In 1936, GM produced nearly half of the cars on the US market, and the other half was basically divided by Ford and Chrysler. The "three big cars" squeezed the "five cars" at the time to the edge of life and death.
The arrival of the Second World War made the three major cars concentrate on military industry, and civilian vehicles basically stopped production. By the end of the war, the demand for depressed cars broke out like never before.
In the five years after 1945, Americans bought 21.4 million cars. The establishment of the 41,000-mile interstate highway system in the 1950s and the development of the middle class to the suburbs further stimulated the demand for automobiles.
It is also in this golden age that Chrysler introduced the luxury imperial of the eight-cylinder engine automatic transmission, and every two or three years there is a new style. In the 1960s, Chrysler formed the European Chrysler Corporation through mergers and acquisitions and entered the European market.
However, the oil crisis of 1973 has dealt a heavy blow to the entire US auto industry. Oil prices have risen by 30%, and the market for large-scale fuel-consuming vehicles produced in the US is soft. At this time, it also coincided with the rise of the Japanese auto industry, which is a long-term strategy for producing small cars. r>
By 1975, the United States market, which was originally dominated by the three major cars, was occupied by foreign cars. This forced the US government to set fuel efficiency standards for the automotive industry.
Chrysler bought a 15% stake in Mitsubishi Motors in Japan in 1971, but because the entire company was mainly producing large cars, the business went from bad to worse, and in September 1979, it asked the US government for a loan of $15 billion to avoid bankruptcy.
Former Ford President Jacques was also the president of Chrysler at this time. He yelled at the Japanese car in the media, evoked American economic nationalism, and sold many Chrysler assets in exchange for cash. In 1983, he successfully repaid all of it. Government loans, including $350 million in interest, are all happy.
American car glory is no longer
In the 1980s and 1990s, as the price of oil fell, the Americans’ appetite for the big car opened again, and Chrysler rose with the entire US auto industry. Jeep, large SUVs, and small vans are the signature products of Chrysler.
However, at this time, American cars are no longer in the limelight, and market share is constantly being eroded by foreign companies headed by Japan. In order to get out of the crisis in the early 1980s, Chrysler had to auction its European assets to finance. Although it saved the emergency, it lost its European market and could only defend the shrinking North American market.
In this century, cars in countries such as Japan are aggressive in terms of reputation and market share. In 2005, GM and Ford each lost $11 billion and $10 billion, and Chrysler made a profit of $1.9 billion in 2004.
However, oil prices began to rise in 2006. By the third quarter of 2007, Chrysler ended its 12-quarter profit record. Then oil prices soared, Wall Street stocks collapsed, and Chrysler struggled and could only reach out to the government again. Unfortunately, the government has faced too many problems. In the end, it can only be combined with private companies and trade unions to save the company.
The rise and fall of Chrysler is a portrayal of the entire American automotive industry. The success of Chrysler is to grasp the new life trend, and the second is to be unique in technology creation. Chrysler's founder, Walter Chrysler, was not only a top engineer at the time, but also had a keen anticipation of a new car-based life.
But nowadays, American auto companies are dominated by businessmen and trade unions, and the status of engineers is getting lower and lower. The quality of their products is no longer an opponent of Japanese cars. To make matters worse, the US auto industry has no insight into the new green lifestyle and even gambled on large fuel-efficient cars at a critical moment when Japanese competitors vigorously developed energy-saving models, resulting in a complete collapse.
Today, half of the US auto market is almost occupied by foreign cars. It stands to reason that the development of the US auto industry is not without advantages. For example, automobile manufacturing requires a large amount of land. Although the cost of labor in the United States is high, land prices are cheap. If you can grasp the advantages of technology and the trend of world life, it is not impossible to turn around in the future.