Car - photo; Transportstation.org An automobile is a wheeled vehicle that carries its own motor. Different types of automobiles include cars, buses, trucks, jeeps, and vans, with cars being the most popular. The term is derived from Greek 'autos' (self) and Latin 'movére' (move), referring to the fact that it 'moves by itself'. Earlier terms for automobile include 'horseless carriage' and 'motor car'. An automobile has seats for the driver and, almost without exception, one or more passengers. It is the main source of transportation across the world. As of 2005 there are 500 million cars worldwide (0.074 per capita), of which 220 million are located in the United States (0.75 per capita).
The modern automobile powered by the Otto gasoline engine was invented in Germany by Carl Benz. Even though Carl Benz is credited with the invention of the modern automobile several other German engineers work on building the first automobile at the same time. The inventors are: Carl Benz on July 3, 1886 in Mannheim, Gottlieb Daimler and Wilhelm Maybach in Stuttgart (also inventors of the first motor bike) and in 1888/89 German-Austrian inventor Siegfried Marcus in Vienna.