Auto industry jobs range from pre-production, such as engineers who design automobiles, to line workers who assemble the vehicles and salesmen who sell vehicles on the showroom floor. Other jobs within the auto industry include mechanics, painters and truck drivers. Key auto industry jobs in the manufacturing plants run the gamut from quality control personnel to inventory control and even custodial workers. There are many auto industry jobs that are located within the automobile dealer's facility, such as porters who clean and prepare vehicles for customer pick-up and finance officers who arrange financing for new car buyers.
Most automobiles begin assembly as a sheet of steel or aluminum. Through the efforts of individuals performing various auto industry jobs, the raw materials are pressed, shaped and assembled into automobiles. This is not, however, the beginning of an automobile; the origins of any new vehicle begin as a drawing on an artist's sketch pad. Designers, engineers and artists all hold important auto industry jobs in the design department of an automobile manufacturer's corporate offices. Working hand-in-hand with a research department, ideas are brought to life by draftsmen, model makers and other creative people who hold important auto industry jobs.
After a concept drawing and clay model of a prospective new vehicle have been produced, it is up to other workers with auto industry jobs to create the actual vehicle. Press operators cut and form sheets of steel into raw body and chassis components that will be welded and joined together to create a new vehicle. Workers in the engine plant will assemble an engine and transmission to power the new vehicle, while workers on the assembly line mount the drive train into the vehicle's chassis. The interior accoutrements, electrical wiring harness and glass will all be assembled as the vehicle makes its way down the assembly line.
Once final assembly is complete, the vehicle is loaded onto a truck or a train to be delivered to a new car dealer. The vehicle is readied for the lot by dealership employees who place wheel covers and floor mats in the new car, as well as wash and clean the vehicle to give a good impression to prospective buyers. Salesmen, hold crucial auto industry jobs and offer customers information and accompany them on a test drive before completing the initial buyer's contract to sell the vehicle. The dealership's finance officer, who holds another of the auto industry jobs, will complete the buyer's contract before turning the customer back to the salesperson to deliver the vehicle to its new owner.