The costs to the individual include acquiring the vehicle, interest payments (if the car is financed), repairs and maintenance, fuel, depreciation, driving time, parking fees, taxes, and insurance.

[35] Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot is widely credited with building the first full-scale, self-propelled mechanical vehicle in about 1769; he created a steam-powered tricycle.

In 1807, Nicéphore Niépce and his brother Claude created what was probably the world's first internal combustion engine (which they called a Pyréolophore), but installed it in a boat on the river Saone in France.

[40] Although several other German engineers (including Gottlieb Daimler, Wilhelm Maybach, and Siegfried Marcus) were working on cars at about the same time, the year 1886 is regarded as the birth year of the modern car—a practical, marketable automobile for everyday use—when the German Carl Benz patented his Benz Patent-Motorwagen; he is generally acknowledged as the inventor of the car.

Daimler died in 1900 and later that year, Maybach designed an engine named Daimler-Mercedes that was placed in a specially ordered model built to specifications set by Emil Jellinek.

The first design for an American car with a petrol internal combustion engine was made in 1877 by George Selden of Rochester, New York.

The first public run of the Duryea Motor Wagon took place on 21 September 1893, on Taylor Street in Metro Center Springfield.

[39] Steam-, electric-, and petrol-driven vehicles competed for a few decades, with petrol internal combustion engines achieving dominance in the 1910s.

[50] Large-scale, production-line manufacturing of affordable cars was started by Ransom Olds in 1901 at his Oldsmobile factory in Lansing, Michigan, and based upon stationary assembly line techniques pioneered by Marc Isambard Brunel at the Portsmouth Block Mills, England, in 1802.

As a result, Ford's cars came off the line in 15-minute intervals, much faster than previous methods, increasing productivity eightfold, while using less manpower (from 12.5 manhours to 1 hour 33 minutes).

Only Japan black would dry fast enough, forcing the company to drop the variety of colours available before 1913, until fast-drying Duco lacquer was developed in 1926.

[52] Ford's complex safety procedures—especially assigning each worker to a specific location instead of allowing them to roam about—dramatically reduced the rate of injury.

[52] Development of automotive technology was rapid, due in part to the hundreds of small manufacturers competing to gain the world's attention.

Reflecting the rapid pace of change, makes shared parts with one another so larger production volume resulted in lower costs for each price range.

Morris set up its production line at Cowley in 1924, and soon outsold Ford, while beginning in 1923 to follow Ford's practice of vertical integration, buying Hotchkiss' British subsidiary (engines), Wrigley (gearboxes), and Osberton (radiators), for instance, as well as competitors, such as Wolseley: in 1925, Morris had 41 per cent of total British car production.

Subaru, meanwhile, was formed from a conglomerate of six companies who banded together as Fuji Heavy Industries, as a result of having been broken up under keiretsu legislation.

[55][56] Other hydrocarbon fossil fuels also burnt by deflagration (rather than detonation) in ICE cars include diesel, autogas, and CNG.

Removal of fossil fuel subsidies,[57][58] concerns about oil dependence, tightening environmental laws and restrictions on greenhouse gas emissions are propelling work on alternative power systems for cars.

[63][64][a] More costly upper-class and luxury cars are equipped with features earlier such as massage seats and collision avoidance systems.

[71] Some places tax heavier cars more:[72] as well as improving pedestrian safety this can encourage manufacturers to use materials such as recycled aluminium instead of steel.

The differing needs for passenger capacity and their luggage or cargo space has resulted in the availability of a large variety of body styles to meet individual consumer requirements that include, among others, the sedan/saloon, hatchback, station wagon/estate, coupe, and minivan.

[81] During the 1920s, cars had another benefit: "[c]ouples finally had a way to head off on unchaperoned dates, plus they had a private space to snuggle up close at the end of the night.

[94] Many Chinese cities limit licensing of fossil fuel cars,[96] Mass production of personal motor vehicles in the United States and other developed countries with extensive territories such as Australia, Argentina, and France vastly increased individual and group mobility and greatly increased and expanded economic development in urban, suburban, exurban and rural areas.

[100] Dependency on automobiles by African Americans may result in exposure to the hazards of driving while black and other types of racial discrimination related to buying, financing and insuring them.

[119] The automotive industry designs, develops, manufactures, markets, and sells the world's motor vehicles, more than three-quarters of which are cars.

[125] In the opinion of some, urban transport systems based around the car have proved unsustainable, consuming excessive energy, affecting the health of populations, and delivering a declining level of service despite increasing investment.

The car industry is also facing increasing competition from the public transport sector, as some people re-evaluate their private vehicle usage.

In July 2021, the European Commission introduced the "Fit for 55" legislation package, outlining crucial directives for the automotive sector's future.

[130][131][132] Established alternatives for some aspects of car use include public transport such as busses, trolleybusses, trains, subways, tramways, light rail, cycling, and walking.

[133][134] Additional individual modes of transport, such as personal rapid transit could serve as an alternative to cars if they prove to be socially accepted.