The Controller Area Network was introduced and patented by Robert Bosch GmbH, Germany. After short and heavy competition, CAN was accepted by almost all manufacturers. Nowadays, it is the basic network system in nearly all automotive manufacturers shiny new cars. Latest products use CAN accompanied by other network systems such as LIN (a low-cost serial net for body electronics), MOST (used for in-car entertainment) or Flexray (used for safety critical communication) to tailor the different needs for communication with dedicated net structures.  
Because CAN has high and reliable data rates, built-in failure detection and cost-effective prices for controllers, nowadays it is also widely used outside automotive electronics. It is a standard for industrial applications such as a Field Bus used in process control. A large number of distributed control systems for mechanical devices use CAN as their backbone.