Auto simply means "moving," and the word itself comes from the French automobile, which, like the English word "automobile," came from the Greek αὐτός autós ( "self") and the French word mobile, which came from the Latin mobilis ( "movable").
Consequently, Automobile is a German transliteration of a French loanword rather than a German loanword in English, similar to Kindergarten, Zeitgeist, or Schadenfreude.
In the Scandinavian languages, automobil is shortened to bil; the plural in Danish and Norwegian is biler, and the plural in Swedish is bilar. In the Dutch language, automobiel is also shortened to auto, or auto's in the plural.
Consequently, Automobile is a German transliteration of a French loanword rather than a German loanword in English, similar to Kindergarten, Zeitgeist, or Schadenfreude.
In the Scandinavian languages, automobil is shortened to bil; the plural in Danish and Norwegian is biler, and the plural in Swedish is bilar. In the Dutch language, automobiel is also shortened to auto, or auto's in the plural.