I'd probably go for automobile manufacturing instead, since (modern) wheel design is a subset of that; i.e., without vehicles, we wouldn't really need advanced

I'd probably go for automobile manufacturing instead, since (modern) wheel design is a subset of that; i.e., without vehicles, we wouldn't really need advanced tire technology. That's true. I just feel that a better term could be used, since "mundane" makes it seem like the thing you're talking about is "no big deal". It just feels wrong to use it on something like the power grid.