The automotive industry in the United States began in the 1890s and rapidly evolved into the largest in the world as a result of the size of the domestic market and the use of mass-production. The United States was overtaken as the largest automobile producer by Japan in the 1980s and subsequently by China in 2008. The U.S. currently is second among largest manufacturer in the world by volume with 8-10 million automobiles annual manufacturing (except down to 5.7 million in 2009 due to crisis), although peaks of production levels of up to near 15 and 13 million units were achieved in the 1970s and 2000s.