American Automobile Industry

The American automobile industry began in the 1890s and rapidly evolved into the largest automotive producer in the world through the use of mass-production. The United States was the world's leader amongst motor vehicles main manufacturers many dozens years. US lost a leadership to Japan since 1980s (and then to China since 2009) and currently is the third largest manufacturer in the world. In 2010, 7,761,443 motor vehicles were manufactured in US only, although former production were up to 13—15 million per year sometimes in 1970s—2000s.
The motor vehicle industry began with hundreds of manufacturers, but by the end of the 1920s it became dominated by three large companies - General Motors, Ford and Chrysler. After the Great Depression and World War II, these companies continued to prosper. However, beginning in the 1970s, a combination of high oil prices, increased competition from foreign auto manufacturers, and increasing government regulation severely affected the companies. In the ensuing years, the companies periodically bounced back, but by 2008 the industry was in turmoil. As a result General Motors and Chrysler filed bankruptcy reorganization and were bailed out with loans and investments from the federal government.
Prior to the 1980s, most of the plants were owned by domestic manufacturers of the Big Three (GM, Ford, Chrysler) and AMC. However that has dropped steadily since with auto transplants, factories established in the US by foreign-owned car companies.