April 7, 2016
When necessity is no longer available, economic gains and/or competition are the most effective drivers of innovation. This has resulted in eras of competitively concentrated innovation in the automotive market. Specific dates are difficult to solidify, but there generalized lapses in which the invisible hand Adam Smith spoke of, pointed out particular problems which were promptly pummeled into passivity if not obsolescence.
The gif above serves as a great analogy. The various automakers, are not always as synergetic as Rick and Summer are, because they are still trying to selfishly outdo one another. So, the results are often not as clean or competent, for factors frequently out of their control. But more often than not it is a lack of drive and/or penuriousness curbs efficacy.
That guy that yanks the dog has been a number of obstacles or annoyances in the automotive industry. In lieu of a war, whereby necessity is imposed by certain death, a focused effort can be inspired in a number of ways. These instigators range from: international crises and governmental incentives, to an automaker’s vision and/or boast, challenge, or insult.
Ideally, the thing that incites a quest for correction, is compassion or attention to detail, but it is more often than not an oversight. In other words, automakers are usually retroactively addressing an issue rather than proactively preventing one,
When a botheration becomes ubiquitous in the industry, the market tends to respond by demolishing said issue by making it the forefront of dissent. A sundry of automakers concurrently tackle a vexing facet, until it is operationally optimized. It has been this way since the dawn of the automotive market.
First, it was actually making an automobile. Mercedes-Benz is usually attributed as being the first entity to ever a car in 1885 or 1886, but that deserves a huge asterisk or an explanation at the least.
Not only, was it well before Mercedes-Benz as we know it today; in that: it was Karl Benz by himself making a motorized tricycle, not the eventual (and ephemeral) consortium of Benz, Wilhelm Maybach, and Gottlieb Daimler (due to Daimler’s passing in 1900) that ultimately resulted in the establishment of Mercedes-Benz in 1926. But also there were, many motorized modes of carriage-like transport before well before even 1885.
After that, the race for convenience (that still exists in a lesser degree) and paradigm indoctrination started. While this was less of a conscious effort, it has left the most lasting impact (barring proof of concept).
TopGear - In search of the first car with... by KarlyBello
Assuming Top Gear’s above due diligence is accurate, the car that deserves the archetypical distinction is the Cadillac Type 53. Before that, cars were plagued by varying and convoluted controls, made more complicated by the lack of uniformity.
Arguably, the most persistent and popular purveyor of pioneers for the automotive industry has been motorsport. The most obvious consequence was a steady increase of average automobile horsepower over the years, but many more technologies originated on racecars. Hopefully soon, Formula E will yield electric improvements.
Speaking of electricity, today, the focus is on fuel economy. While that was inspired by an international crisis known as climate change, automakers didn’t start a dedicated push until forced to by Cafe Regulations.