Please read the note at the end of this post about our use of AI to generate the visuals and information in the post. AI is getting better but it is not perfect. We made every effort to ensure that these graphics and data tell the correct overall story about the evolution of the American and global Automobile industry, but small errors are present. Without AI, these charts would have taken many months to compile instead of a week.
You should be able to click on any picture, chart, or table to see it more closely.
Beginnings of the American Auto Industry 1900-1915
Throughout the 20th century, the big American automakers led the world. But before the rise of the “Big Three” (General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler), there was intense competition among many different companies and their brands (makes). The point in this 1900 to 1915 chart is that Ford, in blue, blew everyone else away with the Model T, introduced in October 1908. Many companies competed in the embryonic industry in this era. Sales of the Model T had broken 500,000 a year within 7 years of its introduction. Note that these first two charts are number of cars sold by brand (make), not total company, so General Motors (formed in 1908) has several brands in the lists, Ford only one.
If we take Ford out of the chart so we can analyze those other brave entrepreneurs and companies, we get the next chart. The strongest competitor Henry had from about 1909 to 1915 was #2 Willys-Overland, in blue, a company not often remembered. Equally forgotten is founder John North Willys, who was both an automotive pioneer and an empire builder, borrowing money to extend into farm equipment (Moline Plow) and aviation (Curtiss, a major airplane maker of the era and important in World War I). He left the auto business in 1929, and it collapsed in the Great Depression in 1933, despite the promising start.
The turquoise hump in 1905 shows the success of the first successful mass-produced car, the Oldsmobile, followed by the pink peak in 1910 for Buick, the original brand of General Motors. Each had spent a few years as the number one seller. By 1915, the Studebakers of South Bend, Indiana, the “General Motors of horse-drawn vehicles,” had risen to #3 in the industry (orange). In 4th place were the fascinating Dodge Brothers (green), who had gotten rich making parts for Ford, but gave him a one-year notice that they were quitting that to make their own cars, beginning in 1914.
Also note a little pink line, ranked 7th here in 1915 and 8th when you include Ford, was a newer upstart but growing fast called the Chevrolet. This was not a GM product at the time. GM founder Billy Durant had been kicked out of the company by financial interests, so he worked with racecar driver Louis Chevrolet to start a new company and car. They were so successful that it enabled Chevrolet to buy General Motors (technically), then the stock was swapped and Durant was briefly back in the driver’s seat at GM before being run out again, and Chevy was thereafter a GM division, as it remains today.
Here is Ford back in the mix, looking at percentage share of total US car sales (not the number of cars sold as shown in the preceding charts) in a simple chart which only shows the data for every fifth year. By 1915, Ford was selling over 50% of the cars in America.
General Motors emerged out of all this, Billy Durant first buying Buick, then pacesetting Oldsmobile and luxury Cadillac (among other now-forgotten brands) before leaving, starting Chevrolet, then combining those brands.
In addition to its core automobile business, GM went on to be one of the top refrigerator makers (Frigidaire), a large producer of trucks and buses, and even developed the first commercially successful diesel railroad locomotives, a field they dominated until General Electric took the lead around 1980 (both companies are now out of the locomotive business). This chart shows the death of the former industry leaders, steam locomotive builders that tried but failed to transition to diesel-electric “motive power.”
High Growth to 1930
Continuing to rocket upwards, Ford reached almost 2 million Model T’s a year by 1923. In 1927, Chevrolet outsold Ford with their “more car for a little more money” pledge. Henry closed up his factory for six months after making 15 million T’s, to develop his next car, the Model A, which was also successful. But General Motors had caught up with him and would not be beaten for decades, with only a few years in which the Ford company outsold GM.
While GM and Ford became the giants, the “independent” smaller automakers were also booming in the era until the Great Depression hit, as shown in the next chart which leaves both Ford and GM out. This chart shows the next most important brands, with Hudson, Willys, and Dodge each peaking at about 300,000 cars in the late 1920s, almost one thousand a day.
Not shown in the chart is the fact that GM executive Walter Chrysler had been hired to save the Maxwell company (red), then renamed it after himself, and in 1928 brought out the Plymouth as a low-priced model to compete with Ford and Chevy. More importantly, that year he also bought the very successful Dodge Brothers firm (green) after their deaths. Taken together, by 1930 Chrysler was a clear #3 overall, in a few years even beating Ford to the #2 industry spot. Hudson, backed by Detroit’s department store baron, was a top producer in this era, and Billy Durant’s third try at starting a car company, the Star (gray), was also briefly one of the leaders.
Here were the “low priced three” makes in 1929, a Plymouth on the left, a Ford in the middle, and a Chevy on the right. Lookalike cars? Chrysler designers had already gone “streamlined!” (AI got the date wrong on the banner in the first fake picture.)
The table below compares partial specifications and prices of what AI tells us were the best-selling models of 1929. The Essex was made by Hudson and the Whippet by Willys-Overland.
Maturing Industry 1930-1960
This era shows the power of General Motors.
While GM’s dominance was largely the result of the huge volume of the Chevrolet division, much of its profits were driven by its “mid-market” brands (Pontiac, Buick, and Oldsmobile), which overall clobbered the competing makes from Ford (Mercury) and Chrysler (Dodge and DeSoto). While GM has always been secretive about its profits by division, these mid-market brands might at times have provided over half the company’s profits, especially in the late 1970s when the Oldsmobile Cutlass was the #1 selling car in America. By 2000, Pontiac and Oldsmobile no longer existed, Buick continuing on in large part because it sells well as a luxury brand in China (this chart is based on US sales only). Dodge has fared better in recent years.
By 1958, the cars were much lower and sleeker, led by GM designer Harley Earl.
These cars may have been “gas hogs” but they sure looked Fintastic!
Some specs on the top sellers of 1959:
For comparison, here are some key specs for the best-selling model every ten years from 1930 through 1970.
The Big Three Top Out 1960-1990
The Import Invasion
Before the arrival of the Volkswagen Beetle in 1949 and its rise in popularity in the 1950s, “foreign cars’ were a novelty. The chart below includes the top selling imported brands in the US market in 1925 and 1950.
Then the Beetle hit. While Toyota entered the US market in 1957, the brand was a limited competitor focused on the west coast markets for a few years.
If we take out the dominant VW, we can more clearly see the rise of the Japanese firms.
In 1960, the American Big Three introduced the first generation of “compact cars” which tried to compete with the newcomers from Germany and Japan.
This table shows the difference between the big cars like the Chevy Impala that Americans were accustomed to, and these “tiny” new competitors.
By 1975, the big three had replaced the first-generation compact cars with models like these, but the old American companies had trouble making any money on these small cars with low average selling prices.
Beyond Maturity: 1990-2025
While General Motors maintained its lead in the US market, it lost dominance as the company’s annual production dropped from 5 million to under 3 million. Chrysler dropped from 3rd to 6th. The big change was the increased role of the Japanese automakers.
Next, we compare the top selling models every ten years from 1980 to 2020.
The Full Century Arc 1925-2025
This chart shows the sales levels of all the leading companies (at the time) for the full one-hundred-year industry evolution. (As in some other charts, the title on the chart is imperfect.)
A simplified version, using data from every 25th year, showing market shares rather than units sold.
This shift from American companies to foreign manufacturers is shown in this chart. Around 2008, sales of foreign cars surpassed the old American brands. These next two charts are based on shares of the total US market.
However, due to import restrictions and other factors, those “foreign cars” were increasingly manufactured in the United States. Thus where the cars are actually made never witnessed the “crossover” in the preceding chart.
There are many other ways to view the history of the auto industry. This chart demonstrates one of the biggest changes in that evolution, the decline of the traditional passenger car and sedans as SUVs and pickup trucks grew. Some observers attribute this change, at least in part, due to the fuel mileage maximums mandated by the federal government, which were applied to cars but not trucks and SUVs. If so, the result of the mandates was the opposite of what was intended, as drivers preferred the strength, visibility, and safety of the larger, heavier vehicles.
However, because a Ford F-150 or large SUV costs more than a Chevy Trax or Kia Soul, the share of revenues generated by SUVs and pickups is even more striking.
The best-selling models over time:
And the 5 best-selling models of 2025:
Compare the bestsellers in China now (and their prices!).
The Global Auto Industry
Not only did GM and Ford rule the US market, in those early years they (combined) made over half of all the automobiles in the world, as America motorized first. This chart shows the historical pattern of global market shares for four of the top world companies today, with Toyota and Volkswagen taking the global lead among these longstanding competitors.
The next chart shows a more granular look at this century and includes any company that was in the top 7 at any time. China’s Geely Group just misses the cut, being the 8th biggest in the world in 2025.
This chart reinforces the data above but adds the incredible, fast rise of the Chinese manufacturers as their country’s citizens finally “mobilized.” Reminiscent of the rise of the Model T one hundred years earlier.
Europe
Here we take a quick look at the evolution of the European auto industry which has had important connections with the US market and companies. The 100-year chart below indicates the leadership of Volkswagen. Note that Ford of Europe (solid dark purple) and GM in Europe (Opel of Germany and Vauxhall in the UK, gray solid line) were both important competitors over the years. Chrysler also controlled the Rootes Group in Britain and at one point Simca in France. Only Ford remains there today, but even they are shrinking and completely changing their European business, which has lost large sums of money. Note that GM Europe, PSA (Peugeot and Citroen), and Fiat of Italy all dropped steeply late in the time frame, as they were absorbed into the new company, Stellantis (along with the global Chrysler Corporation).
Here is more detail on the American big three in Europe.
Now, a quick series of charts showing the leading companies in each of the major European markets.
Great Britain/UK
Note the almost total collapse of the British auto industry since the early 1960s.
“JLR/BL heritage” in the preceding chart refers to the “giant” of the British auto industry, the former British Motor Corporation (BMC) and Leyland companies, rooted in such legendary makes as the Austin and the Morris.
France
The big event here was the 1976 merger of Peugeot and Citroen to form PSA, later a key component of the new company Stellantis. Both makes had tried the American market and given up by 1991, but neither has returned since. Note these numbers are for global market share. (Your writer was once prevented by the police from driving one of the most scenic mountain roads in Texas, Ranch to Market 337, because it was being used to film a television ad for one of those French brands, even though the cars were not available in the USA!)
Germany
Mercedes-Benz (formerly named Daimler-Benz) got big with their acquisition of Chrysler, but that did not work out, they got out of it, and Chrysler went to Italy’s FIAT, which was the cornerstone of the new company Stellantis.
Italy
Here we see the absolute dominance of FIAT.
Other European Automakers
Since the cars were not sold in the USA, the other smaller European automakers are less known here. VW’s purchase of the Czech Skoda and Spanish SEAT had a major impact, with Skoda continuing to grow along with the Romanian Dacia, now owned by Renault of France, the former French top maker and now part of a consortium with Mitsubishi and Nissan.
Japan
And, on the other side of the globe…see Toyota rise above 10% of global production, a position they hold today.
South Korea
A simple chart of the rapid rise of the Hyundai-Kia linked companies.
Global Consolidation
Here are charts showing the predecessors of three great consolidations of recent years, Stellantis, Volkswagen, and Renault-Nissan which was put together by the famous (or infamous in Japan?) Carlos Ghosn. First is Stellantis, a major company formed from the companies shown.
Commercial Vehicles
With all this emphasis on “light vehicles” – passenger cars, SUVs, pickups – it is easy to forget that the world uses a lot of buses and trucks, historically made by these same companies. Just as in cars, China has skyrocketed.
The chart below shows company data for the commercial vehicles most known in the US, from American and European manufacturers by units sold, excluding the rising Asians like Japan’s Hino (Toyota) and Fuso (bought by Mercedes-Benz in 2005). Here Daimler Truck, a company split off from Mercedes-Benz in 2019 but still 30% owned by Mercedes and its pension fund, now leads the way in global sales. In 1999, #2 commercial vehicle maker Volvo group split from the Swedish car company, which is now controlled by China’s Geely. #3 is the great American company PACCAR, makers of Kenworth, Peterbilt, and the European DAF trucks. #4 TRATON is part of Volkswagen and #5 Italy’s IVECO is owned by the Indian Tata Motors, the commercial vehicle arm of the Tata group, which also owns Jaguar and Land Rover.
We hope you have enjoyed and found useful these AI-generated graphics.
Please take a look at our other posts on the automobile industry and some of the most interesting people who have been participants:
https://americanbusinesshistory.org/the-greatest-businessman-in-american-history-alfred-p-sloan-jr/ (The man who led General Motors to its glory days)
https://americanbusinesshistory.org/workingmans-friend-industry-disruptor-the-walter-chrysler-story/
https://americanbusinesshistory.org/annual-us-auto-production-by-make-1896-1966/
https://americanbusinesshistory.org/us-auto-industry-big-3-sales-profits-1909-37/
https://americanbusinesshistory.org/why-cars-dont-have-to-be-black/
https://americanbusinesshistory.org/henry-j-kaiser-california-dreamer-workers-friend/
https://americanbusinesshistory.org/jeep-the-little-brand-that-could/
https://americanbusinesshistory.org/baseball-broadcasting-compact-cars-forgotten-mr-crosley/
https://americanbusinesshistory.org/the-unsung-story-of-the-greatest-industrial-designer/
https://americanbusinesshistory.org/gas-station-wars-rockefeller-to-dinosaurs-to-tigers-in-tanks/
https://americanbusinesshistory.org/the-unsung-20th-century-technology-that-disrupted-an-industry/ (Diesel Locomotives and General Motors)
Please feel free to contact us through the website or just reply to one of our free newsletters, with any comments, questions, or corrections. We’d also love to hear your ideas on industries we should explore and stories and biographies we should tell.
Caveat about AI
The charts and tables in this post were generated by Gemini Artificial Intelligence, in our first efforts to do history research using that tool. The American Business History Center has always tried to maintain the highest standards for the accuracy of our stories and data. AI does not have the same standards and can “hallucinate.”
We have gone to great lengths to correct any noticeable errors that arose and to confirm the accuracy of the information herein, yet the answers AI yields certainly “wobble.” We believe that even if some specific data points are off, the overall conclusions you can draw from these charts are valid. We anticipate that over time, these tools will improve, as will our skill in using them.
For certain, we generated each of the charts in a few seconds or minutes, whereas doing it our old-fashioned “look it up” way would likely have taken months. We hope you find this approach useful in understanding the business world and its evolution over time.
Gary Hoover
Executive Director
American Business History Center
