Concept Cars: Automobiles for the Future
             No one knows where automobiles are going but concept cars provide us with a small window to look into their future. Different automakers use concept cars in various ways and they all devote a lot of time and money toward developing their cars of the future. The first thing an automaker does is decide what kind of market (what age group, what style of driving) it should target to gain the most customers. For instance, Ford builds mainly vehicles which target families with kids. Every year Ford comes out with new concepts appealing to families. Examples might include four doors, room for a dog, and the ability to go anywhere. Ferrari, on the other hand, builds cars for the rich auto enthusiast who likes to drive fast and race. Ferrari may come out with one new concept every year targeting this extreme group of car enthusiasts. All automakers create concept cars but they may explore different ideas and markets.
             In the beginning car design was simple. All cars had four wheels, a couple seats, a motor, and a steering wheel. Henry Ford offered his model T "in any color you want, as long as it's black." Today creating cars has become more complicated. Not only must a car look good but it also must be safe and fuel-efficient. Most of this pressure comes from consumers, but they aren't the only ones who have to be pleased. The United States Congress pushes auto makers also, but more along the lines of safety and fuel economy (Butterworth 1). They don't really care how it looks.
             Beyond meeting the demands of consumers and Congress, car designers must also make actually building the car easy on their car engineers. For example, some Mercedes Benz models have everything smoothly bolted in from the engine to the suspension, instead of putting together individual pieces in an assembly line. This takes a lot of time and in the car building process time...