American manufacturers produce approximately 10 million units annually.
[4] Notable exceptions were 5.7 million automobiles manufactured in 2009 (due to
crisis), and more recently 8.8 million units in 2020 due to the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic that originated in Wuhan, China.
[4][5] While production peaked during the 1970s and early 2000s at levels of 13–15 million units.
[6][7][8]
Starting with Duryea in 1895, at least 1900 different companies were formed, producing over 3,000 makes of American automobiles.
[9] World War I (1917–1918) and the
Great Depression in the United States (1929–1939) combined to drastically reduce the number of both major and minor producers. During World War II, all the auto companies switched to making military equipment and weapons. However, by the end of the next decade the remaining smaller producers disappeared or merged into amalgamated corporations. The industry was dominated by three large companies:
General Motors,
Ford, and
Chrysler, all based in
Metro Detroit. Those "Big Three" continued to prosper, and the U.S. produced three quarters of all automobiles in the world by 1950 (8.0 million out of 10.6 million). In 1948, 50 percent of U.S. households owned at least one automobile.
[10] Imports from abroad were a minor factor before the 1960s.
[7][8]
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