What is Automotive?
Encompassing petrol and diesel driven vehicles, motor cycles, lawnmowers, generators and tractor mechanics. The automotive industry is a term that covers a wide range of companies and organisations involved in the design, development, manufacture, repair marketing, aftermarket products and selling of motor vehicles, motorcycles, mopeds
and recovery and repair of damaged and stolen vehicles. It is one of the world’s most important economic sectors by
revenue.
Modern automotive engineering, along with aerospace engineering and marine engineering, is a branch of vehicle
engineering, incorporating elements of mechanical, electrical, electronic, software and safety engineering as applied to the design, manufacture and operation of motorcycles, automobiles, buses and trucks and their respective engineering subsystems.
This includes entities such as:
- Safety Engineering,
- Fuel Economy/Emissions,
- Vehicle Dynamics (ride, handling, steering, braking, comfort and traction),
- Design of the chassis systems of suspension (steering, braking, structure (frame), wheels and tires, and traction control);
- Vehicle Electronics (responsible for operational controls such as the throttle, brake and steering controls; as well as many comfort and convenience systems such as the HVAC, infotainment and lighting systems.
- It would not be possible for automobiles to meet modern safety and fuel economy requirements without electronic controls); Shift Quality (as influenced by the powertrain (engine, transmission), and the vehicle (driveline, suspension, engine and powertrain mounts, etc.); Drivability (cold starts and stalls, RPM dips, idle response, launch hesitations and stumbles,
and performance levels).