An automobile is a wheeled motor vehicle for passenger transportation, designed and powered to operate on road systems. It consists of a chassis with four wheels and is propelled by an internal combustion engine using a volatile fuel.
Automobiles have revolutionized American life in many ways, allowing people to move from rural areas to urban centers, to travel long distances for work or recreation and to make more leisure activities possible. It also brought new industries such as restaurants and motels, and it prompted government expenditures on roads and highways. At the same time, the car caused harm to the environment: exhaust from gasoline-burning cars brought pollution and it used up a large amount of undeveloped land.
The first automobiles were invented in Europe, but Henry Ford introduced affordable cars to America with his Model T. He used mass production to allow ordinary people to buy automobiles. He also marketed his automobiles to women, and they took bold trips in their cars. They decorated their cars with “votes for women” banners, to promote the right of women to vote.
Engineering in the postwar era was subordinated to the questionable aesthetics of nonfunctional styling at the expense of economy and safety, and quality deteriorated. The higher unit profits that Detroit made on gas-guzzling road cruisers came at the social cost of increased air pollution and a drain on dwindling world oil reserves. Increasing competition from manufacturers in Europe and Japan, combined with a growing awareness of energy conservation and environmental concerns, ended the era of annual restyles and the dominance of the Big Three.