Series ・ 10 parts

The Automobile: How the Car Changed the World

At the close of the 19th century, people dreamed of a carriage that ran without a horse. Germany's Karl Benz patented a three-wheeled gasoline automobile, while Gottlieb Daimler and Maybach built a high-speed engine. From two cars born in the same year, each unknown to the other, the story of the automobile quietly begins. Episode 1 of the series.

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01 The Dream of a Horseless Carriage — The Birth of the Automobile At the close of the 19th century, people dreamed of a carriage that ran without a horse. Germany's Karl Benz patented a three-wheeled gasoline automobile, while Gottlieb Daimler and Maybach built a high-speed engine. From two cars born in the same year, each unknown to the other, the story of the automobile quietly begins. Episode 1 of the series.
02 The Model T and the Masses — The Revolution of Mass Production From an expensive toy into a tool for ordinary people. In 1908 Henry Ford brought out the Model T, and with the moving assembly line and the five-dollar day he transformed production. The price kept falling, and the car became the property of the masses. The story of the mass production that opened the door to motorization, episode 2 of the series.
03 The Age of GM and the Brand — America's Golden Era While the Model T conquered the world through sheer cheapness, General Motors asked a different question: what is it that people really want from a car? Through the annual model change, the brand hierarchy, and installment selling that Alfred Sloan's GM perfected, we trace — with a neutral eye — the light and shadow of an American car culture that became a symbol of prosperity.
04 The Idea of the People's Car — Europe's Automobile Apart from the American cars that competed in luxury, Europe nurtured the idea of 'a small car everyone could drive.' We trace — faithful to the historical record and neutral about its light and shadow — the complicated origins of the Volkswagen Beetle, the autobahn, Porsche, and a rich small-car culture of individual character such as the 2CV and the Mini.
05 The Toyota Production System — The Philosophy of the Japanese Car In the ashes of postwar Japan, a way of making cars sprouted from principles unlike those of the West. The right things, at the right time, in the right amount — just-in-time, kanban, kaizen. A nation poor in both resources and capital devised a 'philosophy of how to make things' that would go on to transform manufacturing worldwide. The birth of the Toyota Production System, told on a factual basis.
06 The Oil Shock and the Rise of the Japanese Car In 1973, a crisis in the Middle East struck the world in the form of lines at gas stations. In an age of soaring fuel prices, the small, fuel-efficient Japanese car drew sudden attention. But the surge in exports to America soon bred the pain of trade friction. The rise and the discord — both sides told on a factual basis.
07 The Price of Safety and the Environment Once a symbol of prosperity, the automobile came to be questioned over two shadows it cast: accidents and pollution. One lawyer's accusation, exhaust that darkened the sky, and regulations once called 'impossible'. This is the era when the struggle over safety and the environment pushed technology itself forward.
08 Global Reorganization: The Alliances of Giants At the close of the twentieth century, the auto industry was caught in a vortex of cross-border mergers and partnerships. A German-American union called 'the merger of the century', a Japanese-French alliance revived from the brink of bankruptcy. This is the era when giants formed alliances in pursuit of scale, told neutrally from both success and setback.
09 The Shock of the EV — Tesla and Electrification The electric car actually flourished once, more than a century ago, and then lost. The arrival of the lithium-ion battery, Tesla's challenge, the decarbonization rules raised by various nations, and the rise of Chinese EVs. Is the end of the internal combustion engine truly coming? We trace this contested present neutrally, within the bounds of what has been reported.
10 Self-Driving and Beyond — The Future of the Car The car that no one drives, the car that stays connected, and the car you use rather than own. The three currents of self-driving, connectivity, and MaaS are shaking the very meaning the automobile has held within society. Carrying the hard questions of safety and ethics, where is the relationship between cars and us headed? A final chapter that closes a hundred and twenty years of story without rushing to an answer.