Some parts are still inherited to this day
It has affected industries in South Korea, the US, and Japan
The current automobile industry has developed so much that it is unimaginable compared to when automobiles were first launched. Since the first automobile appeared, each country has developed its own automobiles to increase the convenience of transportation.
Vehicles were developed and produced for the first time by automobile brands with history and tradition in South Korea, the US, Europe, and Japan. Let’s find out which vehicle was first launched and how it is similar to and different from today’s vehicles.
Mercerdes-Benz’s eternal rival, BMW
In 1929, BMW produced the Dixi as its first vehicle model. At the time, BMW, which did not have direct automobile production capabilities, purchased the rights to manufacture and sell automobile models from the UK’s Austin Motor Company. The first model produced in this way, the BMW Dixie, was followed by a subsequent version of the Dixie, which later became the basis for the launch of the BMW 303.
Starting with the BMW 303, the big features of BMW that we can recognize appear. A vehicle with BMW’s official design, including the kidney grille and the emblem symbolizing an aircraft propeller, was born.
The beginning of the South Korean automobile industry, the Hyundai Pony
Kia Sephia, which jumped into the passenger vehicle market in the 90s
Pony, South Korea’s first historically indigenous vehicle model, is the first vehicle produced by Hyundai in South Korea. It was developed based on Japan’s Mitsubishi vehicles platform, with which it had a technical partnership at the time. This opportunity allowed Korea to become the second country in Asia to produce its own automobile model, following Japan.
The first indigenous model vehicle of Kia, a South Korean automobile manufacturer that is always mentioned together with Hyundai, is Sephia. Compared to Hyundai, which launched its first model in 1976, Kia got off to a late start by launching it in 1992. It has brought significant vitality to the South Korean passenger vehicle market and has played a major role that cannot be ignored.
The first mass-produced automaker, Ford
Toyota, the strong player in the Asian automobile industry
US-based Ford is an essential company in the automobile industry and is the one that created the first mass-produced automobile. At the time, it was possible to produce inexpensive vehicles and sell them to Americans through a process that enabled mass production at low costs. That model is Ford’s first vehicle, the Model T. At a low price of $ 825, more than 500,000 units were sold in 1914, so most vehicles driven in the US were Model T.
South Korea’s neighboring country, Japanese brand Toyota, also has its own brand’s first model vehicle. Model AA, launched in 1936, was developed to compete with American vehicles that dominated the Japanese automobile market then. This model has been evaluated as a historic model despite poor sales. The main reason is that it became the root of independent technological development. So far, we have looked at the models that have become the foundation of the automobile industry in each country.
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