Vehicle Design History - Insy 6860 Automotive Mfg Systems

INSY 6860 AUTOMOTIVE MFG SYSTEMS

Executive Summary: (1 page as the paper exceeds 20 pages)

This paper is written from the vantage point of an automotive exterior component engineer who has been involved with vehicle body design and manufacturing of polymers and painted plastics. My experience in large scale injection molding, e-stat painting, and fabrication processes, as well as the business of the automotive industry, has motivated me to research the history of the automotive body design and its future. I have sought to investigate the events that produced unique vehicle designs and the trends of what the future may produce.

This paper covers, in depth, the evolution of vehicle design and the factors that influenced it over the course of history and how it has shaped and is still shaping, today's automotive design. This evolution is discussed decade by decade, from Henry Ford's Model T through the present day push for Hybrid designs. This should offer insight as to why automakers choose the particular designs to bring to the market in the time they did. This should offer insight into the reasons - reasons of social, economic, cultural, and world events that served as the architectural infrastructure of the American automobile. Auto-makers have ridden the waves of their era to produce machines that appeal to the American and now world public. This is an appreciation of the waves of the history and their influence in automotive design.

Additionally, the future of the automotive market is addressed in consideration of today's present state of the industry, its relation/comparison to similar historical events, and current published information. An opinion of future implications for OEMs and suppliers is offered in terms relative to perceived expectations of the industry. The future of vehicle design is also covered and discussed by offering a view of perhaps the latest wave of vehicle evolution. The future of vehicle technology and its role in the global automotive market is weighed and compared against historical patterns of the industry as well.

For nearly a century, America's economy has depended upon automotive sales and all that it encompasses for economic stability. History has taught America that stress in the automotive industry translates to economic recession. This paper offers a post investigation opinion of the single largest factor in automotive sales and thus the single largest factor to the automotive industry