The United States is home to some of the top car brands in the world. Sometimes referred to as “The Big Three,” these companies are renowned for their long history of manufacturing the cars used by countless people in the country.
Join us as we examine the top car companies in the US and the automobiles they’ve manufactured over the years.
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An Overview of The Big Three
The above term refers to the US automotive industry and the three major companies in the United States which are the following:
- General Motors
- Ford
- Chrysler
These are the largest automobile manufacturers in the country. For a long time they were also the largest companies in the world and are still in the top five for certain. For over 56 years Ford was the second highest ranked automobile manufacturer until they were overtaken by Toyota in 2007.
Toyota was making progress towards overtaking The Big Three, but an acceleration recall caused them to fall back into fourth place along with Honda which was knocked down to fifth place. This put the three companies back in the spots which gave them their title.
The business model of these three companies also made them stand out from the pack. The vast majority of the company operations are unionized by the United Auto Works and the Canadian Auto Workers. This of course brought with it more costs for the domestic companies compared to the international car manufacturers.
Now that we’ve established the members of The Big Three, let’s find out more about each company.
The General Motors Company
While commonly referred to as GM, this company is headquartered in Detroit, Michigan. The company markets, designs, manufactures and distributes vehicles and vehicle parts. Besides the US, General Motors also produces cars in 37 countries under thirteen different brands:
- Alpheon
- Chevrolet
- Buick
- GMC
- Cadillac
- Holden
- HSV
- Opel
- Vauxhall
- Wuling
- Baojun
- Jie Fang
- UzDaewoo
In total the company has over 212,000 employees. One of the top selling vehicles is under the Chevrolet brand known as the 2015 Silverado 1500. This is a pickup truck that is one of the top selling cars in the United States.
It is designed to adapt to various situations. It is made from roll-formed steel. Reinforced step in the corners of the rear bumper allow for easy access to the cargo bed.
The Ford Motor Company
Most commonly this company is referred to simply as Ford. It is a multinational automaker headquartered in Dearborn, Michigan which is a suburb of Detroit. The company was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16th, 1903.
Ford Model T
The company sells vehicles under the Ford brand and luxury vehicles under the Lincoln brand. Forbes magazine describes this company as “the most important industrial company in the history of the United States.”
Ford was a pioneer for US automobile manufacturing, creating methods for large-scale production and manufacturing via assembly lines. The company introduced the world’s first engine with a removable cylinder head.
The engine was included in the Model T in 1908. Later in 1927 Ford brought out the Model A which was the first car to have safety glass in the windshield.
In February of 2015, the Ford F-Series was the top selling vehicle according to cars.com. The sales overall were down by a percent from last year, but Ford attributed this to a constrained inventory. The company went on to say that they are training people to build the F-150 at a second assembly plant to help alleviate this stress on the market.
Chrysler
By Greg Gjerdingen [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
- Dodge
- Jeep
- Ram
This company was founded in 1925 by Walter Chrysler and expanded massively from there. As with the previous top ranked cars, this is another truck. These have been getting a lot of attention since gas prices in 2015 are not as high as in the past.
The US Automobile Industry
According to the American Auto Council:
“Chrysler, Ford and General Motors produce nearly one and a half times more of their vehicles here in the U.S. They also use twice as much domestic content in their vehicles when compared to competitors.”
In addition, The Big Three also:
- Employee two out of three U.S. autoworkers
- Operate two out of three U.S. auto plants
- Have 8 times more of their global workforce in the U.S.
In short, these companies drive the overall economy of the United States by generating jobs and exporting billions of dollars in vehicles and parts. They invest heavily into research and development as well. In 2013 Americans purchased 15 million cars and trucks, 11 million of which were produced within the country.
Final Thoughts
The top car companies in the US are by far The Big Three: Chrysler, Ford, and General Motors. These companies are responsible for producing a vast majority of the vehicles used by the citizens of the country. In addition, they also drive forward the economy in a number of ways that contributes to the well-being of the country as a whole.
