Jean-Jacques Chanaron

Although it was during the period between the two world
wars that the automobile worked its revolution in North American
society and became the symbol of a way of life, it fully conquered
"old" Europe only after the Second World War and just now is
penetrating the Third World and the communist countries of Europe.
The world automobile industry has experienced an unprecedented
growth since 1945, trying to satisfy a demand that has grown so wide
and so significant that the efforts of governments to channel and
control this growth often are overwhelmed by its rapid and uncon-
trolled advance.

The period 1945-79 represented 35 euphoric years for the indus-
try. World production began its rapid cadence of growth in 1946 (3
million automobiles), passing the figure of 10 million in 1955, 20
million in 1968, and even 30 million in 1972. Adding commercial
vehicles to these figures of passenger cars gives these totals: 5 million
in 1946, 10 million in 1950, 16 million in 1960, 30 million in 1970,
and almost 43 million in 1979. Increasing its output fourteen-fold in
thirty-five years, the industry has become one of the major factors in
the economic growth of the industrial countries. Its product has
served as the symbol of a civilization and of a way of life reserved in
large part for the inhabitants of the rich nations, but which is begin-
ning to affect the people of the underdeveloped and communist
countries. In 1980 nearly 400 million motor vehicles were on the
road all over the world--nearly two-thirds of them in the advanced capitalist countries--compared with 50 million in 1950.

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