When they were unsure of how to develop a reliable and economical car for their need for a more efficient and economical automobile than the German manufacturers at the time were offering. It was a way to develop the next generation of automobiles for the German market.
The term "Automobile" refers to automobiles going at combustion engines. These vehicles first came on the market when Henry Ford discovered the inexpensive electricity-production operation of an internal combustion engine and he began the production of these vehicles to sell them
The first automobile was built by George Eastman, a former professor at the United States Military Academy at West Point. Eastman created the first car by starting with a small two-cylinder engine and turning the engine over to turn a pair of cogs in the front wheel, thus creating an automatic transmission. The first automobiles were used to transport passengers.
In the early 1870s, there were several different models that were available and each model was known as a "street car". Streetcars were operated by horses and were a slower than the automobile although they were still considered "electric vehicles".
In the early 1890s, a car company in Detroit named Henry Ford began to produce automobiles. The first models were very basic and came in only two-door vehicles, but after a few years, Ford began to produce more and more powerful cars