An electric wire for automobile including a compressed conductor which is obtained by arranging, around a single central element wire of stainless steel, a plurality of peripheral element wires of copper or copper alloy in a single circle in tight adherence with each other, wherein the cross sectional area of the conductor is 0.10 through 0.30 mm.sup.2, and a ratio C of the cross sectional area of the central element wire to the cross sectional area of the conductor expressed by the formula below is 19.6 through 33.3%: the ratio C of the cross sectional area of the central element wire to the cross sectional area of the conductor being A/(A+B)}.times.100 [%], wherein the symbol A denotes the cross sectional area of the central element wire and the symbol B denotes the total cross sectional area of the peripheral element wires; or the diameter of the central element wire is larger than the diameters of the peripheral element wires, and the compression rate from the cross sectional area of the conductor before compression to the cross sectional area of the conductor after compression is 5 through 20%.