Abbreviations and glossary

ABS brakes anti-lock braking system which prevents the wheels from locking up under severe braking, thus retains the tyres' grip on the road for enhanced safety. The term comes from the German 'Anti-Blockier System'

ACEA Association des Constructeurs Européens d'Automobiles - the representative body of EU vehicle manufacturers, based in Brussels

biodiesel a diesel fuel alternative made of organic matter such as rapeseed oil

Buddism the system whereby the core technology of the car industry is centred on the innovations of E G Budd, who pioneered the all-steel welded body

CAIR Centre for Automotive Industry Research at Cardiff University, Wales, UK

car-sharing schemes increasingly popular arrangements, whereby people forgo car ownership in return for membership of a club that runs cars for its members to use for a fee as and when required

CARB California Air Resources Board - body responsible for monitoring air quality in the State of California and for proposing regulations to improve it

CEO Chief Executive Officer - the top manager in a business

CKD completely knocked down - the term for a kit of parts that can be assembled into a complete car at a location other than the originating factory. This is commonly used to assemble cars in markets where a complete car factory would not be viable. A variant is SKD (semi-knocked down), which is a kit closer to completion, thus requiring less assembly input, aimed at even less sophisticated markets

CNG compressed natural gas - a popular alternative fuel

coachbuilt a coachbuilt car body uses the traditional technique of metal panels on a wooden frame; a technology replaced by Buddism, but which is still used by car manufacturers such as Morgan

CO carbon monoxide - a gas that occurs in vehicle exhausts as a result of the incomplete combustion of petrol or diesel. It is eventually oxidised into CO2 (carbon dioxide), but until then is highly toxic

CO2 carbon dioxide - a harmless gas produced by humans and animals and other natural processes, which is associated with control of the Earth's climate. Too much being produced leads to global warming

CSR corporate social responsibility - a concept whereby a company looks beyond making money to its wider role in society

CVT continuously variable transmission - an arrangement whereby the transmission that links a car's engine to the wheels is achieved not by means of fixed steps, but by a continuously changing range of ratios. This is normally achieved through a belt driving over pulleys of variable diameter. In automated form the system was pioneered by the Dutch Daf company in 1958. The key technologies are controlled by German suppliers Bosch (who own the Dutch manufacturer of the belts) and ZF. An alternative is the IVT (infinitely variable transmission) developed by Torotrak in the UK

die(-set) the very large and heavy tools used in a press to form metal blanks' into pressed panels for assembly by means of welding into a modern mass-produced car body

DME Dimethyl Ether, an alternative fuel that replaces diesel

EC European Commission

ELV end-of-life vehicle - a vehicle that is no longer wanted and has therefore become hazardous waste and subject to the EU ELV Directive

EPA US Environmental Protection Agency

(Volvo) EPD Volvo's Environmental Product Declaration system, which provides a listing of the environmental impacts of each model in the Volvo range - an industry first

EU the European Union

FDI Foreign Direct Investment - when a company spends a large amount of money to build a facility in another country

FEV fuel cell electric vehicle

Fordism a set of practices, particularly in terms of work and process organisation, which were introduced by Ford and have become associated with mass production in general

FP6 the EU's Framework Programme 6 for organising EU-funded research

fuel cell a chemical device that generates electricity as a by-product of a chemical reaction

FV Foresight Vehicle - a UK government-and industry-supported research programme aimed at preparing the UK automotive sector for a competitive future

GHG greenhouse gas emissions

GM General Motors Corporation

GRP glass-fibre reinforced plastic - a thermoset composite material using thin strands of glass for reinforcement encased in a synthetic resin. It can be moulded in very cheap and simple moulds

HC hydrocarbons - in the context of vehicle emissions this refers to various hydrocarbon constituents of petrol or diesel that leave the engine without being burnt. Many of these are toxic

HPV human-powered vehicle; a bicycle or tricycle not officially sanctioned by the international cycling union (UCI) and thus unable to participate in its events. The human-powered world speed record is held by an HPV and not by a conventional bicycle, as HPVs tend to be more efficient, particularly in terms of aerodynamics

HEV hybrid-electric vehicle - a vehicle that uses an engine of some sort to generate electricity, which is then used to drive the wheels via electric motors

IC engine internal combustion engine, the current mainstream car engine technology most commonly powered by petrol or diesel

ICDP International Car Distribution Programme - an international collaborative research programme into the future of car retail and distribution

ICE in-car entertainment; the various technologies used in a car for entertainment and information such as radio, CD player, TV and DVD

JAMA Japan Automobile Manufacturers' Association (Nihon Jidosha Kogyo Kai), the Japanese vehicle producers' representative body, based in Tokyo

KAMA Korean Automobile Manufacturers' Association, the Korean vehicle producers' representative body, based in Seoul

Kit car a car supplied in the form of a set of parts, to be built up by the buyer, who often has to add key components from an existing mainstream car for completion

LCA life cycle analysis - a technique which tries to assess the environmental impact of a product or service throughout its entire life cycle, including raw material extraction, production, use and end-of-life processing

LNG liquefied natural gas - a means of keeping and handling natural gas by liquefaction, which makes it more compact. It is used to some extent as a vehicle fuel

LPG liquefied or liquid petroleum gas - a popular alternative vehicle fuel normally produced as a by-product of the oil refining process

MCC Micro Compact Car - the DaimlerChrysler company that makes the Smart city car

MFR micro factory retailing - an alternative car production and distribution model that features a dispersed network of small local facilities that assemble, sell and service cars

Modularisation a trend whereby suppliers to the car industry are expected to supply larger and larger sub-assemblies, called 'modules', which are then assembled by the car manufacturer. This reduces the complexity of the final assembly process for the vehicle manufacturer

monocoque or unibody a means of building cars that integrates the body and chassis into a single steel box, to which all other components are attached. This was largely made possible by the introduction of Budd's all-steel body technology

MPV multi-purpose vehicle, or people carrier

NELV natural ELV - a car that reaches the end of its life by needing repairs that exceed the value of the car, as opposed to a car that is written off in an accident, which would be a premature ELV (PELV)

NGO non-government organisation - these are organisations that are not linked to government: they include consumer organisations, environmental pressure groups and other campaigning groups

niche a small part of the market, smaller than a market segment, often discovered by the introduction of a new product...