SIC 3711 Motor Vehicles and Passenger Car Bodies
SIC 3711
This industry classification is comprised of establishments primarily engaged in manufacturing or assembling complete automobiles, trucks, commercial vehicles, and buses, as well as specialty motor vehicles intended for highway use such as ambulances, armored cars, hearses, fire department vehicles, snow plows, and tow trucks. This classification also includes establishments involved in manufacturing passenger car bodies and all types of vehicle chassis. Although some establishments within the industry also manufacture motor vehicle parts, establishments primarily involved in manufacturing motor vehicle parts (other than chassis and passenger car bodies) are classified in SIC 3714: Motor Vehicle Parts and Accessories.
Establishments primarily engaged in the manufacture of truck and bus bodies or in the assembly of completed trucks and buses on purchased chassis are classified in SIC 3713: Truck and Bus Bodies. Establishments primarily engaged in the manufacture of truck trailers are classified in SIC 3715: Truck Trailers. Other motor vehicle classifications include motor homes assembled on purchased chassis (SIC 3716: Motor Homes), motorcycles (SIC 3751: Motorcycles, Bicycles, and Parts), off-highway tractors (SIC 3523: Farm Machinery and Equipment), industrial tractors (SIC 3537: Industrial Trucks, Tractors, Trailers, and Stackers), combat tanks (SIC 3795: Tanks and Tank Components), and stamped passenger car body parts (SIC 3465: Automotive Stampings).
336111
Automobile Manufacturing
336112
Light Truck and Utility Vehicle Manufacturing
336120
Heavy Duty Truck Manufacturing
336211
Motor Vehicle Body Manufacturing
336992
Military Armored Vehicle, Tank, and Tank Component Manufacturing
The motor vehicle industry represents one of the largest segments within the U.S. economy and forms the core of the nation's industrial strength. In early 2000s more than 215 million vehicles were on U.S. roads and that number was expected to grow beyond 230 million by the decade's end. General Motors, Ford Motor Co., and Daimler Chrysler AG led the U.S. motor vehicle manufacturing industry, accounting for more than 57 percent industry sales in 2004, followed by a number of foreign firms—most notably Toyota Motor Corp., Honda Motor Co., and Nissan Motor Co.—that manufacture cars in the United States. Korean-based Hyundai also was making inroads in the market. Collectively, the industry produced nearly 16.9 million vehicles in 2004, the sixth straight year the industry surpassed the 16 million mark.
A number of facts demonstrate the industry's overall importance to the U.S. economy. Based on a study conducted by the University of Michigan and the Center for Automotive Research, the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers revealed that the motor vehicle industry is among the nation's leading users of computer chips, textiles, aluminum, copper, steel, iron, lead, plastics, vinyl, and rubber. According to the study, almost seven jobs are created for every worker employed by an automaker, and one out of every ten jobs in the United States is linked to the auto industry. At the retail level, 2004 sales of motor vehicles were approximately 3 percent of the nation's gross domestic product (GDP)—the broadest measure of the nation's economic output.
Nine automakers formed a new trade association named Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers. The members were General Motors Corporation and Ford Motor Company of the United States; Daimler Chrysler A.G., BMW A.G., and Volkswagen A.G. of Germany; A.B. Volvo of Sweden; and the Toyota Motor Corporation, the Mazda Motor Corporation, and the Nissan Motor Company of Japan. This organization replaced the American Automobile Manufacturers Association (AAMA), which previously represented only American manufacturers. The goals of the group were to work together on public policy matters of common interest, to provide credible industry information and data, and to seek consistent global regulatory standards.
Globalization of the automobile industry gave rise to the alliance, which replaced the AAMA. The AAMA, formerly the Motor Vehicle Manufacturers Association (MVMA), was originally founded as the National Automobile Chamber of Commerce in 1915. Its purpose was to administer the cross licensing of patents, and during the 1930s, the organization established a code of fair competition.
The modern automobile was not invented by one person. Many people in many nations contributed the ideas, inventions, and innovations required to assemble useful motor vehicles. Roger Bacon, the thirteenth-century English philosopher and scientist, prophesied its development. Leonardo da Vinci envisioned plans for its construction. Nicholas Joseph Cugnot constructed the first functioning self-propelled unit; Cugnot's vehicle, built in 1769, had three wheels and was powered with a steam engine. The first U.S. patent for a self-propelled vehicle was awarded to Oliver Evans by the state of Maryland in 1787. The newly organized Federal Patent Office awarded its first patent for a self-propelled land carriage to Nathan Read in 1791. By 1891 the country had seen more than 100 renderings of motorized vehicles.
The first internal combustion engine was developed by the Belgian inventor, Etienne Lenoir. He used it to power a car during a demonstration in Paris in 1862. Nicholas Otto, a German inventor, developed a quieter, four-stroke, coal-gas engine in 1878. The first gasoline vehicles were developed in 1885 by two Germans working independently—Karl Benz and Gottlieb Daimler. The world's first motor vehicles built for commercial sale were offered in France by Armand Peugeot in 1889 and Panhard and Levassor in 1890. The French are also credited with coining the term "automobile," formed from two Latin words meaning self-moving.
During the early 1890s, many people in the United States were working separately on producing better "horseless carriages." According to some accounts, two brothers—Charles and Frank Duryea of Springfield, Massachusetts—developed the first successful American gasoline automobile. The Duryea model was based on Benz's work, as reported in Scientific American. Other contenders for the honor of producing the first American motorcar included Gottfried Schloemer of Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Henry Nadig of Allentown, Pennsylvania; Charles H. Black of Indianapolis, Indiana; and John W. Lambert of Ohio City, Ohio.
The 1890s brought commercial automobile production to the United States. Elwood Haynes and Edgar and Elmer Apperson were among the first entrepreneurs of the new technology. They built Haynes-Apperson vehicles in a machine shop located in Kokomo, Indiana. By 1899 some 30 motor vehicle producers were offering electric, steam, and gasoline powered vehicles. The 1900 U.S. Census listed motor vehicle manufacturers under "Miscellaneous Manufacturers."
Among the long list of early automotive pioneers, the best remembered is undoubtedly Henry Ford. Henry Ford built his first car, called a "quadricycle," in 1896. He established the Detroit Automobile Company in 1899—the venture failed. Ford's second company, the Henry Ford Company, founded in 1901, also failed. He finally achieved success with his third organization, the Ford Motor Company, officially founded on June 10, 1903.
Many other popularly known names in automotive history entered the industry during the last decade of the nineteenth century and the first decades of the twentieth century. Studebaker, originally a manufacturer of wagons, carriages, and horse-drawn vehicles, entered the automotive industry in 1897. Packard Motor Company was founded in 1899 and produced its first car in 1900. Ransom Eli Olds established the Olds Motor Vehicle Company in 1897; the company was later reorganized to form the Olds Motor Works, and by 1904 Olds was producing 5,000 "Olds-mobiles" annually. Cadillac Motor Car was established in 1902 with the help of financial backers who abandoned Henry Ford's earlier efforts. Buick Motor Car Company was founded by David D. Buick in 1903 and was later sold to William Durant, the founder of General Motors. Louis Chevrolet, born in Switzerland, came to the United States in 1905 and began his automotive career as a race car driver for Buick. Walter P. Chrysler purchased his first car in 1908. Following a career at Buick Motor Car Company, he assumed the presidency of the Chrysler Corporation, formed from the remnants of the Maxwell Motor Car Company on June 6, 1925.
Throughout the early decades of the twentieth century, Henry Ford dominated the industry. He achieved nearly legendary status by introducing the automotive industry to the benefits of automated production and by providing an automobile at a price that most people could afford. In 1908 Ford decided to focus his company's efforts on the construction of only one model—the Model T. To help lower costs and speed production, he began moving toward assembly line production.
In 1913 a moving belt was installed in Ford's magneto department. (A magneto was a part that provided the electric current required for...
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