Rise of U.S. Automaking

To meet the growing demand for automobiles of all types, Ford greatly speeded up production by introducing, in 1913, the conveyor belt to carry automobile parts on assembly lines. Another important influence in the subsequent growth of the automobile industry was the formation at this time of the organization then known as the Automobile Board of Trade and now named the Motor Vehicle Manufacturers Association. Members of the organization, which today embraces all automobile manufacturers in the United States, made a cross-licensing agreement whereby any member company might use the patents controlled by any other member, without the payment of royalties. The virtue of the agreement was that it established a custom of “patents for use,” instead of patents as advantages to be monopolized and exploited. Under the agreement, patent rights were shared so that better automobiles might be made, no matter who might make them.

Many early U.S. manufacturers located their plants in and about Detroit. This is where the home establishments of the manufacturers of all the passenger-car and most of the motor-truck vehicles produced in the United States are now located.

While Ford was perfecting his Model T, the General Motors Corporation (GM) was established in 1908 by William C. Durant, who combined the Buick, Oldsmobile, and Oakland companies and, later, Cadillac, to form GM. General Motors weathered numerous financial crises in its early years, finally gaining stability when the Du Pont family bought much GM stock (since divested) in 1920. The invention by Charles F. Kettering of the electric self-starter in 1912 was a benchmark in U.S. automotive development, but others quickly followed, including balloon tires in 1921. Among other U.S. automotive pioneers were the brothers John Dodge and Horace Dodge, machinists and bicycle builders, for whom the Dodge car is named; Walter P. Chrysler, a railroad worker who later formed Chrysler Corporation; and John N. Willys, whose company won worldwide fame during World War II as a manufacturer of military Jeeps. Since its inception, the automotive industry has shown a steady expansion, with the exception of the years during World War II when its plants were converted to the production of war materials. In 1978 motor-vehicle production reached an all-time high of 12,878,000 units, including about 9.2 million cars. In the aftermath of the fuel shortages of 1973-74, U.S. motor-vehicle production was less than 9 million units by 1975. In the late 1970s, however, production had recovered to about 11 million units.

Дата добавления: 2015-08-27