Cars without the great war

In many POD's in which WWI never occurs the automobile industry seems to occur as it did OTL. Would this be possible? For did not most of the enhancements, as well as access to cars become possible due to WWI and the leaps of technology from said war?

I know cars where before WWI but not cheap easy to make ones.
 
Fenwick said:
In many POD's in which WWI never occurs the automobile industry seems to occur as it did OTL. Would this be possible? For did not most of the enhancements, as well as access to cars become possible due to WWI and the leaps of technology from said war?

I know cars where before WWI but not cheap easy to make ones.

Mechanisation was considerably boosted of course by the increasing demand. However it also devastated a lot of the European motor industry and starved funds. Furthermore hadn't Ford already introduced methods of mass production prior to WWI?

Steve
 
stevep said:
Mechanisation was considerably boosted of course by the increasing demand. However it also devastated a lot of the European motor industry and starved funds. Furthermore hadn't Ford already introduced methods of mass production prior to WWI?

Steve

True, but the Great War brought about people seeing cars as better transport to horses and wagons. Before that most saw them as rich mens toys, and unsuited to real work.
 
WW1 also boosted the development of the ICE, with results rainging from aviation to Lawnmowers and chainsaws. Without WW1 maybe Electric and steam cars remain competive.
 

Straha

Banned
stevep said:
Mechanisation was considerably boosted of course by the increasing demand. However it also devastated a lot of the European motor industry and starved funds. Furthermore hadn't Ford already introduced methods of mass production prior to WWI?

Steve
Fordist methods of mass produciton didn't spread to europe in OTL until post WWII. Without the devastation of the world wars expect europe to not adopt fordism/mass production until later than OTL.
 
Bright day
Why not? In US and Europe factories are alredy established. Cars are becoming more and more accessible.
 

Straha

Banned
Gladi said:
Bright day
Why not? In US and Europe factories are alredy established. Cars are becoming more and more accessible.
Without the great war to shake up things, show how fordism is *very* useful compared to the old system expect a slower adoption of it of it. Europe by now coudl have as many cars per person as OTL but it would have taken longe and be more gradual.
 
Straha said:
Fordist methods of mass produciton didn't spread to europe in OTL until post WWII. Without the devastation of the world wars expect europe to not adopt fordism/mass production until later than OTL.

Maybe, maybe not.

Without the turmoil of the two world wars European car manufactuers may have adopted Ford's methods earlier as they would have had a more controlled development curve and wouldn't have had to retool from a peace economy to a war economy and back again.
 

Straha

Banned
Landshark said:
Maybe, maybe not.

Without the turmoil of the two world wars European car manufactuers may have adopted Ford's methods earlier as they would have had a more controlled development curve and wouldn't have had to retool from a peace economy to a war economy and back again.
That could jsut as well happen. I'm merely presuming that a europe without the two world wars doesn't get the experience of seeing the US use fordism to hammer its enemies into oblivion efficiently would adopt it slower, later and less completely(no big event showing that the old system doesn't work).
 
I personally don't believe that World War I had a great influence on automobile design or inovation. In the United States, the automobile was already increasing in popularity. In the first decade of the 20th century automobiles were certainly seen as luxuries for the wealthy and were considered playthings. However, with the introduction of the Ford Model T in 1908 and the introduction of the assembly line in 1913, the automotive revolution was already underway. Below are some statistics.

Cars Per Person in the United States
1900 1 for every 9,500 people
1910 1/183
1913 1/77
1915 1/50
1917 1/20
1923 1/8
1927 1/4.5

Cars Registered in the United States
1895 4
1900 8,000
1905 77,400
1908 194,400
1909 305,950
1910 458,500
1911 619,500
1912 902,600
1914 1,625,739
1916 3,297,996
1918 5,621,617
1920 8,225,859

Unlike during World War II, the U.S. did not halt the production of automobiles. So car technology continued to progress for the two years the U.S. was at war. The prices also continue to drop however. The role of Ford on the U.S. automobile culture cannot be underestimated, when it was introduced in 1908 the first touring cars sold for $850 ($17,000 in today's money), at a time when most cars cost $1,800 to $4,000. It was a hit and by 1912 22% of cars on the road were Fords. As demand increased the price dropped, so that by 1914 it was $650 ($12,100 today), and $290 by 1924 ($3,200 today). The Ford Model T was popular not only in the U.S. but also in other countries, it was really the car that opened driving to the world. By 1919 70% of all cars in France were Fords, in Italy 85%, in Egypt 99.6%, and in Mesopotamia (Iraq) 99.9%.

As Ford conquered the market worldwide, several new car companies were offering cars in the $600 to $1,000 range already by 1914, among them the Chevrolet which would become the number 2 car in the United States. In Europe cars were not as popular yet, but in Canada, Australia and New Zealand the Ford Model T made the car accessible to the masses as well. In Europe cars like the Citroën 2CV, the Fiat 600 (SEAT 600 in Spain), and above all the Volkswagen Beetle would have the same effect but only after World War II.

Here's a comparison of cars per person in various countries in 1939 to show that in much of Europe the personal automobile was still very much a thing of the wealthy. Suprisingly though, American cars were quite popular around the world with Buicks, Chevrolets, Fords, Pontiacs and Studebakers selling the same models around the world as they did in the U.S.

United States 1/4
New Zealand 1/6
Canada 1/8
Australia 1/9
England 1/18
France 1/18
South Africa 1/24
Sweden 1/29
Norway 1/32
Belgium 1/35
Germany 1/42
Argentina 1/46
Italy 1/93
Spain 1/196
Brazil 1/281
Japan 1/389
 
Not having The Great War (World War I) would have had very little to no effect on cars here in The United States. Automobile production and development wasn't halted here during WWI as it was during WWII.

I don't know what effect WWI had on cars in Europe, because I don't know how it effected their production and development during those years in each of the European countries that were involved in WWI.

Since all automobile production was halted in The United States and in Europe during WWII, WWII had a much greater effect on cars than WWI had. However, in building airplanes and tanks in both WWI and WWII, we learned technological things during both world wars that were later applied to cars and trucks. For example, building airplanes during WWI led to the development of the high compression engine, building tanks during WWII led to the refinement of the automatic transmission.
 
Fordist methods of mass produciton didn't spread to europe in OTL until post WWII. Without the devastation of the world wars expect europe to not adopt fordism/mass production until later than OTL.
Post-WWI, you mean? Britain in the '20s, Renault around 1925 IIRC. By '35, if an auto company hadn't adopted mass production on Ford's model, it was out of business, or shortly would be.
 
As in most Great War avoided scenarios, the world and the 3rd world in particular become wealthier and more technologically advanced than OTL within a couple of decades. In this example, as the European countries are much, much, wealthier than IOTL, expect significantly faster take up of cars and faster development of home grown industries, as the man in the street have more money and their is much more capital to invest.
 
?Weren't a lot of European auto used as Taxis?, something about using Taxis to move French Troops to the Front in WW1, popularized the Auto.
 
?Weren't a lot of European auto used as Taxis?, something about using Taxis to move French Troops to the Front in WW1, popularized the Auto.

Hmm-mmm. Many European car manufacturers offered taxi versions of their models in the 1920s/1930s.
 
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