Ever since motor vehicles came to be, automobile (also known as automotive or vehicle) engineering has gained importance. Automobile engineering deals with the design and creation of vehicles used as means of transportation by road. Essentially, it derived from mechanical engineering. More specifically, it is the branch of engineering that deals with the design, development, manufacturing, production, testing, repairing, control and management of automobiles. It is a combination of different elements of mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, electronic engineering, software engineering and safety engineering.

The main areas of application are in car design, operations involving the production of cars, designing of engines and fuel management. To become a capable and skilled automobile engineer, specialized training may be essential.The major tasks of an automobile engineer are to design, develop, manufacture and test vehicles from the conceptual phase to production phase. It has many areas of specialization such as engine systems, fluid mechanics, aerodynamics, supply chain management, thermodynamics and electronics and control systems.