The automotive industry is very diverse from ranging from assembly plants to wheel making. Therefore, many different types of manufacturing and materials employed. For that reason, the industry has designated different tiers of suppliers. Likewise, the wastewaters one encounters vary widely and can fall into a number of categorical effluent requirements. A description of the industry including an explanation of the industry tier system is provided. Since many automotive manufacturers discharge to POTWs, the presentation focuses on wastewater treatment technologies that are employed in pretreatment. Wastewater characteristics from different sectors of the automotive industry are described along with the appropriate categorical classification. Applicable treatment technologies are then coupled with the wastewater properties. The technologies cover the gamut from physical/chemical treatment like metals precipitation, coagulation/sedimentation, oil/water separation, membrane filtration and ion exchange to organics removal via biological treatment. Examples of some pretreatment systems are provided demonstrating the diversity present in the automotive sector.