The automobile, according to a well-known joke in Japan, is “a third-class machine.” But the logic of such a statement is not without some truth, however, since the car is utterly dependent on human control. A car cannot move unless the driver tells it to do so. Moreover, people must undergo twenty to thirty hours of training before they are able to operate a car safely. Therefore, in essence the joke is saying that no other machine demands such a degree of human attention. However, it also infers that there is some other potential direction in automotive technology, which is in a way quite true. The world had finally come to believe, and indeed expect, that the car could function in a more intuitive, intelligent manner.

The automotive industry experienced rapid progress during the 1970s, especially in terms of electronics technology. A major