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How did Nikolaus Otto's 1876 engine influence gasoline engine development?

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Labeled cross-sectional diagram of a V-type gasoline engine for an automobile, showing internal components such as pistons, crankshaft, camshaft, intake and exhaust valves, connecting rods, spark plugs, and intake manifold. — gasoline engine Cross section of a V-type engine.

Nikolaus Otto’s 1876 engine was a pivotal development in the history of the internal-combustion engine. While the theoretical four-stroke cycle had been patented in 1862 by Alphonse Beau de Rochas, Otto was the first to successfully build an engine based on this principle, which is now commonly known as the Otto cycle.12

Otto’s engine provided the first practical alternative to the steam engine by offering greater reliability, efficiency, and quieter operation. Its immediate commercial success—with nearly 50,000 units sold in 17 years—demonstrated the viability of the four-stroke design and spurred rapid development across the industry.12

This success laid the essential groundwork for future innovations. Former associates of Otto, Gottlieb Daimler and Wilhelm Maybach, later refined this technology to create high-speed engines and a carburetor capable of using gasoline, directly leading to the engines used in the first practical automobiles by pioneers like Karl Benz.2