The first large-scale industrial use of vanadium was in the steel alloy chassis of the Ford Model T, inspired by French race cars. Vanadium steel allowed reduced weight while increasing tensile strength (ca. 1905). For the first decade of the 20th century, most vanadium ore was mined by American Vanadium Company from the Minas Ragra in Peru. Later, the demand for uranium rose, leading to increased mining of that metal's ores. One major uranium ore was carnotite, which also contains vanadium. Thus, vanadium became available as a by-product of uranium production. Eventually, uranium mining began to supply a large share of the demand for vanadium.