Building and Selling Cars

The first auto manufacturers were bicycle and carriage makers, metalworkers, and machinists. In the 1900s and 1910s, hundreds of new companies created cars of varying price and quality in limited numbers. Between 1910 and 1914, the Ford Motor Company introduced mass production, the moving assembly line, low prices, and consistent quality. Henry Ford’s aggressive, mass-market strategy and personal appeal persuaded millions of Americans to purchase a Model T. In the 1920s, General Motors offered customers credit buying, affordable luxury, and a range of automobiles for every taste and income level—and the annual model change. These auto giants established a model for mass-production technology, national advertising, and product appeal.

Automobile Manufacturers

Today a few very large companies produce most of the cars in the United States. In the early 1900s there were over 100 companies building gasoline, steam, and electric automobiles, often in very small quantities. The number of automakers peaked in the 1910s. By the 1930s, many small manufacturers had folded, unable to compete with low production costs at Ford, General Motors, and Chrysler.