; it met a similar fate in 1989.

Ford has major manufacturing operations in Canada, Mexico, the United Kingdom, Germany, Brazil, Argentina, Australia, the People's Republic of China, and several other countries, including South Africa where, following divestment during apartheid, it once again has a wholly owned subsidiary. Ford also has a cooperative agreement with Russian automaker GAZ.

Since 1989, Ford has acquired Aston Martin (which it sold again on 2007-03-12, but it will retain a $77 million stake in the sports car maker), Jaguar, Daimler (division of Jaguar), Land Rover, and Rover from the United Kingdom and Volvo Cars from Sweden, as well as a controlling share (33.4%) of Mazda of Japan, with which it operates an American joint venture plant in Flat Rock, Michigan called Auto Alliance. It has spun off its parts division under the name Visteon. Its prestige brands, with the exception of Lincoln, are managed through its Premier Automotive Group.

Ford's non-manufacturing operations include organizations such as automotive finance operation Ford Motor Credit Company. Ford also sponsors numerous events and sports facilities around the nation, most notably Ford Center in downtown Oklahoma City and Ford Field in downtown Detroit. It is also notable that both facilities share design aesthetics in addition to their common name and similar downtown location. Template:Quote needed

Overall the Ford Motor Company controls the following car marques: Daimler (as Jaguar division), Edsel, Ford, Jaguar, Lanchester (as Jaguar/Daimler division), Land Rover, Lincoln, Mazda, Mercury, Merkur, Rover (marque name only) and Volvo (passenger vehicles only).

Daimler Motor Company, Jaguar, Lagonda, Land Rover, Rover, and Volvo are controlled under the Premier Automotive Group.

At first, Ford in Germany and the United Kingdom built different models from one another until the late 1960s, with the Ford Escort and then the Ford Capri being common to both companies. Later on, the Ford Taunus and Ford Cortina became identical, produced in left hand drive and right hand drive respectively. Rationalization of model ranges meant that production of many models in the UK switched to elsewhere in Europe, including Belgium and Spain as well as Germany. The Ford Sierra replaced the Taunus and Cortina in 1982, drawing criticism for its radical aerodynamic styling, which was soon given nicknames such as "Jellymould" and "The Salesman's Spaceship."

Increasingly, Ford Motor Company has looked to Ford of Europe for its "world cars," such as the Mondeo, Focus, and Fiesta, although sales of European-sourced Fords in the U.S. have been disappointing. In Asia, models from Europe are not as competitively priced as Japanese-built rivals, nor are they perceived as reliable. The Focus has been one exception to this, which has become America's best selling compact car since its launch in 2000.

In 2001, Ford ended car production in the UK. It was the first time in more than eighty years that Ford cars had not been made in Britain, although production of the Transit van continues at the company's Southampton facility, engines at Bridgend and Dagenham, and transmissions at Halewood. Development of European Ford is broadly split between Dunton in Essex (powertrain, Fiesta/Ka, and commercial vehicles) and Cologne (body, chassis, electrical, Focus, Mondeo) in Germany. Ford also produced the Thames range of commercial vehicles, although the use of this brand name was discontinued circa 1965. It owns the Jaguar, and Land Rover car plants in Britain, which are still operational. Ford's Halewood Assembly Plant was converted to Jaguar production.

Elsewhere in continental Europe, Ford assembles the Mondeo range in Genk (Belgium), Fiesta in Valencia (Spain) and Cologne (Germany), Ka in Valencia, and Focus in Valencia, Saarlouis (Germany) and Vsevolozhsk (Russia). Transit production is in Kocaeli (Turkey), Southampton (UK), and Transit Connect in Kocaeli.

Ford also owns a joint-venture production plant in Turkey. Ford-Otosan, established in the 1970s, manufactures the Transit Connect compact panel van as well as the "Jumbo" and long wheelbase versions of the full-size Transit. This new production facility was set up near Kocaeli in 2002, and its opening marked the end of Transit assembly in Genk. Another joint venture plant near Setubal in Portugal, set up in collaboration with Volkswagen, assembles the Galaxy people carrier as well as its sister ship, the VW Sharan.

In Australia, the Commodore and Falcon outsell all other cars and comprise over 20% of the new car market. In New Zealand, Ford was second in market share in the first eight months of 2006 with 14.4 per cent.

Ford's presence in Asia has traditionally been much smaller. However, with the acquisition of a stake in Japanese manufacturer Mazda in 1979, Ford began selling Mazda's Familia and Capella (also known as the 323 and 626) as the Ford Laser and Telstar. The Laser was one of the most successful models sold by Ford in Australia, and outsold the Mazda 323, despite being almost identical to it. The Laser was also built in Mexico and sold in the U.S. as the Mercury Tracer, while the 1989 American Ford Escort was based on the Laser/Mazda 323. The smaller Mazda 121 was also sold in the U.S. and Asia as the Ford Festiva.

Through its relationship with Mazda, Ford also acquired a stake in South Korean manufacturer Kia, which later built the Ford Aspire for export to the United States, but later sold the company to Hyundai. Ironically, Hyundai also manufactured the Ford Cortina until the 1980s. Ford also has a joint venture with Lio Ho in Taiwan, which assembled Ford models locally since the 1970s.

Ford came to India in 1998 with its Ford Escort model, which was later replaced by locally produced Ford Ikon in 2001. It has since added Fusion, Fiesta, Mondeo and Endeavour to its product line.
South America
In South America, Ford has had to face protectionist government measures in each country, with the result that it built different models in different countries, without particular regard to rationalization or economy of scale inherent to producing and sharing similar vehicles between the nations. In many cases, new vehicles in a country were based on those of the other manufacturers it had entered into production agreements with, or whose factories it had acquired. For example, the Corcel and Del Rey in Brazil were originally based on Renault vehicles.

In 1987, Ford merged its operations in Brazil and Argentina with those of Volkswagen to form a company called Autolatina, with which it shared models. Sales figures and profitability were disappointing, and Autolatina was dissolved in 1995. With the advent of Mercosur, the regional common market, Ford was finally able to rationalize its product line-ups in those countries. Consequently, the Ford Fiesta and Ford EcoSport are only built in Brazil, and the Ford Focus only built in Argentina, with each plant exporting in large volumes to the neighboring countries. Models like the Ford Mondeo from Europe could now be imported completely built up. Ford of Brazil produces a pick-up truck version of the Fiesta, the Courier, which is also produced in South Africa as the Ford Bantam in right hand drive versions.

Following international condemnation of apartheid, Ford divested from South Africa in 1988, and sold its stake in Samcor, although it licensed the use of its brand name to the company. Samcor began to assemble Mazdas as well, which affected its product line-up, which saw the European Fords like the Escort and Sierra replaced by the Mazda-based Laser and Telstar. Ford bought a 45 per cent stake in Samcor following the demise of apartheid in 1994, and this later became, once again, a wholly owned subsidiary, the Ford Motor Company of Southern Africa. Ford now sells a local sedan version of the Fiesta (also built in India and Mexico), and the Focus and Mondeo Europe. The Falcon model from Australia was also sold in South Africa, but was dropped in 2003.

Ford's market presence in the Middle East has traditionally been even smaller, partly due to previous Arab boycotts of companies dealing with Israel. Ford and Lincoln vehicles are currently marketed in ten countries in the region. Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and the UAE are the biggest markets. Ford's distributor in Saudi Arabia announced in February 2003 that it had sold 100,000 Ford and Lincoln vehicles since commencing sales in November 1986. Half of the Ford/Lincoln vehicles sold in that country were Ford Crown Victorias. In 2004, Ford sold 30,000 units in the region, falling far short of General Motors' 88,852 units and Nissan Motors' 75,000 units.

Alternate fuel vehicles
Bill Ford was one of the first top industry executives to make regular use of an battery electric vehicle, a Ford Ranger EV, while the company contracted with the United States Postal Service to deliver electric postal vans based on the Ranger EV platform. The alternative fuel vehicles, such as some versions of the Crown Victoria especially in fleet and taxi service, operate on compressed natural gas - or CNG. Some CNG vehicles have dual fuel tanks - one for gasoline, the other for CNG - the same engine can operate on either fuel via a selector switch. Flexible fuel vehicles are designed to operate smoothly using a wide range of available fuel mixtures - from pure gasoline, to bioethanol-gasoline blends such as E85 (85% ethanol, 15% gasoline). Part of the challenge of successful marketing alternative and flexible fuel vehicles, is the general lack of establishment of sufficient fueling stations, which would be essential for these vehicles to be attractive to a wide range of consumers. Significant efforts to ramp up production and distribution of E85 fuels are underway and expanding.
Current Ford Flexible Fuel Vehicles:
Ford F-150

Ford Crown Victoria

Ford Focus / Focus C-MAX / Ford Focus FFV (Flexible-fuel vehicle).

Ford Taurus

Ford Ranger

Mercury Grand Marquis

Lincoln Town Car

Ford was third to the automotive market with a hybrid electric vehicle: the Ford Escape Hybrid, which also represented the first hybrid electric SUV to market. The Hybrid Escape will also be the first hybrid electric vehicle with a Flexible Fuel capability to run on E85. The company had made plans to manufacture up to 250,000 hybrids a year by 2010, but has since had to back down on that commitment, due to excessively high costs and the lack of sufficient supplies of the hybrid-electric batteries and drivetrain system components. Instead, Ford has committed to accelerating development of next-generation hybrid-electric power plants in Britain, in collaboration with Volvo, Jaguar, and Land Rover. This engineering study is expected to yield more than 100 new hybrid-electric vehicle models and derivatives. Ford is also planning to produce 250,000 E85-capable vehicles a year in the US, adding to some 1.6 million already sold in the last 10 years. Ford also has launched the production of hydrogen-powered shuttle buses, using hydrogen instead of gasoline in a standard internal combustion engine, for use at airports and convention centers.

At the 2006 Greater Los Angeles Auto Show, Ford showcased a hydrogen fuel cell version of its Explorer SUV. The Fuel cell Explorer has a combined output of 174 horsepower. It has a large hydrogen storage tank which is situated in the center of the car taking the original place of the conventional model’s automatic transmission. The centered position of the tank assists the vehicle reach a notable range of 350 miles, the farthest for a fuel cell vehicle so far. The fuel cell Explorer the first in a series of prototypes partly funded by the United States Department of Energy to expand efforts to determine the feasibility of hydrogen- powered vehicles. The fuel cell Explorer is one of several vehicles with green technology Ford being featured at the L.A. show, including the 2008 Ford Escape Hybrid, PZEV emissions compliant Fusion and Focus models and a 2008 Ford F-Series Super Duty outfitted with Ford's clean diesel technology.
Current and planned Ford hybrid electric vehicles:
2004– Ford Escape Hybrid

2006– Mercury Mariner

2008– Ford Fusion/Mercury Milan

2009– Ford Edge/Lincoln MKX

Ford was also criticized for wearing down Firestone tires during driving, which caused many wrecks during a short time period in 2003. Although Firestone received the blame, it was a public relations issue for Ford.

Ford's poor workmanship in the 70s and 80s inspired the joke acronyms Found on Road Dead and Fix or Repair Daily.
Auto racing. NASCAR Ford Fusion race car
Ford is a major player in the scene of auto racing and motorsports. It is one of four manufacturers in the three NASCAR series: Nextel Cup, Busch Series, and Craftsman Truck Series. Major teams include Roush Fenway Racing and Robert Yates Racing. Ford's racing teams debuted the Fusion race car, replacing the Taurus at the 2006 Daytona 500. Some of the most successful NASCAR Fords were the aerodynamic fastback Ford Torino and Mercury Montegos, and the aero-era Ford Thunderbirds.

Trans-Am. Ford has a storied history in the Trans-Am series from the 1970s through today, having won many championships and races with its Ford Mustang.

Drag racing. John Force has piloted his Drag Ford Mustang to several NHRA funny-car titles in recent seasons.

Indianapolis 500
Ford powered racing cars won the Indianapolis 500 17 times between 1965 and 1996.

Rubens Barrichello driving for the Stewart Grand Prix team in 1997

Ford currently holds the manufacturers title (2005) for Grand-Am with the FR500C Mustang race car.

Most of all these ventures are now extinct. The European one that lasted longer was the lorries arm of Ford of Britain, that was eventually sold to Iveco group in 1986, and whose last significant models were the Transcontinental an the Cargo.

In USA, Ford's heavy trucks division was sold in 1997 to Freightliner, now part of DaimlerChrysler, that rebranded it as Sterling. Ford kept on building light and medium trucks and recently introduced the CLF series, a badge engineered Mitsubishi Fuso.

Final result of all these decisions is that currently Ford is out of all heavy truck markets, with the top model of the medium-class Ford Cargo range, currently made in Brazil, being nowadays the Ford-badged commercial vehicle the most closer to a heavy truck.

Ford Transit bus van

Ford Minibus using F450 chassis

Ford Minibus using E350 (formerly Econoline 350)

Ford E350 Super Duty minibus

Ford Class C School Bus using B700 chassis

Commercial Bus

Ford Specialty Trolley

Transit/Suburban Bus

Ford G997

Ford R1014

Ford Trader

Ford Hawke

Ford ET7 with Casha bodywork

Ford 19B, 29B

Ford Collins School bus

Ford ET7 Aqualina
Clients include:
Toronto Transportation Commission

Kitchener Transit

Hamilton Street Railway

Ford Tractors
Ford started making tractors around 1907. Ford used to make a range of tractors at their Basildon plant in Essex, England. Ford has owned Versatile in the past. In 1986 the Ford motor company bought out New Holland and the new company was named Ford New Holland. This company was bought by Fiat and the name changed from Ford New Holland to New Holland. New Holland is now part of the CNH Group.
Peugeot
Early history
Peugeot is a major French car brand, part of PSA Peugeot Citroën.It is the second largest automaker in Europe, behind Volkswagen. Peugeot's roots go back to bicycle manufacturing at the end of the 19th century. Its headquarters are in Paris, Avenue de la Grande Armée.

Although the Peugeot factory had been in the manufacturing business for some time, their entry into the world of wheeled vehicles was by means of the bicycle. Armand Peugeot introduced the Peugeot "Le Grand Bi" penny-farthing in 1882 and a range of bicycles. Peugeot bicycles have been built until very recently, although the car company and bike company parted ways in 1926.

Armand Peugeot became very interested in the automobile early on, and after meeting with Gottlieb Daimler and others was convinced of its viability. The first Peugeot automobile (a three-wheeled steam-powered car) was produced in 1889, in collaboration with Léon Serpollet. Steam power was heavy and bulky and required lengthy preparation before running, so it was soon abandoned in favour of the petrol-fueled internal combustion engine.

1890 saw the first such vehicle, powered by a Daimler engine and with four wheels.

Further cars followed, twenty-nine being built in 1892. These early models were given Type numbers with the Type 12, for example, dating from 1895. Peugeot became the first manufacturer to fit rubber tires to a petrol-powered car that year (solid tires; pneumatic would follow in 1895). The vehicles were still very much horseless carriages in appearance and were steered by tiller.

1896 saw the first Peugeot engines built and fitted to the Type 15; no longer were they reliant on Daimler. Further improvements followed: the engine moved to the front on the Type 48 and was soon under a hood (bonnet) at the front of the car, instead of hidden underneath; the steering wheel was adopted on the Type 36; and they began to look more like the modern car.

In 1896 Armand Peugeot broke away from the family firm of Les Fils de Peugeot Frères and formed his own company, Société Anonyme des Automobiles Peugeot and built a new factory at Audincourt.

Peugeot added a motorcycle to its range in 1903, and motorcycles have been built under the Peugeot name ever since.

By that year, Peugeot produced half of the cars built in France. 1916 and 1919 saw repeat wins at Indianapolis.

During the first World War Peugeot turned largely to arms production, becoming a major manufacturer of arms and military vehicles, from bicycles to tanks and shells. Postwar, car production resumed in earnest; the car was becoming no longer just a plaything for the rich but accessible to many. 1926, however, saw the cycle (pedal and motor) business separate to form Cycles Peugeot - the consistently profitable cycle division seeking to free itself from the rather more boom-and-bust auto business.

Three interesting models of the thirties were the 202, 302 and 402. These cars had curvaceous bodies, with headlights behind sloping grille bars. The 402 entered production in 1935 and was produced until the end of 1941, despite France's occupation by the Nazis. The 302 ran from 1936-1938. The 202 was built in series from 1938 -1942, and about 20 more examples were built from existing stocks of supplies in February 1945. Regular production began again in mid-1946, and lasted into 1949.

The Second World War saw Peugeot's factories taken over for the German war effort, producing trucks and vans. The factories were heavily bombed.
Post war
In 1948 the company restarted in the car business, with the Peugeot 203. More models followed, many elegantly styled by the Italian design firm of Pininfarina. The company began selling cars in the United States in 1958. Like many European manufacturers, collaboration with other firms increased: Peugeot worked with Renault from 1966 and Volvo Cars from 1972.


Take over of Citroën and formation of PSA
In 1974 Peugeot bought a 30% share of Citroën, and took it over completely in 1975 after the French government gave large sums of money to the new company. Citroën was in financial trouble because it developed too many radical new models for its financial resources. Some of them, notably the Citroën SM and the Comotor rotary engine venture proved unprofitable. Others, the Citroën CX and Citroën GS for example, proved very successful in the marketplace.

The joint parent company became the PSA (Peugeot Société Anonyme) group, which aimed to keep separate identities for both Peugeot and Citroën brands, while sharing engineering and technical resources. Peugeot thus briefly controlled the valuable racing brand name Maserati, but disposed of it in May 1975 out of short term financial concerns.

Both Citroën enthusiasts and automotive journalists point out that the company's legendary innovation and flair took a marked downturn with the acquisition. The Citroën brand has continued to be successful in terms of sales, and now achieves over a million units annually.

Take over of Chrysler Europe
The group then took over the European division of Chrysler (which were formerly Rootes and Simca), in 1978 as the American auto manufacturer struggled to survive. Further investment was required because PSA decided to create a new brand for the entity, based of the Talbot sports car last seen in the 1950s. From then on, the whole Chrysler/Simca range was sold under the Talbot badge until production of Talbot branded passenger cars was shelved in 1986.

The flagship of this short-lived brand was the Tagora, a direct competitor for PSA's 604 and CX models. This was a large, angular saloon based on Peugeot 505 mechanicals.

All this investment caused serious financial problems for the entire PSA group: PSA lost money from 1980 to 1985. The Peugeot takeover of Chrysler Europe had seen the aging Chrysler Sunbeam, Horizon, Avenger and Alpine ranges rebadged as Talbots. There were also new Talbots in the early 1980s - the Solara (a saloon version of the Alpine hatchback), the Samba (a small hatchback to replace the Sunbeam).

1983 saw the launch of the popular and successful Peugeot 205, which is largely credited for turning the company's fortunes around.

1984 saw the first PSA contacts with The People's Republic of China, resulting in the successful Dongfeng Peugeot-Citroën Automobile venture in Wuhan.

In 1986, the company dropped the Talbot brand for passenger cars when it ceased production of the Simca-based Horizon/Alpine/Solara models. What was to be called the Talbot Arizona became the 309, with the former Rootes plant in Ryton and Simca plant in Poissy being turned over for Peugeot assembly. The former was significant, as it signalled the very first time Peugeots would be built in Britain. The Talbot name survived for a little longer on commercial vehicles until 1992 before being shelved completely.

As experienced by other European volume car makers, US sales faltered and finally became uneconomic, as the Peugeot 505 design aged. The newly introduced Peugeot 405 proved uncompetitive with models from Japan, and sold less than 1,000 units. Total sales fell to 4,261 units in 1990 and 2,240 through July, 1991. This caused the company to cease US operations after 33 years.

Beginning in the late 1990s, with Jean-Martin Folz as president of PSA, the Peugeot-Citroën combination seems to have found a better balance. Savings in costs are no longer made to the detriment of style.

On April 18, 2006, PSA Peugeot Citroën announced the closure of the Ryton manufacturing facility in Coventry, England. This announcement will result in the loss of 2,300 jobs as well as about 5,000 jobs in the supply chain

Peugeot is developing a diesel-electric hybrid version of the Peugeot 307 that can do 80 mpg. It is a 2-door cabriolet and is currently only in the concept stages, but it promises to be one of the most fuel efficient cars in the world if it ever reaches production.

The company has had much success in international rallying, notably with the durable Peugeot 504, the highly developed four-wheel-drive turbo-charged versions of the Peugeot 205, and more recently the Peugeot 206. The 206 rally car had a dramatic impact on the world rally championship, beating the Subaru Impreza, Ford Focus and Mitsubishi Lancer, cars which had traditionally dominated the sport. The 206 was retired practically unbeaten after several successful years, and replaced with the comparatively disappointing Peugeot 307 cc.

Throughout the mid -1990s, the Peugeot 406 saloon (called a sedan in some countries) contested touring car championships across the world, enjoying dominant success in France, Germany and Australia, yet failing to win a single race in the highly-regarded British Touring Car Championship despite a number of excellent podium finishes under the command of touring car legend Tim Harvey.

The British cars were prepared by Prodrive in 1996, when they sported a red livery, and by MSD in 1997-1998, when they wore a distinctive green and gold flame design. Initially the 406's lack of success was blamed on suspension problems, but it is now clear that the team was underfunded and the engine lacked power.

In 2001, Peugeot entered three 406 coupes into the British touring car championship to compete with the dominant Vauxhall Astra coupes. Unfortunately the 406 coupe was at the end of its product life-cycle and was not competitive, despite some flashes of form towards the end of the year, notably when Peugeot's Steve Soper led a race only to suffer engine failure in the last few laps. The 406 coupes were retired at the end of the year and replaced with the Peugeot 307 - again, uncompetitively - in 2002.

Until its withdrawal at the end of 2005, Peugeot entered the Peugeot 307 cc in the World Rally Championship. Peugeot won the grueling Paris Dakar Rally each year from 1987 to 1990.

In the 1990s the company competed in the Le Mans 24 Hours race, winning in 1992 and 1993 with the 905. It will be back in 2007, with the 908 powered by a diesel engine. Peugeot are also involved with the Courage C60 Le Mans racing team.

The company has also been involved in providing engines to Formula One teams, notably McLaren in 1994, Jordan for the 1995, 1996 and 1997 seasons, and Prost for the 1998, 1999 and 2000 seasons. Peugeot's F1 interests were sold to Asiatech at the end of the 2000 season.

This tradition began in 1929 with the launch of the 201, which followed the 190. All numbers from 101 to 909 have been deposited as trademarks. Although in 1963 Porsche was forced to change the name of its new 901 coupé to 911, certain Ferraris and Bristols have been allowed to keep their Peugeot-style model numbers. An unsubstantiated explanation for the central '0' is that on early models the number appeared on a plate on the front of the car, with the hole for the starting handle coinciding with the zero. More recently, on the 307 cc and the 607 the button to open the trunk is located in the '0' of the label.

For specific niche models such as minivans or SUVs, Peugeot is now using a four digit system, with a double zero in the middle. It was tested with the 4002 concept car. The 1007 used this system when it was launched in 2005, and the upcoming Peugeot Crossover SUV is named 4007.

Peugeot has also announced that after the 9 series, it would start again with 1, producing new 201, 301 or 401.Peugeot has produced three winners of the European Car Of The Year award.

1969: Peugeot 5041988: Peugeot 4052002: Peugeot 307

Other Peugeot models have come either second or third in the contest.

1980: Peugeot 505

1984: Peugeot 205

1996: Peugeot 406

1999: Peugeot 206

Other products: Peugeot also makes power tools, knives, pepper, and salt grinders.

Peugeot also produced bicycles starting in 1882 in Beaulieu, France (with ten Tour de France wins between 1903 and 1983) followed by motorcycles and cars in 1889. In the late 1980s Peugeot sold the North American rights to the Peugeot bicycle name to ProCycle in Canada (also known as CCM and better known for its ice hockey equipment) and the European rights to Cycleurope S.A. Peugeot remains a major producer of scooters in Europe.

Setting the Pace painted in 1909 by William Hardner Foster depicts the race between an Oldsmobile Limited and the 20th Century Limited

Oldsmobiles were first manufactured by the Olds Motor Vehicle Company in Lansing, Michigan, a company founded by Ransom E. Olds in 1897. In 1901, the company produced 425 cars, making it the first high-volume automobile manufacturer of the day. Olds became the top selling car company in the United States for a few years. Ransom Olds left the company in financial difficulties and formed the REO Motor Car Company. The last Curved Dash Olds was made in 1907. General Motors purchased the company in 1908.
Oldsmobile advances
Both before and after acquisition by General Motors, Oldsmobile became the entry level luxury division and was marketed for its technical sophistication. The list of "firsts" is quite extensive.

In 1893 Ransom Eli Olds' company (The predecessor of Oldsmobile) became the first American car company to export an automobile. It was a four wheeled steam powered vehicle sold to the Francis Times Company of India.

In 1901 two Oldsmobile innovations occurred. The first speedometer to be offered on a car was on an Oldsmobile. The United States Post Office Department ordered its first motor vehicles from Oldsmobile. Oldsmobile became one of the first car companies to procure parts from third-party suppliers. It was forced to do this when a fire destroyed the main Oldsmobile plant in Lansing, MI, and crippled the company's ability to build cars using its own parts. In this era Dodge Brothers and Cadillac founder Henry M. Leland's engineering company (Leland & Faulconer) built engines to Olds's specifications

In 1926 Oldsmobile began chrome plating the radiator surrounds and other parts on its cars. This was the first automotive use of chrome plating.

In 1929 Oldsmobile introduced the first monoblock V8 on its Viking model.

In 1932 Oldsmobile became the first to offer an automatic choke on an automobile.

In 1940 Oldsmobile introduced "Hydra-matic Drive," the first fully automatic transmission to be offered on a widely available automobile. This was the forerunner of the modern automatic transmission.

The 1949 Rocket engine was the first mass produced, high-compression OHV V8.

1962-1963 Oldsmobile Jetfire: Oldsmobile marketed the first turbocharged passenger car engine in its F-85 coupes and convertibles. The aluminum block 215 in³ V8 engine with turbocharger produced one horsepower per cubic inch.

While not the first American built passenger car to use front-wheel drive, the 1966 Toronado was the first of its type to prove successful in the American marketplace. It won the Motor Trend Car of Year award in 1966 for its unique and innovative styling.

In 1974 Oldsmobile became the first American car company to offer a driver's side airbag. It was available in the Toronado.

The 1978 model year saw the debut of Oldsmobile's 5.7-liter diesel V8, eventually available in all General Motors large and intermediate cars. A 4.3-liter diesel V6 from Oldsmobile would follow. Popular at first due to diesel's superior fuel economy, sales of GM cars with these diesel engines plummeted when diesel fuel became more expensive than gasoline and the engines proved to be extremely unreliable. Oldsmobile abandoned its diesel program in 1985 due to these factors. At the time GM exited the passenger diesel market, Oldsmobile had been working on an experimental diesel engine called "Tuned Induction Diesel" system. The system was innovative in its use of tuned port air induction to increase performance capabilities. It was never produced.

In 1988 Oldsmobile broke a world closed-course speed record with the Oldsmobile Aerotech, driven by legendary race car driver A.J. Foyt.

1989 also saw Oldsmobile introduce a heads up display option on the Cutlass Supreme International Series. It allowed drivers to view the speedometer reading on the inside of the windshield. This option later became available on the Corvette and Grand Prix.

The 1988 model year also saw the debut of Oldsmobile's "Quad 4," An Oldsmobile designed American-built four-cylinder, four-valves-per-cylinder engine.

Oldsmobile was also the first carmaker in the world to offer a GPS-based navigation system on a production automobile. The system, called GuideStar, was a $1,995 option on the 1996 Eighty-Eight LSS. This in turn led to the introduction of GM's current 'OnStar' system.In 1997 Oldsmobile turned 100 years old. It was the first American car company to reach this milestone on August 21,1997. A large 100th anniversary party was held in Lansing Michigan.

In 2001 the fully redesigned 2002 Oldsmobile Bravada SUV became the first truck ever to pace the Indianapolis 500. It was the eleventh and final time an Oldsmobile would pace the open-wheel race.

Oldsmobile was also early with other features, such as automatic headlight dimmers and the 1950s panoramic windshields. Their "Rocket 88" theme hood ornament treatment was also the reference name for their advanced over-head valve V - 8 engines, from 1949 onward. In the 1980 model year of California models, and in 1981 in the 49 other states, Oldsmobile introduced the first modern computer engine management system. While this was common across all GM divisions, this early system lasted almost unchanged the longest of any division. The Oldsmobile 307 cubic inch V8 engine with the computer controlled Quadrajet carburetor remained in production until 1990, meeting emissions standards without the benefit of electronic fuel injection.

In 1908 Oldsmobile became the first manufacturer to begin using nickel instead of brass trim.

The 1910 Limited Touring was a high point for the company. Riding atop 42 in wheels, and equipped with factory "white" tires, the Limited was the prestige model in Oldsmobile's two model lineup. The Limited retailed for US$4,600, an amount greater than the purchase of a new, no-frills three bedroom house. Buyers received goatskin upholstery, a 60 hp (45 kW) 707 in³ (11.6 L) straight-6 engine, Bosch Magneto starter, running boards and room for five. Options included a speedometer, clock, and a full glass windshield. A limousine version was priced at $5,800. While Oldsmobile only sold 725 Limiteds in its three years of production, the car is best remembered for winning a race against the famed 20th Century Limited locomotive, an event immortalized in the painting "Setting the Pace" by William Hardner Foster.
1939-1959
In the 1930s through the 1990s, Oldsmobile used a two digit model designation similar to that used by the European makes today. As originally implemented, the first digit signified the body size while the second represents the number of cylinders. Body sizes were 6, 7, 8, and 9, and 6- and 8-cylinder engines were offered. Thus, Oldsmobiles were named 66 through 98.

In the 1950s the nomenclature changed again, and trim levels also received names that were then mated with the model numbers. This resulted in the Oldsmobile 88 emerging as base Dynamic 88 the better trimmed Delta 88, and the highline Super 88. Other full-size model names included the "Holiday" used on hardtops, and "Fiesta" used on its station wagons. When the 98 was retired in the 1990s, its length of service was the longest of any model name used on American cars.

Ford styling consultant Alex Tremulis (designer of the 1948 Tucker Sedan) mocked the 1958 Oldsmobile by drawing cartoons of the car, and placing musical notes in the rear trim assembly. Another Detroit stylist employed by Ford bought a used 1958 Oldsmobile in the early 1960s, driving it daily to work. He detached and rearranged the OLDSMOBILE lettering above the grille to spell out SLOBMODEL as a reminder to himself and co-workers of what "bad" auto design meant to their business.

Notable models produced from 1939 to 1959:

Oldsmobile Series 60 Special - 66/68

Oldsmobile Series 70 Dynamic Cruiser - 76/78

Oldsmobile Series 90 Custom Cruiser - 96/98

Oldsmobile 88 (1949-1999) - Oldsmobile's standard model. Introduced with Oldsmobile's new overhead valve, high-compression Rocket V8, it gave the 88 a reputation for performance.

Oldsmobile Super 88 (1951 - 1964) - an upgraded 88 with a more powerful engine and luxurious interior trim.

Oldsmobile DeLuxe 88 (1952 - 1953) - lowest priced Oldsmobile model that replaced the original 88.

Oldsmobile 98 (1946-1997) - Oldsmobile's premium model.

Oldsmobile Fiesta (1953) - an ultra-luxurious and expensive convertible based on the 98 ragtop featured distinctive two-tone paint scheme and one of the first automobiles to feature the wraparound windshield that would appear on all Oldsmobiles (as well as Buicks and Cadillacs in 1954 and most other American cars by 1955). The Fiesta nameplate would reappear on Oldsmobile station wagons from 1957 to 1964.

Oldsmobile F88 (1954) - a concept car designed by Harley J. Earl. Out of four produced only one was not destroyed in the factory. The last one, styling order #2265 (which sold for $3 million at the 2005 Barrett-Jackson Auto Auction), was smuggled out of the factory in pieces, then rebuilt and either sold or given to E. L. Cord. The F88 was intended to be Oldsmobile's response to the Chevrolet Corvette, which was also designed by Harley Earl. GM terminated the project as it was a threat to its strong Corvette fanbase.

Oldsmobile Golden Rocket 88 (1957) - a one-year only nameplate used on Oldsmobile's lowest priced model.

Oldsmobile Dynamic 88 (1958 - 1966) - Oldsmobile's lowest priced line of full-sized cars, usually powered by a lower hp Rocket V8 engine than its Super 88 and 98 counterparts.

Oldsmobile Cutlass (1961 - 1999) - mid-size car. Oldsmobile's best seller in the 1970s and 1980s, and in some of those years America's best selling car. In 1966 a top-line Cutlass Supreme was introduced as a four-door hardtop sedan with a more powerful 320 hp 330 in³ Jetfire Rocket V8 than the regular F-85/Cutlass models, a more luxurious interior and other trimmings. In 1967 the Cutlass Supreme was expanded to a full series also including two-door hardtop and pillared coupes, a convertible and a four-door pillared sedan.

Oldsmobile F-85 (1961-1972) - compact sedan, coupe and station wagon powered by a 215 in³ aluminum block V8 engine from 1961 to 1963. In 1964 the F-85 was upgraded to an intermediate sized car and the aluminum V8 was replaced by conventional cast iron six-cylinder and V8 engines. The Cutlass was initially the top model of the F-85 line but became a separate model by 1964 with the F-85 nameplate continued only on the lowest priced models through the 1972 model year, after which all Oldsmobile intermediates were Cutlasses.

Oldsmobile Vista Cruiser (1964-1977) - a stretched wheelbase Cutlass station wagon, which was stretched to 120" from 115" in the 1964-67 models and to 121" from 116" in the 1968-72 models, the stretched area being in the second-row seating area. This car featured an elevated roof over the rear seat and cargo area and glass skylights over the rear seating area, which consisted of a transverse skylight over the second seat (two-piece from 1964-67, one-piece from 1968-72) and small longitudinal skylights directly over the rear cargo-area windows, and also featured standard second-row sunvisors. The three-seat models featured forward-facing seating, at a time when most three-seat station wagons had the third row of seats facing the rear. The third-generation 1973-77 models no longer had skylights other than an optional front-row pop-up sunroof. This car was merely a up-line trim package on the Cutlass Supreme wagon and carried the Vista Cruiser nameplate rather than the Cutlass nameplate. The optional third seat was rear-facing in the third-generation Vista Cruiser.

Oldsmobile Starfire (1961-1966) - a sporty and luxurious hardtop coupe and convertible based on the 88. The Starfire featured interiors with leather bucket seats and a center console with floor shifter, along with a standard Hydra-Matic transmission, power steering and brakes (and power windows and seats on convertibles). It was powered by Oldsmobile's most powerful Rocket V8 engine, a 394 in³ engine from 1961 to 1964 rated from 330 to 345 hp, and a larger 425 in³ Super Rocket V8 from 1965 to 1966, rated at 375 hp.

Oldsmobile Jetstar I (1964-1966) - a sporty hardtop coupe based on the 88/Starfire with a sporty interior, featuring Moroceen vinyl bucket seats and console along with the powerful 350 ci Rocket V8 as well as a 330 ci ultra high compression. It was offered as the lower priced alternative to the Starfire. Transmission offerings included a column shift three speed manual, a two speed powerglide, Hydra-Matic or four speed manual with a floor mounted Hurst shifter. (Note, between 1963 and 1966, Oldsmobile named its least expensive full size model the Oldsmobile Jetstar 88 which the Jetstar I was not related to, and priced $500-$600 below the Jetstar I.)

Oldsmobile Toronado (1966-1992) - a front-wheel drive coupe in the personal luxury car category, introduced in 1966. At the time, the largest and most powerful front wheel drive car ever produced, and one of the first modern front wheel drive cars equipped with an automatic transmission. The original Toronado was powered by a 425 in³ Super Rocket V8 engine rated at 385 hp, mated to a three speed Turbo Hydra-Matic transmission. The Toronado was Motor Trend magazine's 1966 "Car of the Year."
1970s-1980s
Oldsmobile sales soared in the 1970s and 1980s based on popular designs, positive reviews from critics and the perceived quality and reliability of the Rocket V8 engine, with the Cutlass series becoming the North America's top selling car by 1976. By this time, Olds had displaced Pontiac and Plymouth as the #3 best selling brand in the U.S. behind Chevrolet and Ford. In the early 1980s, model-year production topped one million units on several occasions, something only Chevrolet and Ford had achieved.

The soaring popularity of Oldsmobile vehicles resulted in a major issue in the late 1970s. At that time, each General Motors division produced its own V-8 engines, and in 1977, Oldsmobile, Chevrolet, Pontiac and Buick each produced a unique 350 cubic inch displacement V-8. The popularity of Oldsmobile models caused demand to exceed production capacity for the Oldsmobile V-8, and as a result Oldsmobile quietly began equipping some full size Delta 88 models with the Chevrolet 350 engine. Although it was widely debated whether or not there was a difference in quality or performance between the two engines, there was no question that the engines were different from one other. Many customers were loyal Oldsmobile buyers who specifically wanted the Rocket V-8, and did not discover that their vehicle had the Chevrolet engine until they performed maintenance and discovered that purchased parts did not fit. This became a public relations nightmare for GM. Disclaimers stating that "Oldsmobiles are equipped with engines produced by various GM divisions" were tacked on to advertisements and sales literature. GM quickly stopped associating engines with particular divisions, and to this day all GM engines are produced by "GM Powertrain" (GMPT). Although the popularity of the Oldsmobile division vehicles prompted this change, declining sales of V-8 engines would have made this change inevitable as all but the Chevrolet version were eventually dropped.

Oldsmobile 98 - Oldsmobile full-sized luxury sedan that was downsized in 1977 and 1985, became front wheel drive in 1985

Oldsmobile Toronado (1966-1992) - personal luxury coupe, major redesign downsized the car in 1986, Motor Trend Car of the Year in '66

Oldsmobile Omega (1973-1984) - compact car based on the Chevrolet Nova and later the Chevrolet Citation.

Oldsmobile Cutlass Ciera (1982-1996) - popular selling upscale mid-sized car based on GM's A platform.

Oldsmobile Custom Cruiser (1971-1992) - full-size station wagon.

Oldsmobile Starfire (1975-1981) - sporty compact car similar to the Chevrolet Monza, which was itself a spinoff of the Chevrolet Vega.

Oldsmobile Firenza (1982-1988) - compact sedan, hatchback, coupe, and station wagon based on GM's J-body, sharing the same bodyshell with the Chevrolet Cavalier, Pontiac Sunbird, Buick Skyhawk and the Cadillac Cimarron.

Oldsmobile Alero (1999-2004) - compact sedan & coupe

Oldsmobile Aurora (1995-2003) - luxury sedan

Oldsmobile Bravada (1991-2004) - SUV

Oldsmobile Cutlass (1997-1999) - mid-size sedan

Oldsmobile Eighty Eight (1949-1999) - full-size, premium sedan

Oldsmobile Intrigue (1998-2002) - mid-size sedan

Oldsmobile Silhouette (1990-2004) - minivan

Due to falling sales, General Motors announced in December 2000 they would phase out the Oldsmobile brand. The 2004 model year was to be Oldsmobile's last, with the last new Oldsmobile model being the GMT360-derived Bravada SUV introduced in 2002.

The phase-out was conducted on the following schedule:

Late 2001: The 2002 Bravada becomes the company's last new model

June 2002: production ends for Intrigue and the Aurora V6 sedans

May 2003: Aurora V8 sedan

January 2004: Bravada SUV production ends

March 2004: Silhouette minivan production ends

April 2004: Alero compact car production ends

The final 500 Aleros, Auroras, Bravadas and Intrigues produced received special emblems and markings which signified 'Final 500'. All were painted dark cherry red and came with special literature.

The final production day for Oldsmobile was April 29, 2004. The last car built was an Alero GL 4-door sedan, which was signed by all of the Olds assembly line workers. It is on display at the R.E. Olds Transportation Museum located in Lansing.

Oldsmobile is well remembered today as one of America's oldest marques, for its technological innovatations and for its tremendous popularity and sales in the 1970s and 1980s.

Oldsmobile models:
Circa 1980s Logo

Oldsmobile Curved Dash

Oldsmobile Limited Touring

Oldsmobile 40

Oldsmobile 53

Oldsmobile 66

Oldsmobile 88

Oldsmobile 98

Oldsmobile Series 60

Oldsmobile Series 70

Oldsmobile Series 90

Oldsmobile 442 (1968-1971)

Oldsmobile Cutlass (1964-1999)

Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme (1970-1997)

Oldsmobile Cutlass Salon

Oldsmobile Cutlass Calais (1985-1991)

Oldsmobile Cutlass Ciera (1982-1996)

Oldsmobile Custom Cruiser (1971-1992)

Oldsmobile Vista Cruiser (1964-1977)

Oldsmobile F-85 (1961-1963)

Oldsmobile Toronado (1966-1992)

Oldsmobile Starfire (1975-1980)

Oldsmobile Firenza (1982-1988)

Oldsmobile Aerotech(1987-?)

Oldsmobile Achieva (1992-1998)

Oldsmobile Alero (1999-2004)

Oldsmobile Aurora (1995-2003)

Oldsmobile Bravada (1991-2004)

Oldsmobile Intrigue (1998-2002)

Oldsmobile Silhouette (1990-2004)

"In My Merry Oldsmobile", a 1905 song with music by Gus Edwards and lyrics by Vincent P. Bryan; the song enjoyed a second round of popularity in the 1920s. This music is available in a short cartoon with same name, by Fleischer Studios

"Rocket 88", a 1951 song by Ike Turner said by many to be the first rock and roll record.

"You're Gonna Get Yours" from Public Enemy's 1987 debut album Yo! Bum Rush The Show, an ode to the Ninety-Eight.

Oldsmobile cars can also been seen in several popular movies:

Million Dollar Baby (2004) - Clint Eastwood's character, Frank Dunn, drives a beat-up early 1980s Oldsmobile Ninety Eight Sedan.

Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (film) (1978) A stretch Toronado Limo is usedThe Blues Brothers (1980) - During the famous chase scene inside the Dixie Square Mall, the Blues Brothers skid through the windows of an Oldsmobile showroom filled with 1980 models. As they pull away, Elwood remarks, "New Oldsmobiles are in early this year."

Any Which Way You Can (1980) - When Clint Eastwood arrives in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, for the big fight, his opponent and friend William Smith is driving a brand-new, red 1980 98 Regency sedan which is featured prominently in the end of the film.

The Great Muppet Caper (1981) - Though one is not featured in the film, Kermit, Gonzo, Fozzie, and Miss Piggy are in a very fancy restaurant, and when Kermit glances at the menu, he gasps, and when Miss Piggy asks "What?", Kermit says, "Oh nothing, it's just sort of amusing that the roast beef is the same price as an Oldsmobile."

Cheaper By The Dozen (2003) - Tom Baker (Steve Martin) gives his son Charlie (Tom Welling) a well-worn early 1980s Olds Cutlass Supreme.

A Christmas Story (1983) - Ralphie says, "Some men are Baptists, others Catholics, my father was an Oldsmobile man."

Lethal Weapon (1987) - Murtaugh drives a 1986 Oldsmobile Delta 88. 1985 Oldsmobile 98 Regency is seen as the villain's vehicle.

The Dead Pool (1988) - Clint Eastwood's character, Harry "Dirty Harry" Callahan, is pursued by a remote controlled bomb disguised as a radio controlled car through hilly San Francisco in a 1985 Oldsmobile 98 Regency .

Lethal Weapon 2 (1989) - Murtaugh is driving his wife's brand new Custom Cruiser station wagon, which is slowly and methodically destroyed throughout the movie.

Groundhog Day (1993) - An 1992 Olds Eighty Eight is briefly involved in a chase of Phil Conners (Bill Murray) who is driving a Chevrolet pickup.

Turner and Hooch (1989) - this comedy stars Tom Hanks as a police officer who is in charge of a dog that destroys the interior of Hank's character's 1989 Oldsmobile 88 Royale Brougham.

King of New York (1990) - A 1978-80 Ninety Eight Regency is used as a undercover vehicle by crooked NYPD narcotics where they pursue Frank White (Christopher Walken) in a mid-1980s Cadillac Fleetwood limousine. The Ninety Eight was totalled.

The Hunt for Red October (1990) - Alec Baldwin can be seen getting out of a dark-colored early 1980s 98 Regency just before he enters the White House briefing.

The Dark Half (1993) - The villain, George Stark (played by Timothy Hutton), is seen driving a jet-black 1966 Toronado in several scenes.

Demolition Man (1993) - Set mostly in the year 2032, a bright red 1970 Olds 442 is discovered by police officers John Spartan (played by Sylvester Stallone), Lenina Huxley (played by Sandra Bullock) and Alfredo Garcia (played by Benjamin Bratt) in the slums beneath San Angeles. Using an old elevator, the car bursts up through the floor of a modern-day Oldsmobile dealer, and Stallone's character drives it out of the showroom onto the street, beginning an extensive car chase scene. Many other GM cars and concept vehicles were used in the film including the GM Ultralite, which was featured prominently. Ironically, since Oldsmobile folded in 2004, the Oldsmobile dealer set in the year 2032 is now an anachronism. The dealer was also still using the early-90s version of the Oldsmobile logo, which was replaced only 3 years after the release of the film.

Get Shorty (1995) - John Travolta's character is incredulous at being given an Oldsmobile Silhouette minivan for a rental instead of his requested Cadillac, to which the rental clerk responds, "You got the Cadillac of minivans," a line oft-repeated outside of the movie.

Fargo (1996) - late 1980s Oldsmobile cars including the Cutlass Ciera and Ninety-Eight Touring Sedan were featured, as William H. Macy's character was general manager of his father-in-law's Oldsmobile dealership.

Memphis Bleek (2003) - 'Round Here' music video produced by Def Jam.

Kingpin (1996) - Roy Munson's car is a Cutlass convertible that he received new when he left home, but after several years pass, the car is in very questionable shape.

The X-Files (1998) - an Oldsmobile Intrigue was heavily used by the characters as part of a promotional tie-in between General Motors and the movie's producers. Earlier on in the series, Oldsmobile Cutlass Cieras were featured.

That 70's Show (1998-2006) features a 1969 Oldsmobile Vista Cruiser driven by lead character Eric Forman, and many scenes take place in or around "the Vista Cruiser".

Reindeer Games (2000) - a 1989 or 1990 Cutlass Ciera sedan is used as a getaway vehicle.

Agent Johnson destroying an Aurora during the famous freeway chase scene in The Matrix Reloaded.

According to Jim (2001-) Jim's best friend, Andy, drives an Intrigue.

The Matrix Reloaded (2003) - many Oldsmobiles are used as cameo vehicles, especially during the famous highway chase scene. Even though the characters never drive an Oldsmobile in the film, there was interaction between Oldsmobiles in the scene. There is one part when Agent Johnson jumps on top of the front of an Aurora, completely destroying the front end and causing the car to do a front flip and land on its roof. Another scene involves the Twins gunning down an Intrigue and shoving it into the divider wall, causing it to do a barrel roll and land on its roof.

Cars (2006) Piston Cup Championship Sportscaster Bob Cutlass, voiced by Bob Costas, is a 1999 Aurora.

Sam Raimi, the film director, tends to feature a yellow 1973 Oldsmobile Delta 88 as a cameo in many of his films, particularly the Evil Dead films where it is driven by main character Ash. This vehicle was personally owned by Raimi.

An Oldsmobile 88 is featured on the cover art and opening sequence of the video game Driver 2.

Marketing themes
Early on in their history, Olds enjoyed a healthy public relations boost from the 1905 hit song " In My Merry Oldsmobile". The well known song was updated in the fifties to sing about "The Rocket 88".

The strong public relations efforts by GM in the 1950s was epitomized in the Motorama auto show. The impact of that traveling show, was literally a "one company", auto-show extravaganza. Millions of Americans attended, in a spirit not unlike a "mini-World's Fair". Every GM division had a "Dream Car". Oldsmobile's dream/concept car was called "The Golden Rocket".

The Dr. Oldsmobile theme was one of Oldsmobile's most successful marketing campaign's in the early '70s, it involved fictional characters created to promote the wildly popular 442 muscle car. 'Dr. Oldsmobile' was a tall lean professor type who wore a white lab coat. His assistants included 'Elephant Engine Ernie' who represented the big block 455 Rocket engine. 'Shifty Sidney' was a character who could be seen swiftly shifting his hand using a Hurst shifter. 'Wind Tunnel Waldo' had slicked back hair that appeared to be constantly wind blown. He represented Oldmobile's wind tunnel testing, that produced some of the sleekest designs of the day. Another character included 'Hy Spy' who had his ear to the ground as he checked out the competition.

In the 1970s, the mid-size Oldsmobile Cutlass was the division's best-selling model, and for several years in the late 1970s and early 1980s, it was the best-selling car in America. But the sales of the Cutlass and other Oldsmobile models fell beginning in the 1990s. The brand was hurt by its image as old and stuffy, and this perception continued despite a public relations campaign in the late 1980s that proclaimed this was "not your father's Oldsmobile." Ironically, many fans of the brand say that the declining sales were in fact caused by the "this is not your father's Oldsmobile" campaign", as the largest market for Oldsmobiles was the population whose parents had in fact owned Oldsmobiles.

1909 The logical car at the logical price.

1921 Built to extend the fame of a good name.

1928 You can buy a bigger car but not a better one.

1930 Sound economy suggests Oldsmobile.

1931 This year own an Oldsmobile - the fine car of low price.

1932 Outstanding General Motors values in the medium price field.

1934 Leader in style .. leader in performance.. leader in value.

1935 The car that has everything.

1937 A beauty in armor.

1938 Step ahead and be money ahead!

1939 Setting the pace - different times, different models, but always top-flight performance.

1940 - 1941 Styled to lead - built to last.

1942 Fire-Power is our business - keep ‘em firing.

1943 -1945 “Count on me for ‘43 - to help keep ‘em rolling!” (Olds dealers of America)

1944 You can always count on Oldsmobile (service and dealer ads).

1946 The Drive that shifts for itself!

1948 A famous “Drive” in a Famous car.

1949 Make a Date with the “88.”

1950 Oldsmobile Rockets Ahead! Make a Date with a “Rocket 8!”

1951 Ride the “Rocket” and Save!

1953 The new ruling power of the road.

1954 There’s more than a touch of tomorrow in the Rockets of today.

1955 Oldsmobile Rockets ahead ... with flying colors!

1958 Presenting a new way of going places in the Rocket age...OLDSmobility!

1960 The most satisfying car you have ever owned!

1961 Sized right ... powered right ... priced right ...

1962 There’s something extra about owning an Olds.

1963 New style to invite you ... new luxury to delight you ... Rocket action to excite you!

1965 Pick the Rocket to fit your pocket!

1966 Step out front in 66 ... in a Rocket action Olds!

1968 Every Olds has to make it before we mark it (GM Mark of Excellence). Youngmobiles from Oldsmobile.

1970 The Escape Machines. Escape from the Ordinary.

1971 Oldsmobile - always a step ahead.

1972 - 1974 Not Just Another Pretty Car

1975 It’s a good Feeling to Have an Olds Around You

1976 - 1978 Can We Build One For You?

1978 In Man's Search for a New Measure of Excellence...

1979 - 1981 We’ve had one built for you.

1982 - 1983 Even Today, There’s Still Room To Do It In Style

1984 - 1986 There’s a special feel in an Oldsmobile.

1986 - 1988 Oldsmobile Quality. Feel it!

1989 - 1991 This Is The New Generation of Oldsmobile

1992 The Power of Intelligent Engineering.

1993 - 1997 It's Your Money, Demand Better

1999 - 2004 Start Something

He became president of a machine shop making ball bearings in 1899. In 1916 his company merged with United Motors Corporation which eventually became part of General Motors Corporation. He became Vice-President, then President (1923), and finally Chairman of the Board (1937) of GM. In 1934, he established the philanthropic, nonprofit Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. GM under Sloan became famous for managing diverse operations with financial statistics such as return on investment; these measures were introduced to GM by Donaldson Brown, a protege of GM vice-president John J. Raskob who was in turn the protege of Pierre du Pont - the DuPont corporation owned 43% of GM.

Sloan is credited with establishing annual styling changes, from which came the concept of planned obsolescence. He also established a pricing structure in which (from lowest to highest priced) Chevrolet, Pontiac, Oldsmobile, Buick and Cadillac did not compete with each other, and a buyer could be kept in the GM "family" as their buying power and preferences changed as they aged. These concepts, along with Ford's resistance to the change in the 1920's, propelled GM to industry sales leadership by the early 1930's, a position it retains to this day. Under Sloan's direction, GM became the largest and most successful and profitable industrial enterprise the world had ever known.

During Alfred P. Sloan's leadership of GM, many public transport systems of trams in the US were replaced by buses. This conversion was orchestrated by General Motors, Firestone Tire corp., Standard Oil of California, and the Mack Truck Co. in order to increase automobile sales; see General Motors streetcar conspiracy for details.

In the 1930s GM, long hostile to unionization, confronted its workforce, newly organized and ready for labor rights, in an extended contest for control. Sloan was averse to violence of the sort associated with Henry Ford. He preferred the subtle use of spying and had built up the best undercover apparatus the business community had ever seen up to that time. When the workers organized a massive sitdown strike in 1936, Sloan found that espionage had little value in the face of such open tactics.

The world's first university-based executive education program - the Sloan Fellows - was created in 1931 at MIT under the sponsorship of Sloan. A Sloan Foundation grant established the MIT School of Industrial Management in 1952 with the charge of educating the "ideal manager", and the school was renamed in Sloan's honor as the Alfred P. Sloan School of Management, one of the world's premier business schools. A second grant established a Sloan Fellows Program at Stanford Graduate School of Business in 1957. The program became the Stanford Sloan Master's Program in 1976, awarding the degree of Master of Science in Management. Sloan's name is also remembered in the Sloan-Kettering Institute and Cancer Centre in New York. In 1951, Sloan received The Hundred Year Association of New York's Gold Medal Award "in recognition of outstanding contributions to the City of New York."

Sloan maintained an office in 30 Rockefeller Plaza in Rockefeller Center, now known as the GE Building. He retired as GM chairman on April 2, 1956 and died in 1966.

Criticism
Recently, Sloan's work at GM has come under fire for causing a complicated accounting system to be placed upon American manufacturer's that prevents the implementation of lean manufacturing methods thus leading to companies which can not compete effectively with non-Sloan companies such as Toyota. In a nutshell, the thrust of the criticism is that by using Sloan's methods a company will value inventory just the same as cash and thus there is no penalty for building up inventory. However, carrying excessive inventory in the long run is detrimental to a company's operation and induces many hidden costs. (Waddell & Bodek 2005)

Another factor in the criticism is that Sloan considered people on the shop floor to be totally expendable as variable cost item to manufacturing. This view is the opposite of how Toyota views employees. Toyota looks for shop floor employees as their main source of cost savings and productivity improvements. (Waddell & Bodek 2005)

"The business of business is business."

“A car for every purse and purpose.”
Henry Ford
Henry Ford (July 30, 1863 – April 7, 1947) was the founder of the Ford Motor Company and father of modern assembly lines used in mass production. His introduction of the Model T automobile revolutionized transportation and American industry. He was a prolific inventor and was awarded 161 U.S. patents. As sole owner of the Ford Company he became one of the richest and best-known people in the world. He is credited with "Fordism", that is, the mass production of large numbers of inexpensive automobiles using the assembly line, coupled with high wages for his workers - notably the $5.00 a day pay scale adopted in 1914. Ford, though poorly educated, had a global vision, with consumerism as the key to peace. His intense commitment to lowering costs resulted in many technical and business innovations, including a franchise system that put a dealership in every city in North America, and in major cities on six continents. Ford left most of his vast wealth to the Ford Foundation, but arranged for his family to control the company permanently.

Early years. Ford was born on July 30, 1863 in a farm next to a rural town west of Detroit, (this area is now part of Dearborn, Michigan). His parents were from distant English descent but had lived in County Cork, Ireland. His siblings include: Margaret Ford (1867-1868); Jane Ford (c1868-1945); William Ford (1871-1917) and Robert Ford (1873-1934).

Henry took this passion about mechanics into his home. His father had given him a pocket watch in his early teens. At fifteen, he had a reputation as a watch repairman, having dismantled and reassembled timepieces of friends and neighbors dozens of times.

His mother died in 1876. It was a blow that devastated young Henry. His father expected Henry to eventually take over the family farm, but Henry despised farm work.[citation needed] And with his mother dead, little remained to keep him on the farm. He later said, "I never had any particular love for the farm. It was the mother on the farm I loved."

In 1879, he left home for the nearby city of Detroit to work as an apprentice machinist, first with James F. Flower & Bros., and later with the Detroit Dry Dock Co. In 1882, he returned to Dearborn to work on the family farm and became adept at operating the Westinghouse portable steam engine. This led to his being hired by Westinghouse company to service their steam engines.

Upon his marriage to Clara Bryant in 1888, Ford supported himself by farming and running a sawmill. They had a single child: Edsel Bryant Ford (1893-1943).

In 1891, Ford became an engineer with the Edison Illuminating Company, and after his promotion to Chief Engineer in 1893, he had enough time and money to devote attention to his personal experiments on gasoline engines. These experiments culminated in 1896 with the completion of his own self-propelled vehicle named the Quadricycle, which he test-drove on June 4 of that year. After various test-drives, Henry Ford brainstormed ways to improve the Quadricycle.

During this period, he personally drove one of his cars to victory in a race against Alexander Winton on October 10, 1901. In 1902, Ford continued to work on his race car to the dismay of the investors. They wanted a high-end production model and brought in Henry M. Leland to do it. Ford resigned over this usurpation of his authority. He said later that "I resigned, determined never again to put myself under orders."[3] The company was reorganized as the Cadillac Automobile Company.

Ford astonished the world in 1914 by offering a $5 a day wage that more than doubled the rate of most of his workers. The move proved extremely profitable. Instead of constant turnover of employees, the best mechanics in Detroit flocked to Ford, bringing in their human capital and expertise, raising productivity, and lowering training costs. Ford called it "wage motive." The company's use of vertical integration also proved successful, as Ford built a gigantic factory that shipped in raw materials and shipped out finished automobiles.

By 1918, half of all cars in America were Model T's. As Ford wrote in his autobiography, "Any customer can have a car painted any colour that he wants so long as it is black". Until the development of the assembly line which mandated black because of its quicker drying time, Model Ts were available in other colors including red. The design was fervently promoted and defended by Henry Ford, and production continued as late as 1927; the final total production was 15,007,034. This was a record which stood for the next 45 years.

In 1918 President Woodrow Wilson personally asked Ford to run for the Senate from Michigan as a Democrat. Although the nation was at war Ford ran as a peace candidate and a strong supporter of the proposed League of Nations. In December 1918 Henry Ford turned the presidency of Ford Motor Company over to his son Edsel Ford. Henry, however, retained final decision authority and sometimes reversed his son. Henry and Edsel purchased all remaining stock from other investors, thus giving the family sole ownership of the company.

By the mid-1920s, sales of the Model T began to decline due to rising competition. Other auto makers offered payment plans through which consumers could buy their cars, which usually included more modern mechanical features and styling not available with the Model T. Despite urgings from Edsel, Henry steadfastly refused to incorporate new features into the Model T or to form a customer credit plan.

Ford had been criticized by Wall Street for starting the 40 hour work week and a minimum wage. He proved, however, that paying people more would enable Ford workers to afford the cars they were producing, and therefore be good for the economy. Ford labeled the increased compensation as profit-sharing rather than wages. The wage was offered to men over age 22, who had worked at the company for 6 months or more, and, importantly, conducted their lives in a manner of which Ford's "Sociological Department" approved. They frowned on heavy drinking and gambling. The Sociological Department used 150 investigators and support staff to maintain employee standards; a large percentage of workers were able to qualify for the profit-sharing.

Ford was adamantly against labor unions in his plants. To forestall union activity, he promoted Harry Bennett, a former Navy boxer, to be the head of the Service Department. Bennett employed various intimidation tactics to squash union organizing. The most famous incident, in 1937, was a bloody brawl between company security men and organizers that became known as The Battle of the Overpass.

Ford was the last Detroit automaker to recognize the United Auto Workers union (UAW). A sit-down strike by the UAW union in April 1941 closed the River Rouge Plant. Under pressure from Edsel and his wife, Clara, Henry Ford finally agreed to collective bargaining at Ford plants, and the first contract with the UAW was signed in June 1941.

Ford's most successful aircraft was the Ford 4AT Trimotor - called the “Tin Goose” because of its corrugated metal construction. It used a new alloy called Alclad that combined the corrosion resistance of aluminum with the strength of duralumin. The plane was similar to Fokker's V.VII-3m, and some say that Ford's engineers surreptitiously measured the Fokker plane and then copied it. The Trimotor first flew on June 11, 1926, and was the first successful U.S. passenger airliner, accommodating about 12 passengers in a rather uncomfortable fashion. Several variants were also used by the U.S. Army. About 200 Trimotors were built before it was discontinued in 1933, when the Ford Airplane Division shut down because of poor sales due to the Depression.

An article G. K. Chesterton wrote for the December 11, 1915 issue of Illustrated London News, shows why Ford's effort was ridiculed. Referring to Ford as "the celebrated American comedian," Chesterton noted that Ford had been quoted claiming, "I believe that the sinking of the Lusitania was deliberately planned to get this country America into war. It was planned by the financiers of war." Chesterton expressed "difficulty in believing that bankers swim under the sea to cut holes in the bottoms of ships," and asked why, if what Ford said was true, Germany took responsibility for the sinking and "defended what it did not do." Mr. Ford's efforts, he concluded, "queer the pitch" of "more plausible and presentable" pacifists.

On the other hand H.G. Wells, in The Shape of Things to Come, devoted an entire chapter to the Ford Peace Ship, stating that "despite its failure, this effort to stop the war will be remembered when the generals and their battles and senseless slaughter are forgotten". Wells claimed that the American armaments industry and banks, who made enormous profits from selling munitions to the warring European nations, deliberately spread lies in order to cause the failure of Ford's peace efforts. He notes, however, that when the US entered the war in 1917 Ford himself took part in and made considerable profits from the sale of munitions.

The episode has recently been fictionalized by the British novelist Douglas Galbraith in his novel King Henry.

Along with the Protocols, anti-Jewish articles published by The Dearborn Independent were also released in the early 1920s as a set of four bound volumes, cumulatively titled The International Jew, the World's Foremost Problem. Vincent Curcio writes of these publications that "they were widely distributed and had great influence, particularly in Nazi Germany, where no less a personage than Adolf Hitler read and admired them. Hitler, fascinated with automobiles, hung Ford's picture on the wall; Ford is the only American mentioned in Hitler's book. Steven Watts writes that Hitler "revered" Ford, proclaiming that "I shall do my best to put his theories into practice in Germany," and modelling the Volkswagen, the people's car, on the model T."

Denounced by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), the articles nevertheless explicitly condemned pogroms and violence against Jews (Volume 4, Chapter 80), preferring to blame incidents of mass violence on the Jews themselves. None of this work was actually written by Ford, who wrote almost nothing according to trial testimony. Friends and business associates say they warned Ford about the contents of the Independent, and that Ford probably never read them. (He claimed he only read the headlines.) However, court testimony in a libel suit, brought by one of the targets of the newspaper, stated that Ford did indeed know about the contents of the Independent in advance of publication.

A libel lawsuit brought by San Francisco lawyer and Jewish farm cooperative organizer Aaron Sapiro in response to anti-Semitic remarks led Ford to close the Independent in December 1927. News reports at the time quoted him as being shocked by the content and having been unaware of its nature. During the trial, the editor of Ford's "Own Page", William Cameron, testified that Ford had nothing to do with the editorials even though they were under his byline. Cameron testified at the libel trial that he never discussed the content of the pages or sent them to Ford for his approval. Investigative journalist Max Wallace noted that "whatever credibility this absurd claim may have had was soon undermined when James M. Miller, a former Dearborn Independent employee, swore under oath that Ford had told him he intended to expose Sapiro.

Michael Barkun observed, 'That Cameron would have continued to publish such controversial material without Ford's explicit instructions seemed unthinkable to those who knew both men. Mrs. Stanley Ruddiman, a Ford family intimate, remarked that "I don't think Mr. Cameron ever wrote anything for publication without Mr. Ford's approval"'. According to Spencer Blakeslee,

The ADL mobilized prominent Jews and non-Jews to publicly oppose Ford's message. They formed a coalition of Jewish groups for the same purpose, and raised constant objections in the Detroit press. Before leaving his presidency early in 1921, Woodrow Wilson joined other leading Americans in a statement that rebuked Ford and others for their antisemitic campaign. A boycott against Ford products by Jews and liberal Christians also had an impact, and Ford shut down the paper in 1927, recanting his views in a public letter to Sigmund Livingston, ADL.

Ford subsequently became associated with the notorious anti-Semite Gerald L.K. Smith, who commented, upon meeting Ford in the 1930s, that he "was less anti-Semitic than Ford." Smith remarked that, in 1940, Ford showed "no regret" for the Independent's anti-Semitic views, and "hoped to publish The International Jew again some time." In the same year Ford told The Manchester Guardian that "international Jewish bankers" were responsible for World War II.

In July 1938, prior to the outbreak of war, the German consul at Cleveland gave Ford, on his 75th birthday, the award of the Grand Cross of the German Eagle, the highest medal that Nazi Germany could bestow on a foreigner, while James D. Mooney, vice-president of overseas operations for General Motors, received a similar medal, the Merit Cross of the German Eagle, First Class.

Distribution of International Jew was halted in 1942, but extremist groups often recycle the material; it still appears on antisemitic and neo-Nazi websites.

Without excusing Henry Ford's antisemitism, some facts tend to prove that in his private life he was in good term with almost every Jew he happen to knew personally. When he started buying antiques he went to a Jewish merchant, and his personal butcher at his mansion was a Jew. He was in excellent term with architect Albert Kahn. His factories employed 3000 Jews. A close collaborator of Henry Ford during World War II reported that Henry, at the time being more than 80 years old, was shown a movie of the Nazi concentration camps. He wasn't able to cope with what he saw and had a heart attack.

Ford's philosophy was one of economic independence for the United States. His River Rouge Plant would become the world's largest industrial complex, even able to produce its own steel. Ford's goal was to produce a vehicle from scratch without reliance on foreign trade. He believed in the global expansion of his company. He believed that international trade and cooperation led to international peace, and used the assembly line process and production of the Model T to demonstrate it. He opened Ford assembly plants in Britain and Canada in 1911, and soon became the biggest automotive producer in those countries. In 1912, Ford cooperated with Agnelli of Fiat to launch the first Italian automotive assembly plants. The first plants in Germany were built in the 1920s with the encouragement of Herbert Hoover and the Commerce department, which agreed with Ford's theory that international trade was essential to world peace. In the 1920s Ford also opened plants in Australia, India, and France, and by 1929, he had successful dealerships on six continents. Ford experimented with a commercial rubber plantation in the Amazon jungle called Fordlândia; it was one of the few failures. In 1929, Ford accepted Stalin's invitation to build a model plant (NNAZ, today GAZ) at Gorky, a city later renamed Nizhny Novgorod, and he sent American engineers and technicians to help set it up, including future labor leader Walter Reuther.

The technical assistance agreement between Ford Motor Company, VSNH and the Soviet-controlled American Trading Organization (AMTORG) (as purchasing agent) was concluded for nine years and signed on May 31, 1929, by Ford, FMC vice-president Peter E. Martin, V. I. Mezhlauk, and the president of Amtorg, Saul G. Bron. The Ford Motor Company worked to conduct business in any nation where the United States had peaceful diplomatic relations: Ford of Australia, Ford of Britain, Ford of Argentina, Ford of Brazil, Ford of Canada, Ford of Europe, Ford India, Ford South Africa, Ford Mexico, Autolatina, Mazda, Volvo Cars since 1999, Jaguar since 1990.

By 1932, Ford was manufacturing one third of all the world’s automobiles.

Ford's image transfixed Europeans, especially the Germans, arousing the "fear of some, the infatuation of others, and the fascination among all". Germans who discussed "Fordism" often believed that it represented something quintessentially American. They saw the size, tempo, standardization, and philosophy of production demonstrated at the Ford Works as a national service - an "American thing" that represented the culture of United States. Both supporters and critics insisted that Fordism epitomized American capitalist development, and that the auto industry was the key to understanding economic and social relations in the United States. As one German explained, "Automobiles have so completely changed the American's mode of life that today one can hardly imagine being without a car. It is difficult to remember what life was like before Mr. Ford began preaching his doctrine of salvation". For many Germans, Henry Ford himself embodied the essence of successful Americanism.
Racing

Ford began his career as a race car driver and maintained his interest in the sport from 1901 to 1913. Ford entered stripped-down Model Ts in races, finishing first (although later disqualified) in an "ocean-to-ocean" (across the United States) race in 1909, and setting a one-mile oval speed record at Detroit Fairgrounds in 1911 with driver Frank Kulick. In 1913, Ford attempted to enter a reworked Model T in the Indianapolis 500, but was told rules required the addition of another 1,000 pounds (450 kg) to the car before it could qualify. Ford dropped out of the race, and soon thereafter dropped out of racing permanently, citing dissatisfaction with the sport's rules and the demands on his time by the now-booming production of the Model Ts.

He was inducted in the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 1996.
Death
Ford suffered an initial stroke in 1938, after which he turned over the running of his company to Edsel. Edsel's 1943 death brought Henry Ford out of retirement. In ill health, he ceded the presidency to his grandson Henry Ford II in September 1945, and went into retirement. He died in 1947 of a cerebral hemorrhage at the age of 83 in Fair Lane, his Dearborn estate, and is buried in the Ford Cemetery in Detroit. Ironically, Henry Ford took that last ride to Ford Cemetery in a Packard.[citation needed] On the night of his death the River Rouge had flooded the local power station and had left Ford's house without electricity. Before going to sleep Henry and his wife lit candles and oil lamps to light the house. Later that evening, just before dawn, Henry Ford, father of mass production, died.

Quotations:

"History is more or less bunk"

"The only history worth a tinker's damn is the history we make today"

"If you think you can, you can. And if you think you can't, you're right."

"You can paint it any color, so long as it's black."

"As we advance in life we learn the limits of our abilities."

"Before everything else, getting ready is the secret of success."
Sidelights
Henry Ford long had an interest in plastics developed from agricultural products, especially soybeans. He cultivated a relationship with George Washington Carver for this purpose. Soybean-based plastics were used in Ford automobiles throughout the 1930s in plastic parts such as car horns, in paint, etc. This project culminated in 1942, when Ford patented an automobile made almost entirely of plastic, attached to a tubular welded frame. It weighed 30% less than a steel car, and was said to be able to withstand blows ten times greater than could steel. Furthermore, it ran on grain alcohol (ethanol) instead of gasoline. The design never caught on.

Ford was instrumental in developing charcoal briquets, under the brand name "Kingsford". Along with his brother in law, E.G. Kingsford used wood scraps from the Ford factory to make the briquets, adding backyard grilling as a pastime.

Ford maintained a vacation residence (known as the "Ford Plantation") in Richmond Hill, Georgia. He contributed substantially to the community, building a chapel and schoolhouse and employing a large number of local residents.

Ford had an interest in "Americana". In the 1920s, Ford began work to turn Sudbury, Massachusetts into a themed historical village. He moved the schoolhouse (supposedly) referred to in the nursery rhyme, Mary had a little lamb from Sterling, Massachusetts and purchased the historical Wayside Inn. This plan never saw fruition, but Ford repeated it with the creation of Greenfield Village in Dearborn, Michigan. It may have inspired the creation of Old Sturbridge Village as well. About the same time, he began collecting materials for his museum, which had a theme of practical technology. It was opened in 1929 as the Edison Institute and, although greatly modernized, remains open today.

Henry Ford is sometimes credited with the invention of the automobile, generally attributed to Karl Benz, and the assembly line, invented by Ransom E. Olds. Ford's employees did develop the first moving assembly line based on conveyor belts.

Ford was the winner of the award of Car Entrepreneur of the Century in 1999.

Henry Ford was especially fond of Thomas Edison, and, on Edison's deathbed, he demanded Edison's son catch his final breath in a test tube. The test tube can still be found today in Henry Ford Museum.

Henry Ford was convinced he had lived before, most recently as a soldier killed at the battle of Gettysburg.

A quote from the San Francisco Examiner from August 26, 1928 described Ford's beliefs:

"I adopted the theory of Reincarnation when I was twenty six. Religion offered nothing to the point. Even work could not give me complete satisfaction. Work is futile if we cannot utilise the experience we collect in one life in the next. When I discovered Reincarnation it was as if I had found a universal plan I realised that there was a chance to work out my ideas. Time was no longer limited. I was no longer a slave to the hands of the clock. Genius is experience. Some seem to think that it is a gift or talent, but it is the fruit of long experience in many lives. Some are older souls than others, and so they know more. The discovery of Reincarnation put my mind at ease. If you preserve a record of this conversation, write it so that it puts men’s minds at ease. I would like to communicate to others the calmness that the long view of life gives to us."

Daimler and his lifelong partner Wilhelm Maybach were two inventors whose dream was to create small, high speed engines to be mounted in any kind of locomotion device. They patented in 1885 a precursor of the modern petrol engine which they subsequently fitted to a two-wheeler, considered the first motorcycle and, in the next year, to a stagecoach, and a boat. They are renowned as the inventors of this Grandfather Clock engine.

Later, in 1890, they founded Daimler Motoren Gesellschaft (DMG). They sold their first automobile in 1892. Daimler fell ill taking a break from the company and upon his return experienced difficulty with the other stock holders that led to his resignation in 1893 that was reversed in 1894. Soon Maybach resigned also and he returned at the same time as Daimler. In 1900 Daimler died and Maybach quit DMG in 1907. In 1924, the DMG management signed a long term co-operation agreement with Karl Benz's Benz & Cie., and in 1926 the two companies merged to become Daimler-Benz AG, which is now part of DaimlerChrysler.
Early life (1834 to 1852)
Gottlieb Wilhelm Daimler was the son of a baker named Johannes Dauemler (Daimler) and his wife Frederika, from the town of Schorndorf near Stuttgart, Württemberg. By the age of thirteen (1847), he had completed his six years of primary studies in Lateinschule where he had also had additional drawing lessons on Sundays and expressed an interest in engineering. The next year, he started studying gunsmithing; building with his teacher, Riedel, a double-barreled gun.

Again, Daimler became restless in his studies as his main interest still lay in engineering. In 1852 when eighteen, he finally decided to take up mechanical engineering, and left his hometown.

After this, Daimler traveled through several European countries. In France, he studied the novel gas engine of J. J. Lenoir and also worked in other factories including one in Strasbourg, making locomotives and in another, making band saws.

In the United Kingdom, Daimler helped start engineering works in Oldham, Leeds, and Manchester (with Joseph Whitworth). Later, he also worked in Belgium. Finally, he returned to Germany, working as technical designer in a metal factory at Geislingen an der Steige, with the father of his friend Heinrich Straub.

At twenty-nine years old, in 1863, Daimler started in a special factory, a Bruderhaus in Reutlingen. It had charitable purposes, with a staff made up of orphans, invalids, and poor people. One of the orphans was Wilhelm Maybach, a qualified Industrial designer aged nineteen years who would become his lifelong partner.

In his free time Daimler had fun designing machinery, agricultural equipment, and also some scales. In 1867, he married Emma Kunz, a pharmacist's daughter. They were to have five sons among whom was Paul Daimler.

In 1869, at thirty-five, Daimler moved to Karlsruhe, to work at the engineering manufacturer, Maschinenbau-Gesellschaft Karlsruhe AG. Six months later, Maybach joined him as Technical Designer. Both inventors spent long nights discussing new designs for engines for pumps, lumber industries, and metal pressing.

In 1876, Otto invented the Four-stroke cycle also known as the Otto Cycle a system characterized by four piston strokes (intake, compression, power, and exhaust). Otto intended that his invention would replace the steam engines predominant in those years, even though his engine was still primitive and inefficient. Otto's engine was patented in 1877, but the patent was soon challenged and overturned. Unknown to Otto, Daimler, and Maybach, in Mannheim during 1878 Karl Benz was concentrating all his efforts on creating a reliable two-stroke gas engine based on the same principle. Benz finished his engine on December 31, 1878, New Year's Eve, and was granted a patent for his engine in 1879.

Meanwhile, serious personal differences arose between Daimler and Otto, reportedly with Otto being jealous of Daimler, because of his university background and knowledge. Daimler was fired in 1880, receiving 112,000 Gold-marks in Deutz-AG shares in compensation for the patents of both Daimler and Maybach. Maybach resigned later.
Daimler Motors: small, high speed engines (1882)
After leaving Deutz-AG, Daimler and Maybach began to work together. In 1882, they moved back to Stuttgart in Southern Germany, purchasing a cottage in Cannstatt's Taubenheimstrasse, with 75,000 Gold marks from the compensation from Deutz-AG. In the garden, they added a brick extension to the roomy glass-fronted summerhouse and this became their workshop. Eventually, their activities alarmed the neighbors who called the police and reported them as suspected counterfeiters. The police obtained a key from their gardener and raided the house in their absence, but found only engines.

In 1890 Daimler Motoren Gesellschaft (Daimler Engines Company) or DMG, was founded with Maybach as chief designer. Its purpose was the construction of small, high speed engines for use on land, water, and air transport. The three uses is the basis for the modern Mercedes-Benz logo of a three-pointed star.

Daimler and Maybach spent long hours debating how best to fuel Otto's Four-Stroke design, and turned to a byproduct of petroleum. The main distillates of petroleum at the time were lubricating oil, Kerosene (burned as lamp fuel), and Benzene (now known as Gasoline or Petrol), which up to then was used mainly as a cleaner and was sold in pharmacies.
The Grandfather Clock Engine (1885)
In late 1885, Daimler and Maybach developed the first of their engines, which is often considered the precursor of all modern petrol engines. It featured:

a single horizontal cylinder

air cooling

large cast iron flywheel

hot tube ignition system -patent 28022-

cam operated exhaust valves, allowing high speed operation

600 rpm running speed, beating previous engines which typically ran at about 120 to 180 rpm

In 1885, they created a carburetor which mixed gasoline with air allowing its use as fuel. In the same year Daimler and Maybach assembled a larger version of their engine, still relatively compact, but now with a vertical cylinder of 100 cm² displacement and an output of 1 hp at 600 rpm (patent DRP-28-022: "non-cooled, heat insulated engine with unregulated hot-tube ignition"). It was baptized the Grandfather Clock (Standuhr), because Daimler thought that it resembled an old pendulum clock.

In November 1885, Daimler installed a smaller version of this engine in a wooden bicycle, creating the first motorcycle (Patent 36-423impff & Sohn "Vehicle with gas or petroleum drive machine"). It was named the "riding car" ("Reitwagen"). Maybach rode it for 3 kilometers alongside the river Neckar, from Cannstatt to Untertürkheim, reaching 12 km/h (7 mph).

Also in 1885 Karl Benz built a three wheeled automobile and was granted a patent for it dated January 29, 1886.

On March 8, 1886, Daimler and Maybach secretly brought a stagecoach made by Wilhelm Wafter to the house, telling the neighbors that it was a birthday gift for Mrs. Daimler. Maybach supervised the installation of a larger 1.5 hp version of the Grandfather Clock engine into this and it became the first four wheeled vehicle to reach 16 km/h (10 mph). The engine power was transmitted by a set of belts. Like the motor cycle, it also was tested on the road to Untertürkheim where nowadays the Gottlieb-Daimler-Stadion is situated.

Daimler and Maybach also used the engine in other types of transport including:

on water (1887), by mounting it in a 4.5 meters long boat and achieving a speed of 6 knots (11 km/h). The boat was called the Neckar after the river it was tested on.

Boat engines would become Daimler's main product for several years. Daimler's balloon, usually regarded as the first airship, replaced a hand-operated-engine designed by a Dr. Friedrich Hermann Woelfert from Leipzig. With the new engine Daimler successfully flew over Seelberg on August 10, 1888.

They sold their first foreign licenses for engines in 1887 and Maybach went as company representative to the Paris World's Fair (1886 to 1889), to show their achievements.

- first Daimler-Maybach automobile (1889)

- Steel Wheel automobile 1889

- high speed four-stroke petrol engine

- fuel vaporization

- 2 cylinders V-configured

- mushroom shaped valves

- water-cooled

- 4 speed toothed gearbox

- pioneer axle-pivot steering system

Engine sales increased, mostly for boat use, and in June 1887, Daimler bought another property at Seelberg hill, Cannstatt. It was located some distance from the town on Ludwigstraße 67 because Cannstatt's mayor did not approve of the workshop which cost 30,200 gold marks. The new premises had room for twenty-three employees and Daimler managed the commercial issues while Maybach ran the Design Department.

In 1889, Daimler and Maybach built their first automobile that did not involve adapting a horse drawn carriage with their engine, but was somewhat influenced by bicycle designs. There was no production in Germany, but it was licensed to be built in France and presented to the public in Paris in October 1889 by both inventors. The same year, Daimler's wife, Emma Kunz, died.

Many German historians consider that this was Daimler's "pact with the devil". DMG expanded, but it changed. The newcomers, not believing in automobile production, ordered the creation of additional stationary building capacity, and also considered merging DMG with Otto's Deutz-AG.

Daimler and Maybach preferred plans to produce automobiles and reacted against Duttenhofer and Lorenz. Maybach was denied a seat on the Board and on February 11, 1891, left the company. He continued his design work as a freelance in Cannstatt from his own house, with Daimler's support, moving to the closed Hermann Hotel in the autumn of 1892 using its ballroom and winter garden, employing twelve workers and five apprentices.

Finally - in 1892 - DMG sold its first automobile. Gottlieb Daimler, at age fifty-eight, had heart problems and suffered a collapse in the winter of 1892/1893. His doctor prescribed a trip to Florence, Italy where he met Lina Hartmann, a widow twenty-two years his junior, and owner of the hotel where he was staying. They married on July 8, 1893, honeymooning in Chicago during its World Fair.

The disputes with Lorenz continued. Daimler attempted to buy 102 extra shares to get a majority holding, but was forced out of his post as technical director. The company also was in debt to the amount of 400,000 gold marks and the other directors threatened to declare bankruptcy if Daimler didn't sell them all his shares and all his personal patent rights from the previous thirty years. Daimler accepted the option, receiving 66,666 Gold-marks, resigning in 1893.

In 1894 at the Hermann Hotel, Maybach together with Daimler and his son Paul designed a third engine called the Phoenix and had DMG make it. It featured:

four cylinders cast in one block arranged vertically and parallelcamshaft operated exhaust valvesa spray nozzle carburetor - patented by Maybach in 1893-an improved belt drive system.

It became famous around the world and one fitted to a car won the petrol engine category of the first car race in history, the Paris to Rouen 1894.

The ill defined relationship between the inventors and DMG harmed the image of DMG's technical department. This continued until during 1894 when the British industrialist Fredrick Simms made it a condition of his 350,000 mark purchase of a Phoenix engine license, which would stabilize the company finances, that Daimler, now aged sixty, should return to DMG. Gottlieb Daimler received 200,000 gold marks in shares, plus a 100,000 bonus. Simms received the right to use the Daimler brand name. In 1895, the year DMG assembled its 1000th engine, Maybach also returned as chief engineer, receiving 30,000 in shares.

During this period, their agreed licenses to build Daimler engines around the world included:

France, from 1890, by Panhard & Levassor and Peugeot

USA, from 1891, by Steinway the German piano maker

United Kingdom, from 1896, by Frederick Simms as his Daimler Motor Company

Austria, by Austro Daimler

Daimler died in 1900 and in 1907 Maybach resigned from DMG. In 1918 discussions With DMG about collaboration were initiated by Karl Benz, but rejected by the managers. In 1924 they resumed, and an agreement was reached that shared resources but provided for the production of separate brands. In 1924 a merger took place for a new company, Daimler-Benz, that led to a new brand name for the products produced by both, Mercedes-Benz. Daimler-Benz merged with Chrysler in 1999, resulting in Daimler-Chrysler.
Trivia
In a letter to his wife in the 1870s there was historically significant remark. On a panoramic postcard of Cologne, Gottieb Daimler traced a three pointed star, writing: "one day this star will shine over our triumphant factories". The motto inspired Daimler and Maybach to use petrol engines in three ways, on land, water and air. After more than two decades, under Paul and Adolf Daimler's initiative, Daimler's star became the trademark of DMG-Mercedes.

Gottlieb Daimler was accepted into the Automotive Hall of Fame in 1978.

The UK patent rights to the Gottlieb Daimler engines and the use of the Daimler name were purchased in 1893 by Frederick Simms, he started a company of his own called the Daimler Motor Syndicate, which became the Daimler Motor Company in 1896. In 1960 the British Daimler brand name was acquired by Jaguar.

In Germany, Stuttgart's Gottlieb-Daimler-Stadion was the venue for six matches in the 2006 FIFA World CupGottlieb Daimler's motto was: “Nothing but the best.”

On the Neckar motorboat the first customers expressed fear that the petrol engine could explode, so Daimler hid the engine with a ceramic cover and told them that it was "Oil-Electrical".

Karl Friedrich Benz
Karl Friedrich Benz (December 6, 1844 – April 4, 1929) was a German engine designer and automobile engineer, generally regarded as the inventor of the gasoline-powered automobile. Other German contemporaries, Gottlieb Daimler and Wilhelm Maybach, also worked independently on the same type of invention, but Benz patented his work first and, after that, patented all of the processes that made the internal combustion engine feasible for use in automobiles. In 1886 Karl Benz was granted a patent for his first engine, which he designed in 1878.

In 1885, Benz created the Motorwagen, the first commercial automobile, powered by a gasoline engine, which was his own four-stroke design. The automobile had three wheels, being steered by the front wheel and with the passengers and the engine being supported by the two wheels in the rear - some now refer to it as the Tri-Car.

Among other things, he invented the speed regulation system known also as an accelerator, ignition using sparks from a battery, the spark plug, the clutch, the gear shift, the water radiator, and the carburetor.

In 1893 Karl Benz also introduced the axle-pivot steering system in his Victoria model. The Benz Victoria was designed for two passengers and intended to be sold for a lower cost to encourage mass production of the automobile.

In 1896, Karl Benz designed and patented the first internal combustion flat engine with horizontally-opposed pistons, which continues to be the design principle for high performance engines used in motorsports. This type of motor also is called a boxer engine, or, in German, a boxermotor.

Benz founded the Benz Company, precursor of Daimler-Benz, Mercedes-Benz, and DaimlerChrysler. Before dying he would witness the explosion of automobile use during the 1920s, thanks to his inventions.

Despite living near poverty, his mother strove to give him a good education. Benz attended the local Grammar School in Karlsruhe and was a prodigious student. In 1853, at the age of nine he started at the scientifically oriented Lyzeum. Next he studied in the Poly-Technical University under the instruction of Ferdinand Redtenbacher.

Benz had originally focused his studies on locksmithing, but eventually followed his father's steps toward locomotive engineering. On September 30, 1860, at age fifteen he passed the entrance exam for mechanical engineering at the University of Karlsruhe which he subsequently attended. He graduated on July 9, 1864.

During these years, while riding his bicycle he started to envision concepts for a vehicle that would eventually become the horseless carriage.

Following his formal education, Benz had seven years of professional training in several companies, but did not fit well in any of them. The training started in Karlsruhe with two years of varied jobs in a mechanical engineering company. He then moved to Mannheim to work as a draftsman and designer in a scales factory. In 1868 he went to Pforzheim to work for a bridge building company Gebrüder Benckiser Eisenwerke und Maschinenfabrik. Finally, he went to Vienna for a short period to work at an iron construction company.


Benz's Factory and his first inventions (1871 to 1882)
In 1871, at the age of twenty-seven, Karl Benz joined August Ritter in launching a mechanical workshop in Mannheim, also dedicated to supplying construction materials: the Iron Foundry and Mechanical Workshop, later renamed, Factory for Machines for Sheet-metal Working.

The enterprise's first year was a complete disaster. Ritter turned out to be unreliable and local authorities confiscated the business. Benz then bought out Ritter's share in the company using the dowry provided by the father of his fiancée, Bertha Ringer.

In July 20, 1872 Benz and Ringer married, later having five children: Eugen (1873), Richard (1874), Clara (1877), Thilde (1882), and Ellen (1890).

Despite such business misfortunes, Karl Benz led in the development of new engines. To get more revenues, in 1878 he began to work on new patents. First, he concentrated all his efforts on creating a reliable gas two-stroke engine, based on Nikolaus Otto's design of the four-stroke engine . A patent on the design by Otto had been declared void. Karl Benz finished his two-stroke engine on December 31, 1878, New Year's Eve, and was granted a patent for it in 1879.

Karl Benz showed his real genius, however, through his successive inventions registered while designing what would become the production standard for his two-stroke engine. Benz soon patented the speed regulation system, the ignition using sparks with battery, the spark plug, the carburetor, the clutch, the gear shift, and the water radiator.
Benz's Gasmotoren-Fabrik Mannheim (1882 to 1883)
Problems arose again when the banks at Mannheim demanded that Benz's Gas Factory enterprise be incorporated due to the high production costs it maintained. Benz was forced to improvise an association with photographer Emil Bühler and his brother (a cheese merchant), in order to get additional bank support. The company became the joint-stock company Gasmotoren Fabrik Mannheim in 1882.

After all the necessary agreements, Benz was unhappy because he was left with merely 5% of the shares and a modest position as director. Worst of all, his ideas weren't considered when designing new products, so he withdrew from that corporation just one year later, in 1883.

Benz & Cie. and the Motorwagen

Three wheels

Electric ignition

Differential rear end gears (mechanically operated inlet valves)

Water-cooled engine

Gas or petrol four-stroke horizontal engine

Single cylinder. Bore 116 mm, Stroke 160 mm

Patent model: 958 cc, 0.8 hp, 600 W, 16 km/h

Commercialized model: 1600 cc, ¾ hp, 8 mph

Steering wheel chained to front axle

Benz's lifelong hobby brought him to a bicycle repair shop in Mannheim owned by Max Rose and Friedrich Wilhelm Eßlinger. In 1883 the three founded a new company producing industrial machines: Benz & Company Rheinische Gasmotoren-Fabrik, usually referred to as, Benz & Cie. Quickly growing to twenty-five employees, it soon began to produce gas engines as well.

The company gave Benz the opportunity to indulge in his old passion of designing a horseless carriage. Based on his experience with, and fondness for, bicycles, he used similar technology when he created an automobile with a four-stroke engine of his own design between the rear wheels. Power was transmitted by means of two roller chains to the rear axle. Benz finished his creation in 1885 and named it the Benz Patent Motorwagen. It was the first automobile entirely designed as such, not simply a motorized carriage, which is why Karl Benz is regarded by many as the inventor of the automobile.

The beginnings of the Motorwagen in 1885 were less than spectacular. The tests often attracted many onlookers who laughed mockingly when it smashed against a wall because it initially was so difficult to control. The Motorwagen was patented on January 29, 1886 as DRP-37435: "automobile fueled by gas". The first successful tests were carried out in the early summer of 1886 on public roads. The next year Karl Benz created the Motorwagen Model 2 which had several modifications, and in 1887, the definitive Model 3 with wooden wheels was introduced.

Benz began to sell the vehicle - advertising it as the Benz Patent Motorwagen - making it the first commercially available automobile in history. The first customer, in late summer of 1888, is alleged later to have been committed to an insane asylum. The second buyer, the Parisian Emile Roger, who purchased an 1888 Benz, had a profound effect on Benz's success. Roger had been building Benz engines under a license from Karl Benz for several years, and in 1888, decided to add his automobiles to the line. Many of the early Benz automobiles were indeed built in France and sold by Roger, since the Parisians were more inclined to purchase automobiles at the time.

Early customers faced significant problems. At the time, gasoline was available only from pharmacies that sold it as a cleaning product, and they didn't stock it in large quantities. The early-1888 version of the Motorwagen had to be pushed when driving up a steep hill. This limitation was rectified after Berta Benz made her famous trip driving one of the vehicles a great distance and suggested to her husband the addition of another gear. The popular story goes that, on the morning of August 5, 1888, Berta Benz took this vehicle (without the knowledge of her husband), and embarked on a 106 km (65 miles) trip from Mannheim to Pforzheim to visit her mother, taking her sons Eugen and Richard with her. In addition to having to locate fuel at pharmacies on the way, she also overcame various technical problems and finally arrived at nightfall, announcing the achievement to Karl Benz by telegram. Today the event is celebrated in Germany with an antique automobile rally.

Benz's Model 3 made its wide-scale debut to the world in the 1889 World's Fair in Paris, and about twenty-five Motorwagens were built during the period between 1886 and 1893.

Because of its size, in 1899 the Benz & Cie. became a joint-stock company with the arrival of Friedrich Von Fischer and Julius Ganß, who came aboard as members of the Board of Management. Ganß worked in the commercialization department.

The new directors recommended that Karl Benz should create a less expensive automobile suitable for mass production. In 1893 Benz created the Victoria, a two-passenger automobile with a 3 hp engine, which could reach the top speed of 11 mph and a pivotal front axle operated by a roller-chained tiller for steering. The model was successful with 45 units sold in 1893.

In 1894 Benz improved this design in his new Velo model. This automobile was produced on such a remarkably large scale for the era - 1200 units from 1894 to 1901 - that it is considered the first mass-produced automobile. The Benz Velo also participated in the first automobile race: Paris to Rouen 1894.

In 1895 Benz designed the first truck in history, with some of the units later modified by the first bus company: the Netphener, becoming the first buses in history.

In 1896, Karl Benz was granted a patent for his design of the first flat engine with horizontally-opposed pistons - also called the boxer engine or boxermotor - his design created an engine in which the corresponding pistons reach top dead centre simultaneously, thus balancing each other with respect to momentum. Flat engines with four or fewer cylinders are most commonly boxer engines and also are known as horizontally opposed engines. This continues to be the design principle for high performance, automobile racing engines such as Porsches.

Although Gottlieb Daimler died in March of 1900 - and there is no evidence that Karl Benz and Daimler knew each other nor that they knew about each other's early achievements - eventually, competition with Daimler Motors (DMG) in Stuttgart began to challenge the leadership of Benz & Cie. In October of 1900 the main designer of DMG, Wilhelm Maybach, built the engine that would be used later, in the Mercedes-35hp of 1902. The engine was built to the specifications of Emil Jellinek under a contract for him to purchase thirty-six vehicles with the engine and for him to become a dealer of the special series. Jellinek stipulated that the new engine must be named, Daimler-Mercedes. Maybach would quit DMG in 1907, but he designed the model and all of the important changes. After testing, the first one was delivered to Jellinek on December 22, 1900. Jellinek continued to make suggestions for changes to the model and obtained good results racing the automobile in the next few years, encouraging DMG to engage in commercial production of automobiles, which they did in 1902.

Benz countered with his Parsifil automobile, introduced in 1903 with 2 vertical cylinders and a top speed of 37 mph. Then, without consulting Benz, the other directors hired some French designers. France was a country with an extensive automobile industry based on Maybach's creations. Because of this action, after difficult discussions, Karl Benz announced his retirement from design management on January 24, 1903, although he remained as director on the Board of Management through its merger with DMG in 1926 and, on the board of the new Daimler-Benz until his death in 1929.

Benz's sons Eugen and Richard left Benz & Cie. in 1903, but Richard returned in 1904 as designer of passenger vehicles.

By 1904 the sales of Benz & Cie. were up to 3480 automobiles and the company remained the leading manufacturer of automobiles. Along with continuing as a director of Benz & Cie., Karl Benz soon would found another company - with his son, Eugen - that was closely held within the family, manufacturing automobiles under another brand.

In 1909 the Blitzen Benz was built by Benz & Cie. and the racecar set a land speed record of 228.1 km/h, said to be "faster than any plane, train, or automobile" at the time. The racecar was transported to several countries, even to the United States, to establish multiple records of this achievement. The bird-beaked, aerodynamically-designed vehicle contained a 21.5-liter displacement, 200-horsepower engine. The land speed record of the Blitzen Benz was unbroken for ten years.
Benz-Söhne (1906 to 1923)
Karl Benz, Bertha Benz, and their son Eugen then moved to live in nearby Ladenburg, and solely with their own capital, founded the company Benz Sons (Benz-Söhne) in 1906, producing automobiles and gas engines. The latter type was replaced by petrol engines because lack of demand. This company never issued stocks publicly, building its own line of automobiles independently from Benz & Cie.

The Benz-Söhne automobiles were of good quality and became popular in London as taxis. In 1912, Karl Benz liquidated all of his shares in Benz-Söhne and left the company to Eugen and Richard, but remained as a director of Benz & Cie. On November 25, 1914, the 70 year-old Karl Benz was awarded an honorary Doctor title by the Karlsruhe University.

Almost from the very beginning of the production of automobiles, participation in sports car racing became a major method to gain publicity for manufacturers. At first, the production models were raced and the Benz Velo participated in the first automobile race: Paris to Rouen 1894. Later, investment in developing racecars for motorsports produced returns through sales generated by the association of the name of the automobile with the winners. Unique race vehicles were built at the time, as seen in the photograph here of the Benz, the first mid-engine and aerodynamically designed, Tropfenwagen, a "teardrop" body introduced at the 1923 European Grand Prix at Monza.

In the last year of the Benz-Shone company, 1923, three hundred and fifty units were built. Finally, in the following year, 1924, Karl Benz built two additional 8/25 hp units tailored for his personal use, which he never sold; they are still preserved.

The German economic crisis worsened. In 1923 Benz & Cie. produced only 1,382 units in Mannheim, and DMG made only 1,020 in Stuttgart. The average cost of an automobile was 25 million marks because of rapid inflation. Negotiations between the two companies resumed and in 1924 signed an Agreement of Mutual Interest valid until the year 2000. Both enterprises standardized design, production, purchasing, sales, and advertising—marketing their automobile models jointly - although keeping their respective brands.

On June 28, 1926, Benz & Cie. and DMG finally merged as the Daimler-Benz company, baptizing all of its automobiles Mercedes Benz honoring the most important model of the DMG automobiles, the 1902 Mercedes-35hp, along with the Benz name. The name of that DMG model had been selected after ten-year-old Mercedes Jellinek, the daughter of Emil Jellinek (by then one of DMG's partners) who had set the specifications for the new model. Karl Benz was a member of the new Board of Management for the remainder of his life. A new logo was created, consisting of a three pointed star (representing Daimler's motto: "engines for land, air, and water") surrounded by traditional laurels from the Benz logo, and was labeled Mercedes-Benz.

The next year, 1927, the number of units sold tripled to 7918 and the diesel was launched for truck production. In 1928 the Mercedes Benz SS was presented.

On April 4, 1929, Karl Benz died at his home in Ladenburg at the age of eighty-four from a bronchial inflammation in his lungs. Until her death on May 5, 1944, Bertha Benz continued to reside in their home. The Benz home has been designated as historic and is used as a scientific meeting facility for a nonprofit foundation that honors both Bertha and Karl Benz for their roles in the history of automobiles.
III. FUEL
Gasoline
Gasoline or petrol is a petroleum-derived liquid mixture consisting mostly of hydrocarbons and enhanced with benzene or iso-octane to increase octane ratings, used as fuel in internal combustion engines.

Most Commonwealth countries or former Commonwealth countries, with the exception of Canada, use the term "petrol" (abbreviated from petroleum spirit). The term "gasoline" is commonly used in North America where it is often shortened in colloquial usage to "gas". This should be distinguished in usage from genuinely gaseous fuels used in internal combustion engines such as liquified petroleum gas (which is stored pressurised as a liquid but is allowed to return naturally to a gaseous state before combustion). The term mogas, short for motor gasoline, distinguished automobile fuel from aviation gasoline, or avgas. The word "gasoline" can also be used in British English to refer to a different petroleum derivative historically used in lamps; however, this use is now uncommon.

Before internal-combustion engines were invented in the mid 19th century, gasoline was sold in small bottles as a treatment against lice and their eggs. At that time, the word Petrol was a trade name. This treatment method is no longer common, because of the inherent fire hazard and the risk of dermatitis.

In the U.S., gasoline was also sold as a cleaning fluid to remove grease stains from clothing. Before dedicated filling stations were established, early motorists would buy gasoline in cans to fill their tanks.

The name gasoline is similar to that of other petroleum products of the day, most notably petroleum jelly, a highly purified heavy distillate, which was branded Vaseline. The trademark Gasoline, however, was never registered, and thus became generic.

Gasoline was also used in kitchen ranges and for lighting, and is still available in a highly purified form, known as camping fuel or white gas, for use in lanterns and portable stoves.

During the Franco-Prussian War (1870–1871), pétrole was stockpiled in Paris for use against a possible Prussian attack on the city. Later in 1871, during the revolutionary Paris Commune, rumours spread around the city of pétroleuses, women using bottles of petrol to commit arson against city buildings.
Etymology
The word "gasolene" was coined in 1865 from the word gas and the chemical suffix -ine/-ene. The modern spelling was first used in 1871. The shortened form "gas" was first recorded in American English in 1905. Gasoline originally referred to any liquid used as the fuel for a gasoline-powered engine, other than diesel fuel or liquefied gas. Methanol racing fuel would have been classed as a type of gasoline.

The word "petrol" was first used in reference to the refined substance as early as 1892 (it previously referred to unrefined petroleum), and was registered as a trade name by English wholesaler Carless, Capel & Leonard. Although it was never officially registered as a trademark, Carless's competitors used the term "Motor Spirit" until the 1930s.

Bertha Benz used chemist shops to purchase the gasoline for her famous drive from Mannheim to Pforzheim in 1888. In Germany, gasoline is called Benzin. The usage does not derive from Bertha Benz, but from the chemical benzene.
Chemical analysis and production
Gasoline is produced in oil refineries. Material that is separated from crude oil via distillation, called virgin or straight-run gasoline, does not meet the required specifications for modern engines (in particular octane rating; see below), but will form part of the blend.

The bulk of a typical gasoline consists of hydrocarbons with between 5 and 12 carbon atoms per molecule.

Many of these hydrocarbons are considered hazardous substances and are regulated in the United States by OSHA. The MSDS (Material Safety Data Sheet) for unleaded gasoline shows at least fifteen hazardous chemicals occurring in various amounts from 5% to 35% by volume of gasoline. These include big names like benzene (up to 5% by volume), toluene (up to 35% by volume), naphthalene (up to 1% by volume), trimethylbenzene (up to 7% by volume), MTBE (up to 18% by volume) and about 10 others. Ref: (Tesoro Petroleum Companies, Inc.

The various refinery streams blended together to make gasoline all have different characteristics. Some important streams are:

Reformate, produced in a catalytic reformer with a high octane rating and high aromatic content, and very low olefins (alkenes).

Cat Cracked Gasoline or Cat Cracked Naphtha, produced from a catalytic cracker, with a moderate octane rating, high olefins (alkene) content, and moderate aromatics level. Here, "cat" is short for "catalyst".

Hydrocrackate (Heavy, Mid, and Light), produced from a hydrocracker, with medium to low octane rating and moderate aromatic levels.

Virgin or Straight-run Naphtha (has many names), directly from crude oil with low octane rating, low aromatics (depending on the crude oil), some naphthenes (cycloalkanes) and no olefins (alkenes).

Alkylate, produced in an alkylation unit, with a high octane rating and which is pure paraffin (alkane), mainly branched chains.

Isomerate (various names) which is obtained by isomerising the pentane and hexane in light virgin naphthas to yield their higher ocatane isomers.

(The terms used here are not always the correct chemical terms. They are the jargon normally used in the oil industry. The exact terminology for these streams varies by refinery and by country.)

Overall a typical gasoline is predominantly a mixture of paraffins (alkanes), naphthenes (cycloalkanes), aromatics and olefins (alkenes). The exact ratios can depend onthe oil refinery that makes the gasoline, as not all refineries have the same set of processing units:

the crude oil used by the refinery on a particular day;

the grade of gasoline, in particular the octane rating.

Currently many countries set tight limits on gasoline aromatics in general, benzene in particular, and olefins (alkene) content. This is increasing the demand for high octane pure paraffin (alkane) components, such as alkylate, and is forcing refineries to add processing units to reduce the benzene content.

Gasoline can also contain some other organic compounds: such as organic ethers (deliberately added), plus small levels of contaminants, in particular sulfur compounds such as disulfides and thiophenes. Some contaminants, in particular thiols and hydrogen sulfide, must be removed because they cause corrosion in engines.

In the United States, volatility is regulated in large urban centers to reduce the emission of unburned hydrocarbons. In large cities, so-called reformulated gasoline that is less prone to evaporation, among other properties, is required. In Australia, the volatility limit changes every month and differs for each main distribution center, but most countries simply have a summer, winter and perhaps intermediate limit.

Volatility standards may be relaxed (allowing more gasoline components into the atmosphere) during emergency anticipated gasoline shortages. For example, on 31 August 2005 in response to Hurricane Katrina, the United States permitted the sale of non-reformulated gasoline in some urban areas, which effectively permitted an early switch from summer to winter-grade gasoline. As mandated by EPA administrator Stephen L. Johnson, this "fuel waiver" was made effective through 15 September 2005. Though relaxed volatility standards may increase the atmospheric concentration of volatile organic compounds in warm weather, higher volatility gasoline effectively increases a nation's gasoline supply because the amount of butane in the gasoline pool is allowed to increase.
Octane rating. World War II and octane ratings
The most important characteristic of gasoline is its octane rating, which is a measure of how resistant gasoline is to premature detonation which causes knocking. It is measured relative to a mixture of 2,2,4-trimethylpentane (an isomer of octane) and n-heptane. There are a number of different conventions for expressing the octane rating therefore the same fuel may be labeled with a different number depending upon the system used.

World War II Germany received much of its oil from Romania. From 2.8 million barrels in 1938, Romania’s exports to Germany increased to 13 million barrels by 1941, a level that was essentially maintained through 1942 and 1943, before dropping by half, due to Allied bombing and mining of the Danube. Although these exports were almost half of Romania’s total production, they were considerably less than what the Germans expected. Even with the addition of the Romanian deliveries, overland oil imports after 1939 could not make up for the loss of overseas shipments. In order to become less dependent on outside sources, the Germans undertook a sizable expansion program of their own meager domestic oil pumping. After 1938, the Austrian oil fields were made available and the expansion of Nazi crude oil output was chiefly concentrated there. Primarily as a result of this expansion, the Reich's domestic output of crude oil increased from approximately 3.8 million barrels in 1938 to almost 12 million barrels in 1944. Even this was not enough.

Instead, Germany had developed a synthetic fuel capacity that was intended to replace imported or captured oil. Fuels were generated from Coal, using either the Bergius process or the Fischer-Tropsch process. Between 1938 and 1943, synthetic fuel output underwent a respectable growth from 10 million barrels to 36 million. The percentage of synthetic fuels compared to the yield from all sources grew from 22 percent to more than 50 percent by 1943. The total oil supplies available from all sources for the same period rose from 45 million barrels in 1938 to 71 million barrels in 1943.

By the early 1930s, automobile gasoline had an octane reading of 40 and aviation gasoline of 75-80. Aviation gasoline with such high octane numbers could only be refined through a process of distillation of high-grade petroleum. Germany’s domestic oil was not of this quality. Only the lead additive tetraethyl could raise the octane to a maximum of 87. The license for the production of this additive was acquired in 1935 from the American holder of the patents, but without high-grade Romanian oil even this additive was not very effective.

In the US the oil was not "as good" and the oil industry had to invest heavily in various expensive boosting systems. This turned out to have benefits: the US industry started delivering fuels of increasing octane ratings by adding more of the boosting agents and the infrastructure was in place for a post-war octane agents additive industry. Good crude oil was no longer a factor during wartime and by war's end, American aviation fuel was commonly 130 to 150 octane. This high octane could easily be used in existing engines to deliver much more power by increasing the pressure delivered by the superchargers. The Germans, relying entirely on "good" gasoline, had no such industry, and instead had to rely on ever-larger engines to deliver more power.

However, German aviation engines were of the direct fuel injection type and could use methanol-water injection and nitrous oxide injection, which gave 50% more engine power for five minutes of dogfight. This could be done only five times or after 40 hours run-time and then the engine would have to be rebuilt. Most German aero engines used 87 octane fuel (called B4), while some high-powered engines used 100 octane (C2/C3) fuel.

This historical "issue" is based on a very common misapprehension about wartime fuel octane numbers. There are two octane numbers for each fuel, one for lean mix and one for rich mix, rich being always greater. So, for example, a common British aviation fuel of the later part of the war was 100/125. The misapprehension that German fuels have a lower octane number (and thus a poorer quality) arises because the Germans quoted the lean mix octane number for their fuels while the Allies quoted the rich mix number for their fuels. Standard German high-grade aviation fuel used in the later part of the war (given the designation C3) had lean/rich octane numbers of 100/130. The Germans would list this as a 100 octane fuel while the Allies would list it as 130 octane.

After the war the US Navy sent a Technical Mission to Germany to interview German petrochemists and examine German fuel quality. Their report entitled Technical Report 145-45 Manufacture of Aviation Gasoline in Germany chemically analyzed the different fuels and concluded that "Toward the end of the war the quality of fuel being used by the German fighter planes was quite similar to that being used by the Allies".

Diesel is not used in a gasoline engine, so its low octane rating is not an issue; the relevant metric for diesel engines is the cetane number

A high octane fuel such as LPG has a lower energy content than lower octane gasoline, resulting in an overall lower power output at the regular compression ratio an engine ran at on gasoline. However, with an engine tuned to the use of LPG (ie. via higher compression ratios such as 12:1 instead of 8:1), this lower power output can be overcome. This is because higher-octane fuels allow for a higher compression ratio - this means less space in a cylinder on its combustion stroke, hence a higher cylinder temperature which improves efficiency according to Carnot's theorem, along with fewer wasted hydrocarbons (therefore less pollution and wasted energy), bringing higher power levels coupled with less pollution overall because of the greater efficiency.

The main reason for the lower energy content (per litre) of LPG in comparison to gasoline is that it has a lower density. Energy content per kilogram is higher than for gasoline (higher hydrogen to carbon ratio). The weight-density of gasoline is about 737.22 kg/m3.

Different countries have some variation in what RON (Research Octane Number) is standard for gasoline, or petrol. In the UK, ordinary regular unleaded petrol is 91 RON (not commonly available), premium unleaded petrol is always 95 RON, and super unleaded is usually 97-98 RON. However both Shell and BP produce fuel at 102 RON for cars with hi-performance engines, and the supermarket chain Tesco began in 2006 to sell super unleaded petrol rated at 99 RON. In the US, octane ratings in fuels can vary between 86-87 AKI (91-92 RON) for regular, through 89-90 (94-95) for mid-grade (European Premium), up to 90-94 (RON 95-99) for premium unleaded or E10 (Super in Europe)
Additives. Lead
The mixture known as gasoline, when used in high compression internal combustion engines, has a tendency to ignite early (pre-ignition or detonation) causing a damaging "engine knocking" (also called "pinging" or "pinking") noise. Early research into this effect was led by A.H. Gibson and Harry Ricardo in England and Thomas Midgley and Thomas Boyd in the United States. The discovery that lead additives modified this behavior led to the widespread adoption of the practice in the 1920s and therefore more powerful higher compression engines. The most popular additive was tetra-ethyl lead. However, with the discovery of the environmental and health damage caused by the lead, and the incompatibility of lead with catalytic converters found on virtually all US automobiles since 1975, this practice began to wane in the 1980s. Most countries are phasing out leaded fuel; different additives have replaced the lead compounds. The most popular additives include aromatic hydrocarbons, ethers and alcohol (usually ethanol or methanol).

In the U.S., where lead was blended with gasoline (primarily to boost octane levels) since the early 1920s, standards to phase out leaded gasoline were first implemented in 1973. In 1995, leaded fuel accounted for only 0.6 % of total gasoline sales and less than 2,000 tons of lead per year. From January 1, 1996, the Clean Air Act banned the sale of leaded fuel for use in on-road vehicles. Possession and use of leaded gasoline in a regular on-road vehicle now carries a maximum $10,000 fine in the United States. However, fuel containing lead may continue to be sold for off-road uses, including aircraft, racing cars, farm equipment, and marine engines until 2008. The ban on leaded gasoline led to thousands of tons of lead not being released in the air by automobiles. Similar bans in other countries have resulted in lowering levels of lead in people's bloodstreams.

A side effect of the lead additives was protection of the valve seats from erosion. Many classic cars' engines have needed modification to use lead-free fuels since leaded fuels became unavailable. However, "Lead substitute" products are also produced and can sometimes be found at auto parts stores.

Gasoline, as delivered at the pump, also contains additives to reduce internal engine carbon buildups, improve combustion, and to allow easier starting in cold climates.

In some parts of South America, Asia and the Middle East, leaded gasoline is still in use. Leaded gasoline was phased out in sub-Saharan Africa with effect from 1 January, 2006. A growing number of countries have drawn up plans to ban leaded gasoline in the near future.
MMT. Dye. Oxygenate blending
Methylcyclopentadienyl manganese tricarbonyl (MMT) has been used for many years in Canada and recently in Australia to boost octane. It also helps old cars designed for leaded fuel run on unleaded fuel without need for additives to prevent valve problems.

US Federal sources state that MMT is suspected to be a powerful neurotoxin and respiratory toxin, and a large Canadian study concluded that MMT impairs the effectiveness of automobile emission controls and increases pollution from motor vehicles.

In the United States the most commonly used aircraft gasoline, avgas, or aviation gas, is known as 100LL (100 octane, low lead) and is dyed blue. Red dye has been used for identifying untaxed (non-highway use) agricultural diesel. The UK uses red dye to differentiate between regular diesel fuel, (often referred to as DERV), which is undyed, and diesel intended for agricultural and construction vehicles like excavators and bulldozers. Red diesel is still occasionally used on HGVs which use a separate engine to power a loader crane. This is a declining practice however, as many loader cranes are powered directly by the tractor unit.

Oxygenate blending adds oxygen to the fuel in oxygen-bearing compounds such as MTBE, ETBE and ethanol, and so reduces the amount of carbon monoxide and unburned fuel in the exhaust gas, thus reducing smog. In many areas throughout the US oxygenate blending is mandatory. For example, in Southern California, fuel must contain 2% oxygen by weight. The resulting fuel is often known as reformulated gasoline (RFG) or oxygenated gasoline. The federal requirement that RFG contain oxygen was dropped May 6, 2006.

MTBE use is being phased out in some states due to issues with contamination of ground water. In some places it is already banned. Ethanol and to a lesser extent the ethanol derived ETBE are a common replacements. Especially since ethanol derived from biomatter such as corn, sugar cane or grain is frequent, this will often be often referred to as bio-ethanol. A common ethanol-gasoline mix of 10% ethanol mixed with gasoline is called gasohol or E10, and an ethanol-gasoline mix of 85% ethanol mixed with gasoline is called E85. The most extensive use of ethanol takes place in Brazil, where the ethanol is derived from sugarcane. Over 3,400 million US gallons (13,000,000 m³) of ethanol mostly produced from corn was produced in the United States in 2004 for fuel use, and E85 is fast becoming available in much of the United States. The use of bioethanol, either directly or indirectly by conversion of such ethanol to bio-ETBE, is encouraged by the European Union Directive on the Promotion of the use of biofuels and other renewable fuels for transport. However since producing bio-ethanol from fermented sugars and starches involves distillation, ordinary people in much of Europe cannot ferment and distill their own bio-ethanol at present (unlike in the US where getting a BATF distillation permit has been easy since the 1973 oil crisis.)

Health concerns
Many of the non-aliphatic hydrocarbons naturally present in gasoline (especially aromatic ones like benzene), as well as many anti-knocking additives, are carcinogenic. Because of this, any large-scale or ongoing leaks of gasoline pose a threat to the public's health and the environment, should the gasoline reach a public supply of drinking water. The chief risks of such leaks come not from vehicles, but from gasoline delivery truck accidents and leaks from storage tanks. Because of this risk, most (underground) storage tanks now have extensive measures in place to detect and prevent any such leaks, such as sacrificial anodes. Gasoline is rather volatile (meaning it readily evaporates), requiring that storage tanks on land and in vehicles be properly sealed. The high volatility also means that it will easily ignite in cold weather conditions, unlike diesel for example. Appropriate venting is needed to ensure the level of pressure is similar on the inside and outside. Gasoline also reacts dangerously with certain common chemicals; for example, gasoline and crystal Drāno (sodium hydroxide) react together in a spontaneous combustion.

Gasoline is also one of the sources of pollutant gases. Even gasoline which does not contain lead or sulfur compounds produces carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxides, and carbon monoxide in the exhaust of the engine which is running on it. Furthermore, unburnt gasoline and evaporation from the tank, when in the atmosphere, react in sunlight to produce photochemical smog. Addition of ethanol increases the volatility of gasoline.

Through misuse as an inhalant, gasoline also contributes to damage to health. Petrol sniffing is a common way of obtaining a high for many people and has become epidemic in many poorer communities such as with Indigenous Australians and Canadians. In response, Opal fuel has been developed by the BP Kwinana Refinery in Australia, and contains only 5% aromatics (unlike the usual 25%) which inhibits the effects of inhalation.
Usage and pricing. Stability
The United States uses 360 million US liquid gallons (1.36 gigalitres) of gasoline each day. Western countries have among the highest usage rates per person. Some countries, e.g. in Europe and Japan, impose heavy fuel taxes on fuels such as gasoline. Because a greater proportion of the price of gasoline in the United States is due to the cost of oil, rather than taxes, the price of the retail product is subject to greater fluctuations (vs. outside the U.S.) when calculated as a percentage of cost-per-unit, but is actually less variable in absolute terms.

When gasoline is left for a certain period of time, gums and varnishes may build up and precipitate in the gasoline, causing "stale fuel." This will cause gums to build up in the cylinders and also the fuel lines, making it harder to start the engine. Gums and varnishes should be removed by a professional to extend engine life. Motor gasoline may be stored up to 60 days in an approved container. If it is to be stored for a longer period of time, a fuel stabilizer may be used. This will extend the life of the fuel to about 1-2 years, and keep it fresh for the next uses. Fuel stabilizer is commonly used for small engines such as lawnmower and tractor engines to promote quicker and more reliable starting.

Biobutanol, for gasoline engines.

Bioethanol and E85.

Hydrogen fuel.

Hybridengines, fuel saving.

Biodiesel
Biodiesel refers to a diesel-equivalent, processed fuel derived from biological sources (such as vegetable oils), which can be used in unmodified diesel-engined vehicles. It is thus distinguished from the straight vegetable oils (SVO) or waste vegetable oils (WVO) used as fuels in some diesel vehicles.

In this article's context, biodiesel refers to alkyl esters made from the transesterification of vegetable oils or animal fats. Biodiesel is biodegradable and non-toxic, and typically produces about 60% less net carbon dioxide emissions than petroleum-based diesel, as it is itself produced from atmospheric carbon dioxide via photosynthesis in plants. Pure biodiesel is available at many gas stations in Europe.

Some vehicle manufacturers are positive about the use of biodiesel, citing lower engine wear as one of the benefits of this fuel. However, as biodiesel is a better solvent than standard diesel, it 'cleans' the engine, removing deposits in the fuel lines, and this may cause blockages in the fuel injectors. For this reason, car manufacturers recommend that the fuel filter is changed a few months after switching to biodiesel (this part is often replaced anyway in regular servicing). Most manufacturers release lists of the cars which will run on 100% biodiesel.

Other vehicle manufacturers remain cautious over use of biodiesel. In the UK many only maintain their engine warranties for use with maximum 5% biodiesel - blended in with 95% conventional diesel - although this position is generally considered to be overly cautious. Peugeot and Citroën are exceptions in that they have both recently announced that their HDI diesel engine can run on 30% biodiesel. Scania and Volkswagen are other exceptions, allowing most of their engines to operate on 100% biodiesel.

Biodiesel can also be used as a heating fuel in domestic and commercial boilers. Existing oil boilers may require conversion to run on biodiesel, but the conversion process is believed to be relatively simple.

Biodiesel can be distributed using today's infrastructure, and its use and production are increasing rapidly. Fuel stations are beginning to make biodiesel available to consumers, and a growing number of transport fleets use it as an additive in their fuel. Biodiesel is generally more expensive to purchase than petroleum diesel but this differential may diminish due to economies of scale, the rising cost of petroleum and government tax subsidies. In Germany, biodiesel is generally cheaper than normal diesel at gas stations that sell both products.

Biodiesel is a light to dark yellow liquid. It is practically immiscible with water, has a high boiling point and low vapor pressure. Typical methyl ester biodiesel has a flash point of ~ 150 °C (300 °F), making it rather non-flammable. Biodiesel has a density of ~ 0.88 g/cm³, less than that of water. Biodiesel uncontaminated with starting material can be regarded as non-toxic.

Biodiesel has a viscosity similar to petrodiesel, the industry term for diesel produced from petroleum. It can be used as an additive in formulations of diesel to increase the lubricity of pure Ultra-Low Sulfur Diesel (ULSD) fuel, although care must be taken to ensure that the biodiesel used does not increase the sulfur content of the mixture above 15 ppm. Much of the world uses a system known as the "B" factor to state the amount of biodiesel in any fuel mix, in contrast to the "BA" or "E" system used for ethanol mixes. For example, fuel containing 20% biodiesel is labeled B20. Pure biodiesel is referred to as B100.

Biodiesel is a renewable fuel that can be manufactured from algae, vegetable oils, animal fats or recycled restaurant greases; it can be produced locally in most countries. It is safe, biodegradable and reduces air pollutants, such as particulates, carbon monoxide and hydrocarbons. Blends of 20 percent biodiesel with 80 percent petroleum diesel (B20) can generally be used in unmodified diesel engines. Biodiesel can also be used in its pure form (B100), but may require certain engine modifications to avoid maintenance and performance problems. The industry standard for the amount of time it takes to produce biodiesel used to be 4 hours, but a San Antonio based company is currently experimenting, and has claimed to produce biodiesel fuel in a fraction of what it formerly was, with a 1.4 minute contact time.

Historical background
Transesterification of a vegetable oil was conducted as early as 1853 by scientists E. Duffy and J. Patrick, many years before the first diesel engine became functional. Rudolf Diesel's prime model, a single 10 ft (3 m) iron cylinder with a flywheel at its base, ran on its own power for the first time in Augsburg, Germany on August 10, 1893. In remembrance of this event, August 10 has been declared "International Biodiesel Day". Diesel later demonstrated his engine and received the Grand Prix (highest prize) at the World Fair in Paris, France in 1900.

This engine stood as an example of Diesel's vision because it was powered by peanut oil — a biofuel, though not biodiesel, since it was not transesterified. He believed that the utilization of biomass fuel was the real future of his engine. In a 1912 speech Diesel said, "the use of vegetable oils for engine fuels may seem insignificant today but such oils may become, in the course of time, as important as petroleum and the coal-tar products of the present time".

During the 1920s, diesel engine manufacturers altered their engines to utilize the lower viscosity of petrodiesel (a fossil fuel), rather than vegetable oil (a biomass fuel). The petroleum industries were able to make inroads in fuel markets because their fuel was much cheaper to produce than the biomass alternatives. The result, for many years, was a near elimination of the biomass fuel production infrastructure. Only recently have environmental impact concerns and a decreasing cost differential made biomass fuels such as biodiesel a growing alternative.

In 1977, Brazilian scientist Expedito Parente produced biodiesel through the use of transesterification and ethanol. This process, the first patented in the world, is classified as Biodiesel by international norms, conferring a "standardized identity and quality. No other proposed biofuel has been validated by the motor industry". Currently, Parente's company Tecbio is working with Boeing and NASA to certify bioquerosene, another product produced and patented by the Brazilian scientist.

Research into the use of transesterified sunflower oil, and refining it to diesel fuel standards, was initiated in South Africa in 1979. By 1983 the process for producing fuel-quality, engine-tested biodiesel was completed and published internationally. An Austrian company, Gaskoks, obtained the technology from the South African Agricultural Engineers; the company erected the first biodiesel pilot plant in November 1987, and the first industrial-scale plant in April 1989 (with a capacity of 30,000 tons of rapeseed per annum).

Throughout the 1990s, plants were opened in many European countries, including the Czech Republic, Germany and Sweden. France launched local production of biodiesel fuel (referred to as diester) from rapeseed oil, which is mixed into regular diesel fuel at a level of 5%, and into the diesel fuel used by some captive fleets (e.g. public transportation) at a level of 30%. Renault, Peugeot and other manufacturers have certified truck engines for use with up to that level of partial biodiesel; experiments with 50% biodiesel are underway. During the same period, nations in other parts of the world also saw local production of biodiesel starting up: by 1998 the Austrian Biofuels Institute had identified 21 countries with commercial biodiesel projects. 100% Biodiesel is now available at many normal service stations across Europe.

In September of 2005 Minnesota became the first U.S. state to mandate that all diesel fuel sold in the state contain part biodiesel, requiring a content of at least 2% biodiesel.

Technical standards
There are additional national specifications. ASTM D 6751 is the most common standard referenced in the United States. In Germany, the requirements for biodiesel is fixed in the DIN EN 14214 standard and in the UK the requirements for biodiesel is fixed in the BS EN 14214 standard, although these last two standards are essentially the same as EN 14214 and are just prefixed with the respective national standards institution codes.

There are standards for three different varieties of biodiesel, which are made of different oils:

RME (rapeseed methyl ester, according to DIN E 51606)

PME (vegetable methyl ester, purely vegetable products, according to DIN E 51606)

FME (fat methyl ester, vegetable and animal products, according to DIN V 51606)

The standards ensure that the following important factors in the fuel production process are satisfied:

Complete reaction.

Removal of glycerin.

Removal of catalyst.

Removal of alcohol.

Absence of free fatty acids.

Low sulfur content.

Basic industrial tests to determine whether the products conform to the standards typically include gas chromatography, a test that verifies only the more important of the variables above. More complete tests are more expensive. Fuel meeting the quality standards is very non-toxic, with a toxicity rating (LD50) of greater than 50 mL/kg.

Applications. Use
Biodiesel can be used in pure form (B100) or may be blended with petroleum diesel at any concentration in most modern diesel engines. Biodiesel will degrade natural rubber gaskets and hoses in vehicles (mostly found in vehicles manufactured before 1992), although these tend to wear out naturally and most likely will have already been replaced with FKM, which is nonreactive to biodiesel.

Biodiesel's higher lubricity index compared to petrodiesel is an advantage and can contribute to longer fuel injector life. However, biodiesel is a better solvent than petrodiesel, and has been known to break down deposits of residue in the fuel lines of vehicles that have previously been run on petrodiesel. As a result, fuel filters and injectors may become clogged with particulates if a quick transition to pure biodiesel is made, as biodiesel “cleans” the engine in the process. It is, therefore, recommended to change the fuel filter within 600-800 miles after first switching to a biodiesel blend.

Pure, non-blended biodiesel can be poured straight into the tank of any diesel vehicle. As with normal diesel, low-temperature biodiesel is sold during winter months to prevent viscosity problems. Some older diesel engines still have natural rubber parts which will be affected by biodiesel, but in practice these rubber parts should have been replaced long ago. Biodiesel is used by millions of car owners in Europe (particularly Germany).

Research sponsored by petroleum producers has found petroleum diesel to be better for car engines than biodiesel. This has been disputed by independent bodies, including for example the Volkswagen environmental awareness division, who note that biodiesel reduces engine wear. Biodiesel has also been noted to be linked to premature injection pump failures. While many vehicles have been using biodiesel for many years without ill effect, the correlation between several cases of pump failure and biodiesel cannot be dismissed. Pure biodiesel produced 'at home' is in use by thousands of drivers who have not experienced failure, however. The fact remains that biodiesel has been widely available at gas stations for less than a decade, and will hence carry more risk than older fuels. Biodiesel sold publicly is held to high standards set by national standards bodies. Many conventional diesel car models have been certified to run on biodiesel (e.g. see the list provided by Volkswagen at right).

Some people modify their vehicles to permit the use of biodiesel without mixing and without the possibility of gelling. This practice is similar to the one used for running straight vegetable oil. They install a second fuel tank (some models of trucks have two tanks already). This second fuel tank is insulated and a heating coil using engine coolant is run through the tank. There is then a temperature sensor installed to notify the driver when the fuel is warm enough to burn, the driver then switches which tank the engine is drawing from.

Water reduces the heat of combustion of the bulk fuel. This means more smoke, harder starting, less power.

Water causes corrosion of vital fuel system components: fuel pumps, injector pumps, fuel lines, etc.

Water freezes to form ice crystals near 0 °C (32 °F). These crystals provide sites for nucleation and accelerate the gelling of the residual fuel.

Water accelerates the growth of microbe colonies which can plug up a fuel system. Biodiesel users who have heated fuel tanks therefore face a year-round microbe problem.

Previously, the amount of water contaminating biodiesel has been difficult to measure by taking samples, since water and oil separate. However, it is now possible to measure the water content using water in oil sensors.

Animal fats including tallow, lard, yellow grease, chicken fat, and the by-products of the production of Omega-3 fatty acids from fish oil.

Thermal depolymerization is an important new process that reduces almost any hydrocarbon based feedstock, including non oil based feedstocks, into light crude oil.

Worldwide production of vegetable oil and animal fat is not yet sufficient to replace liquid fossil fuel use. Furthermore, some environmental groups object to the vast amount of farming and the resulting over-fertilization, pesticide use, and land use conversion that they say would be needed to produce the additional vegetable oil.

Many advocates suggest that waste vegetable oil is the best source of oil to produce biodiesel. However, the available supply is drastically less than the amount of petroleum-based fuel that is burned for transportation and home heating in the world. According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), restaurants in the US produce about 300 million US gallons (1,000,000 m³) of waste cooking oil annually. Although it is economically profitable to use WVO to produce biodiesel, it is even more profitable to convert WVO into other products such as soap. Therefore, most WVO that is not dumped into landfills is used for these other purposes. Animal fats are similarly limited in supply, and it would not be efficient to raise animals simply for their fat. However, producing biodiesel with animal fat that would have otherwise been discarded could replace a small percentage of petroleum diesel usage.

The estimated transportation fuel and home heating oil used in the United States is about 230 billion US gallons (0.87 km³) (Briggs, 2004). Waste vegetable oil and animal fats would not be enough to meet this demand. In the United States, estimated production of vegetable oil for all uses is about 24 billion pounds (11 million tons) or 3 billion US gallons (0.011 km³), and estimated production of animal fat is 12 billion pounds (5.3 million tons). (Van Gerpen, 2004)

Biodiesel feedstock plants utilize photosynthesis to convert solar energy into chemical energy. The stored chemical energy is released when it is burned, therefore plants can offer a sustainable oil source for biodiesel production. Most of the carbon dioxide emitted when burning biodiesel is simply recycling that which was absorbed during plant growth, so the net production of greenhouse gases is small.

Typical oil extraction from 100 kg. of oil seeds:

The energy content of biodiesel is about 90 percent that of petroleum diesel.

The debate over the energy balance of biodiesel is ongoing, however. Transitioning fully to biofuels could require immense tracts of land if traditional crops are used. The problem is especially severe for nations with large economies, since energy consumption scales with economic output. If using only traditional plants, most such nations do not have sufficient arable land to produce biofuel for the nation's vehicles. Nations with smaller economies (hence less energy consumption) and more arable land may be in better situations, although many regions cannot afford to divert land away from food production. For third world countries, biodiesel sources that use marginal land could make more sense, e.g. honge oil nuts grown along roads or jatropha grown along rail lines. More recent studies using a species of algae with up to 50% oil content have concluded that only 28,000 km² or 0.3% of the land area of the US could be utilized to produce enough biodiesel to replace all transportation fuel the country currently utilizes. Furthermore, otherwise unused desert land (which receives high solar radiation) could be most effective for growing the algae, and the algae could utilize farm waste and excess CO2 from factories to help speed the growth of the algae. In tropical regions, such as Malaysia and Indonesia, oil palm is being planted at a rapid pace to supply growing biodiesel demand in Europe and other markets. It has been estimated in Germany that palm oil biodiesel has less than 1/3 the production costs of rapeseed biodiesel. The direct source of the energy content of biodiesel is solar energy captured by plants during photosynthesis. The website biodiesel.co.uk[24]discusses the positive energy balance of biodiesel:

When straw was left in the field, biodiesel production was strongly energy positive, yielding 1 GJ biodiesel for every 0.561 GJ of energy input (a yield/cost ratio of 1.78).

When straw was burned as fuel and oilseed rapemeal was used as a fertilizer, the yield/cost ratio for biodiesel production was even better (3.71). In other words, for every unit of energy input to produce biodiesel, the output was 3.71 units (the difference of 2.71 units would be from solar energy).

Biodiesel is becoming of interest to companies interested in commercial scale production as well as the more usual home brew biodiesel user and the user of straight vegetable oil or waste vegetable oil in diesel engines. Homemade biodiesel processors are many and varied. The success of biodiesel homebrewing, and micro-economy-of-scale operations, continues to shatter the conventional business myth that large economy-of-scale operations are the most efficient and profitable. It is becoming increasingly apparent that small-scale, localized, low-impact energy keeps more resources and revenue within communities, reduces damage to the environment, and requires less waste management.
Thermal depolymerization
Thermal depolymerization (TDP) is an important new process for the reduction of complex organic materials into light crude oil. These materials may include non oil-based waste products, such as old tires, offal, wood and plastic. The process mimics the natural geological processes thought to be involved in the production of fossil fuels. Under pressure and heat, long chain polymers of hydrogen, oxygen, and carbon decompose into short-chain petroleum hydrocarbons.

Conversion efficiencies can be very high: Working with turkey offal as the feedstock, the process proved to have yield efficiencies of approximately 85%. That is, the end products contained 85% of the energy contained in the inputs to the process - most notably the energy content of the feedstock, but also accounting for electricity for pumps and natural gas for heating.

It has been estimated that in the United States, agricultural waste alone could be used to produce 3.7 billion barrels of oil per year. The USA currently consumes 7.5 billion barrels of oil per year.

Environmental benefits
Environmental benefits in comparison to petroleum based fuels include:

Biodiesel reduces emissions of carbon monoxide (CO) by approximately 50% and carbon dioxide by 78% on a net lifecycle basis because the carbon in biodiesel emissions is recycled from carbon that was in the atmosphere, rather than the carbon introduced from petroleum that was sequestered in the earth's crust. (Sheehan, 1998)

Biodiesel contains fewer aromatic hydrocarbons: benzofluoranthene: 56% reduction; Benzopyrenes: 71% reduction.[citation needed]

Biodiesel can reduce by as much as 20% the direct (tailpipe) emission of particulates, small particles of solid combustion products, on vehicles with particulate filters, compared with low-sulfur (<50 ppm) diesel. Particulate emissions as the result of production are reduced by around 50%, compared with fossil-sourced diesel. (Beer et al, 2004).

Biodiesel produces between 10% and 25% more nitrogen oxide NOx tailpipe-emissions than petrodiesel. As biodiesel has a low sulphur content, NOx emissions can be reduced through the use of catalytic converters to less than the NOx emissions from conventional diesel engines. Nonetheless, the NOx tailpipe emissions of biodiesel after the use of a catalytic converter will remain greater than the equivalent emissions from petrodiesel. As biodiesel contains no nitrogen, the increase in NOx emissions may be due to the higher cetane rating of biodiesel and higher oxygen content, which allows it to convert nitrogen from the atmosphere into NOx more rapidly. Debate continues over NOx emissions. In February 2006 a Navy biodiesel expert claimed NOx emissions in practice were actually lower than baseline. Further research is needed.

Biodiesel has higher cetane rating than petrodiesel, which can improve performance and clean up emissions compared to crude petrodiesel (with cetane lower than 40).

Biodiesel is biodegradable and non-toxic - the U.S. Department of Energy confirms that biodiesel is less toxic than table salt and biodegrades as quickly as sugar. (See Biodiesel handling and use guidelines)

In the United States, biodiesel is the only alternative fuel to have successfully completed the Health Effects Testing requirements (Tier I and Tier II) of the Clean Air Act (1990).

Since biodiesel is more often used in a blend with petroleum diesel, there are fewer formal studies about the effects on pure biodiesel in unmodified engines and vehicles in day-to-day use. Fuel meeting the standards and engine parts that can withstand the greater solvent properties of biodiesel is expected to--and in reported cases does--run without any additional problems than the use of petroleum diesel.

The flash point of biodiesel (>150 °C) is significantly higher than that of petroleum diesel (64 °C) or gasoline (−45 °C). The gel point of biodiesel varies depending on the proportion of different types of esters contained. However, most biodiesel, including that made from soybean oil, has a somewhat higher gel and cloud point than petroleum diesel. In practice this often requires the heating of storage tanks, especially in cooler climates.

Pure biodiesel (B100) can be used in any petroleum diesel engine, though it is more commonly used in lower concentrations. Some areas have mandated ultra-low sulfur petrodiesel, which reduces the natural viscosity and lubricity of the fuel due to the removal of sulfur and certain other materials. Additives are required to make ULSD properly flow in engines, making biodiesel one popular alternative. Ranges as low as 2% (B2) have been shown to restore lubricity. Many municipalities have started using 5% biodiesel (B5) in snow-removal equipment and other systems.

Environmental concerns
The locations where oil-producing plants are grown is of increasing concern to environmentalists, one of the prime worries being that countries will clear cut large areas of tropical forest in order to grow such lucrative crops, in particular, oil palm. This has already occurred in the Philippines and Indonesia; both countries plan to increase their biodiesel production levels significantly, which will lead to the deforestation of tens of millions of acres if these plans materialize. Loss of habitat on such a scale could endanger numerous species of plants and animals. A particular concern which has received considerable attention is the threat to the already -shrinking populations of orangutans on the Indonesian islands of Borneo and Sumatra, which face possible extinction.

The Union of Concerned Scientists writes:

When it comes to buying a new car, gasoline-powered models are better than diesels on toxic soot and smog-forming emissions. The downside to current diesels is that they produce 10 to 20 times more toxic particulates than their gasoline counterparts, more than can be made up for with the use of biodiesel. Diesels fare even worse when it comes to smog-forming nitrogen oxide emissions, with greater than 20 times the emissions of a comparable gasoline vehicle.

These estimates, however, are based on 2005 model year diesels in the U.S., prior to the introduction of ultra low sulphur diesel (ULSD) and tightened emissions standards that apply in several U.S. states from January 1, 2007. The introduction of ULSD allows for the use of newer technologies to substantially reduce particulate and other toxic emissions; the European Union has had lower sulfur requirements than the U.S. for several years.

Specially bred mustard varieties can produce reasonably high oil yields, and have the added benefit that the meal leftover after the oil has been pressed out can act as an effective and biodegradable pesticide.

From 1978 to 1996, the U.S. National Renewable Energy Laboratory experimented with using algae as a biodiesel source in the "Aquatic Species Program". A recent paper from Michael Briggs, at the UNH Biodiesel Group, offers estimates for the realistic replacement of all vehicular fuel with biodiesel by utilizing algae that have a natural oil content greater than 50%, which Briggs suggests can be grown on algae ponds at wastewater treatment plants. This oil-rich algae can then be extracted from the system and processed into biodiesel, with the dried remainder further reprocessed to create ethanol.

The production of algae to harvest oil for biodiesel has not yet been undertaken on a commercial scale, but feasibility studies have been conducted to arrive at the above yield estimate. In addition to its projected high yield, algaculture - unlike crop-based biofuels - does not entail a decrease in food production, since it requires neither farmland nor fresh water.

On May 11, 2006 the Aquaflow Bionomic Corporation in Marlborough, New Zealand announced that it had produced its first sample of bio-diesel fuel made from algae found in sewage ponds. Unlike previous attempts, the algae was naturally grown in pond discharge from the Marlborough District Council's sewage treatment works.

Diesel
Diesel or diesel fuel is a specific fractional distillate of fuel oil (mostly petroleum) that is used as fuel in a diesel engine invented by German engineer Rudolf Diesel. The term typically refers to fuel that has been processed from petroleum, but increasingly, alternatives such as biodiesel or biomass to liquid (BTL) or gas to liquid (GTL) diesel that are not derived from petroleum are being developed and adopted.

It is possible Rudolph did not invent the diesel. His patent was filed 1893. However Herbert Akroyd Stuart, built the first compression-ignition oil engine in Bletchley, England in 1891. He leased the rights to Richard Hornsby, who by 1892, five years before Diesel's prototype, had a diesel engine working in a water works. By 1896 diesel tractors and locomotives were being built in some quantity.

Diesel is produced from petroleum, and is sometimes called petrodiesel when there is a need to distinguish it from diesel obtained from other sources such as biodiesel. It is a hydrocarbon mixture, obtained in the fractional distillation of crude oil between 200 °C and 350 °C at atmospheric pressure.

The density of diesel is about 850 grams per liter whereas gasoline (British English: petrol) has a density of about 720 g/L, about 15% less. When burnt, diesel typically releases about 40.9 megajoules (MJ) per liter, whereas gasoline releases 34.8 MJ/L, about 15% less. Diesel is generally simpler to refine than gasoline and often costs less (although price fluctuatios sometimes mean that the inverse is true; for example, the cost of diesel traditionally rises during colder months as demand for heating oil, which is refined much the same way, rises). Also, due to its high level of pollutants, diesel fuel must undergo additional filtration which contributes to a sometimes higher cost. In many parts of the United States, diesel is higher priced than gasoline. Reasons for higher priced diesel include the shutdown of some refineries in the Gulf of Mexico, and the switch to ULSD, which causes infrastructure complications.

Diesel-powered cars generally have a better fuel economy than equivalent gasoline engines and produce only about 69% of the greenhouse gases. This greater fuel economy is due to the higher energy per-liter content of diesel fuel and also to the intrinsic efficiency of the diesel engine. While diesel's 15% higher volumetric energy density results in 15% higher greenhouse gas emissions per liter compared to gasoline, the 20-40% better fuel economy achieved by modern diesel-engined automobiles offsets the higher-per-liter emissions of greenhouse gases, resulting in significantly lower carbon dioxide emissions per kilometer.

On the other hand, diesel fuel often contains higher quantities of sulfur. European emission standards and preferential taxation have forced oil refineries to dramatically reduce the level of sulfur in diesel fuels. In contrast, the United States has long had "dirtier" diesel, although more stringent emission standards have been adopted with the transition to ultra-low sulfur diesel (ULSD) starting in 2006 and becoming mandatory on June 1, 2010 (see also diesel exhaust). U.S. diesel fuel typically also has a lower cetane number (a measure of ignition quality) than European diesel, resulting in worse cold weather performance and some increase in emissions. High levels of sulfur in diesel are harmful for the environment because they prevent the use of catalytic diesel particulate filters to control diesel particulate emissions, as well as more advanced technologies, such as nitrogen oxide (NOx) adsorbers (still under development), to reduce emissions. However, the process for lowering sulfur also reduces the lubricity of the fuel, meaning that additives must be put into the fuel to help lubricate engines. Biodiesel is an effective lubricant.

There has been much discussion and misinformation about algae in diesel fuel[citation needed]. Algae require sunlight to live and grow. As there is no sunlight in a closed fuel tank, no algae can survive there. However, some microbes can survive there, and can feed on the diesel fuel.

These microbes form a slimy colony that lives at the fuel/water interface. They grow quite rapidly in warmer temperatures. They can even grow in cold weather when fuel tank heaters are installed. Parts of the colony can break off and clog the fuel lines and fuel filters.

It is possible to either kill this growth with a biocide treatment, or eliminate the water, a necessary component of microbial life. There are a number of biocides on the market, which must be handled very carefully. If a biocide is used, it must be added every time a tank is refilled until the problem is fully resolved.

Biocides attack the cell wall of microbes resulting in lysis, the death of a cell by bursting. The dead cells then gather on the bottom of the fuel tanks and form a sludge, filter clogging will continue after biocide treatment until the sludge has abated. Given the right conditions microbes will repopulate the tanks and re-treatment with biocides will then be necessary. With repetitive biocide treatments microbes can then form resistance to particular brand, trying another brand may resolve this.

Synthetic diesel
Wood, hemp, straw, corn, garbage, food scraps, and sewage-sludge may be dried and gasified to synthesis gas. After purification the Fischer-Tropsch process is used to produce synthetic diesel. This means that synthetic diesel oil may be one route to biomass based diesel oil. Such processes are often called Biomass-To-Liquids or BTL.

Synthetic diesel may also be produced out of natural gas in the Gas-to-liquid (GTL) process or out of coal in the Coal-to-liquid (CTL) process. Such synthetic diesel has 30% less particulate emissions than conventional diesel (US- California).

Biodiesel can be obtained from vegetable oil (vegidiesel / vegifuel), or animal fats (bio-lipids, using transesterification). Biodiesel is a non-fossil fuel alternative to petrodiesel. It can also be mixed with petrodiesel in any amount in modern engines, though when first using it, the solvent properties of the fuel tend to dissolve accumulated deposits and can clog fuel filters. Biodiesel has a higher gel point than petrodiesel, but is comparable to diesel. This can be overcome by using a biodiesel/petrodiesel blend, or by installing a fuel heater, but this is only necessary during the colder months. There have been reports that a diesel-biodiesel mix results in lower emissions than either can achieve alone. A small percentage of biodiesel can be used as an additive in low-sulfur formulations of diesel to increase the lubricity lost when the sulfur is removed.

Chemically, most biodiesel consists of alkyl (usually methyl) esters instead of the alkanes and aromatic hydrocarbons of petroleum derived diesel. However, biodiesel has combustion properties very similar to petrodiesel, including combustion energy and cetane ratings. Paraffin biodiesel also exists. Due to the purity of the source, it has a higher quality than petrodiesel.

Ethanol can be added to petroleum diesel fuel in amounts up to 15% along with additives to keep the ethanol emulsified, however the cetane rating and lubricity of the fuel are both reduced and must be corrected with additives.

ASTM International has developed D6751 as the specification standard for 100% biodiesel, which is used for blending with petroleum diesel. For example, B20 is 20% biodiesel (ASTM D6751) and 80% petroleum diesel (ASTM D975).

Packard diesel motors were used in aircraft as early as 1927, and Charles Lindbergh flew a Stinson SM1B with a Packard diesel in 1928. A Packard diesel motor designed by L.M. Woolson was fitted to a Stinson X7654, and in 1929 it was flown 1000 km non-stop from Detroit to Langley, Virginia (near Washington, D.C.). In 1931, Walter Lees and Fredrick Brossy set the nonstop flight record flying a Bellanca powered by a Packard diesel for 84h 32m. The Hindenburg was powered by four 16 cylinder diesel engines, each with approximately 1200 horsepower available in bursts, and 850 horsepower available for cruising. Modern diesel engines for propellor-driven aircraft are manufactured by Thielert Aircraft Engines and SMA. These engines are able to run on Jet A fuel, which is similar in composition to automotive diesel and cheaper and more plentiful than the 100 octane low-lead gasoline (avgas) used by the majority of the piston-engine aircraft fleet.

The very first diesel-engine automobile trip was completed on January 6, 1930. The trip was from Indianapolis to New York City, a distance of nearly 1300 km. This feat helped to prove the usefulness of the internal combustion engine.

Primarily diesel fuel is used in high torque engines such as those found in tractors, construction equipment and trucks. Diesel engines have a higher compression than fuel injected engines, resulting in greater power and torque at low engine speeds.

In the late 1970s Mercedes-Benz at Nardo drove a C111-III with a 5 cylinder diesel engine to several new records, including driving an average of 314 km/h (195 mph) for 12 hours and hitting a top speed of 325 km/h (201 mph).

With turbocharged diesel cars getting stronger in the 1990s, they were entered in touring car racing, and BMW even won the 24 Hours Nürburgring in 1998 with a 320d. After winning the 12 Hours of Sebring in 2006 with their diesel-powered R10 LMP, Audi won the 24 Hours of Le Mans, too. This is the first time a diesel-fueled vehicle has won at Le Mans against cars powered with regular fuel or other alternative fuel like methanol or bio-ethanol. Competitors like Porsche predicted this victory for Audi as current FIA and ACO regulations are seen as pro-diesel. French automaker Peugeot is also planning to enter a diesel powered LMP in 2007.

In an effort to further demonstrate the potential of diesel power, California-based Gale Banks Engineering designed, built and raced a Cummins-powered pickup at the Bonneville Salt Flats in October 2002. The truck set a top speed of 355 km/h (222 mph) and became the world’s fastest pickup, and almost equally as notable, the truck drove to the race towing its own support trailer.

On 23 August 2006, the British-based earthmoving machine manufacturer JCB raced the specially designed JCB Dieselmax car at 563.4 km/h (350.1 mph). The driver was Andy Green. The car was powered by two modified JCB 444 diesel engines.

Bad quality (high sulfur) diesel fuel has been used as a palladium extraction agent for the liquid-liquid extraction of this metal from nitric acid mixtures. This has been proposed as a means of separating the fission product palladium from PUREX raffinate which comes from used nuclear fuel. In this solvent extraction system the hydrocarbons of the diesel act as the diluent while the dialkyl sulfides act as the extractant. This extraction operates by a solvation mechanism. So far neither a pilot plant or full scale plant has been constructed to recover palladium, rhodium or ruthenium from nuclear wastes created by the use of nuclear fuel

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Интернет-ресурсы:
www.ioso.ru/distant/community
http://school-collection.edu.ru – аудио файлы
www.britishcouncil.org/learnenglish
http://lessons.study.ru
http://www.onestopenglish.com/
http://www.funology.com/

www.eun.org