By 1991, 143 million cars and 45.4 million trucks and buses were in operation in the U.S., and more than 456 million cars and 139 million trucks and buses were operating worldwide, forming an indispensable transportation network. While the U.S. initially dominated the world auto market, many foreign automakers have become successful, some within the U.S. itself.
Germany’s Volkswagen was the first foreign automaker to become a force in the U.S. It sent its first shipments of autos, popularly known as Beetles, to the U.S. in the early 1950s. British and French automakers also enjoyed growth in exports to the U.S. during the 1950s. In 1978 Volkswagen opened an assembly operation in Pennsylvania, but after slumping sales in the 1980s it moved production to Mexico.
While most European automakers have faltered, Japan has become the leading importer of automobiles to the U.S. The first Japanese imports to the U.S.—16 compact pickups—arrived in 1956. Ten years later Japanese vehicle imports reached 65,000 units. By 1992 the Japanese claimed 2.9 million annual car and truck sales in the U.S.
Starting in 1982 with Honda Motor Co. Ltd.’s new assembly plant near Columbus, Ohio, Japanese automakers began building assembly plants and engine-manufacturing facilities in North America. By 1993 foreign-based “transplants,” mostly Japanese, were building 2.7 million passenger cars and light trucks in the U.S. and Canada annually. Some of these plants were operated jointly with U.S.-based automakers. South Korea’s Hyundai also had opened an assembly plant in Québec; in the mid-1990s, Germany’s BMW and Daimler-Benz both opened new state-of-the-art production facilities in South Carolina and Alabama, respectively.
I believe that the production of automobiles from different countries is a good thing. The only problem is that the American public is now buying cars not made in the US. This causes the US automobile industry to tank which means people lose jobs and America loses that income.
ReplyDelete