<P> The first company formed exclusively to build automobiles was Panhard et Levassor in France, which also introduced the first four - cylinder engine . Formed in 1889, Panhard was quickly followed by Peugeot two years later . By the start of the 20th century, the automobile industry was beginning to take off in Western Europe, especially in France, where 30,204 were produced in 1903, representing 48.8% of world automobile production that year . </P> <P> The American George B. Selden filed for a patent on 8 May 1879 . His application included not only the engine but its use in a 4 - wheeled car . Selden filed a series of amendments to his application which stretched out the legal process, resulting in a delay of 16 years before the patent was granted on 5 November 1895 . This patent did more to hinder than encourage development of autos in the United States . Selden licensed his patent to most major American automakers, collecting a fee on every car they produced . </P> <P> In the United States, brothers Charles and Frank Duryea founded the Duryea Motor Wagon Company in 1893, becoming the first American automobile manufacturing company . The Autocar Company, founded in 1897, established a number of innovations still in use and remains the oldest operating motor vehicle manufacturer in the United States However, it was Ransom E. Olds and his Olds Motor Vehicle Company (later known as Oldsmobile) who would dominate this era of automobile production . Its production line was running in 1901 . The Thomas B. Jeffery Company developed the world's second mass - produced automobile, and 1,500 Ramblers were built and sold in its first year, representing one - sixth of all existing motorcars in the United States at the time . Within a year, Cadillac (formed from the Henry Ford Company), Winton, and Ford were also producing cars in the thousands . </P> <P> Within a few years, a dizzying assortment of technologies were being used by hundreds of producers all over the western world . Steam, electricity, and petrol / gasoline - powered automobiles competed for decades, with petrol / gasoline internal combustion engines achieving dominance in the 1910s . Dual - and even quad - engine cars were designed, and engine displacement ranged to more than a dozen litres . Many modern advances, including gas / electric hybrids, multi-valve engines, overhead camshafts, and four - wheel drive, were attempted, and discarded at this time . </P>

Who built the first car in the united states