American Automobile Manufacturing: It's Turning Japanese

In the last 10 years, the world auto market has been undergoing possibly the most dramatic transformation since assembly line production was introduced in 1913.Sparked by rising gasoline prices, the industry has developed and introduced new engineering materials and technology in an effort to produce smaller, lighter, and more fuel-efficient vehicles. This environment of change has also seen the emergence of foreign manufacturers as major competitors in the U.S. new-car marketplace.