A new 1950 Ford convertible in a Ford dealership in Seattle, Washington. Note the optional front bumper guards which were absolutely huge -- almost like one sees on the front of police cars these days. Very ugly and some people back in the day referred to them as cow-catchers.
From Ed --
The company was set up in 1871 by three brothers named Adolf, Carl and Hermann Reichstein. The brothers had already been producing basket-work child buggies and children's two-wheelers in 1870, and in 1881 had moved into the booming mainstream bicycle business. From 1892 the bicycles were branded with the Brennabor name.
By the 1930s the company had grown to become Europe's largest produced of infant buggies and was also a leading bicycle producer. Volume production of motor bikes began in 1901, and from 1903 the company was producing, at this stage only to special order, three- and four-wheeled powered vehicles. 1908 saw the beginning of series production of cars, and this was also the year that the company's own racing team began to enjoy worldwide success in motor sport. However, car production was suspended in 1914 with the outbreak of the First World War, while motor bike production was ended in 1916.
After the war, in 1919, the company presented the Brennabor Typ P, a car targeted at the upper middle classes, and volume production began in 1921. In 1924 Brennabor was employing approximately 6,000 people. During the mid-1920s Brennabor became Germany's largest car producer, and it was still in second place, behind Opel, in 1927/28.
In 1923/24 Brennabor led the way, as one of the first German auto-makers (along with Opel) to adopt US-style production line techniques. However, Brennabor had no small car model to compete with Opel's Laubfrosch. The German economy was particularly badly hit by the world economic crisis of the 1920s, and the company saw demand and production volumes cut back at the end of the decade.
The company attempted a comeback in 1931, applying developments in front-wheel drive technology, using the Voran company's patent, but this led only to a prototype based on the company's six-cylinder Juwel 6 model. There was insufficient funding for any progression to volume production of any front-wheel-drive model. 1932 saw an eight-month hiatus in automobile production: production resumed at the end of the autumn, but came to a permanent end in 1933. The company continued as a producer of components and motor bikes until 1945, and also produced armaments during the Second World War, but its history came to an abrupt halt in 1945 when it found itself in the Soviet Occupation Zone and the plant was disassembled.
This 1960 VW Donut bus just sold for $123,200 at the Gooding Auction in Scottsdale, AZ. The auction winner was kept anonymous but I do hope to see this bus at an upcoming VW show and not just hidden way in a collector’s vault.
The Story of this bus is very interesting as it is preserved like a time-capsule. In 1960, this swivel-seat Kombi Bus was purchased by a Dayton Ohio entrepreneur from R.B. Kuhn Volkswagen in Fairborn, Ohio for $2,269.17. The new owner envisioned serving fresh, made-on-the-spot donuts to local factories -primarily the General Motors manufacturing plants that dotted the Dayton cityscape back in the ‘60’s.
Jay D. Tyree, owner of the Rolling Donut Company in Springfield Ohio, who modified it with all of the fryers, mixers, and generators required for a mobile donut making business. Having tried several other vans, Mr. Tyree was quoted at the time in a VW advertisement as saying “full-size vans They just don’t work. Too big – and they cost too much to run. But Volkswagen works beautifully and economically”The owner hired a “baker” to drive to the manufacturing plants and sell donuts. All was seemingly well until the owner discovered that his trusted employee had been skimming from the profits. The owner was so disgusted with the situation, that he fired the crooked employee and sequestered the bus away inside a heated garage where it would rest, un-driven and unseen for nearly 45 years.
After being stored for more than 45 years and driven less than 11,000 miles, this time capsule hit the auction block at the 2020 Scottsdale Gooding auction. Selling for $123,200, this will surely go directly into a serious collector’s vault.
Buicks were popular cars in Germany before the early 1930s. I would like to get data on American exports and also cars assembled and built by American firms in Germany during the 1920s.
It is common knowledge that American automobiles held a significant portion in the German automobile market before the Nazis came to power in 1933. Below are examples of Chrysler Advertising in the 1927 issues of “Sport im Bild.” 1927 was a significant year for this magazine, as the editor was Erich Maria Remarque, who was on the cusp of fame with the publication of his “All Quiet on the Western Front.” What is often not remarked about Remarque was that he was formerly an automotive journalist, and as editor of “Sport im Bild” he brought in a significant amount of automotive articles to an upper middle class readership. Below are a few Chrysler ads from 1927:
Joan Didion, whose novel “Play It As It Lays” helped foster a rather sinister view of the freeways, remembers having one of her “great experiences” in the middle of a traffic jam on the Harbor Freeway. “I had an interview at 9 [A.M.], and I was all tensed up,” she recalled one afternoon, as the Pacific curled against the beach behind her. “I was afraid I'd miss the interview, and I was feeling sorry for myself for being up so early. Then it hit me—what difference did it make whether I sat on the freeway or went to the interview? The whole thing about Los Angeles fell into place. Every minute is a tabula rasa. There it is—by itself—no back or forward references. Just Right Now.”
John Gregory Dunne, her husband and collaborator, loves freeways. “When I'm having trouble working, I get in my car and drive,” he said. “My whole mind opens up, I'm so aware of things; it's a strange kind of highway narcosis. Once, I went out for loaf of bread and wound up in San Francisco. So I got the loaf, turned around and came back.”
That episode might have suggested a well‐known passage in Didion's novel, in which the heroine, Maria Wyeth, is described this way:
“In the first hot month of the fall after the summer she left Carter (the summer Carter left her, the summer Carter stopped living in the house in Beverly Hills), Maria drove the freeway. She dressed every morning with a greater sense of purpose than she had had in some time, a cotton skirt, a jersey, sandals she could kick off when she wanted the touch of the accelerator, and she dressed very fast, running a brush through her hair once or twice and tying it back with a ribbon, for it was essential (to pause was to throw herSelf into unspeakable peril) that she be on the freeway by 10 o'clock. Not somewhere on Hollywood Boulevard, not on her way to the freeway, but actually on the freeway. If she was not, she lost the day's rhythm, its precariously imposed momentum. Once she was on the freeway and had maneuvered her way to a fast lane, she turned on the radio at high volume and she drove. She ‘drove the San Diego to the Harbor, the Harbor up to the Hollywood, the Hollywood the Golden State, San ta Monica, the Santa Ana, the Pasadena, the Ventura. She drove it as a riverman runs a river, every day more attuned to its currents, its deceptions, and just as a riverman feels the pull of the rapids in the lull between sleeping and waking, so Maria lay at night in the still of Beverly Hills and saw the great signs soar overhead at 70 miles an hour, 'Normandie ¼ “Vermont 34, ‘Harbor Fwy 1.’ Again and again she returned to an intricate stretch of the interchange where successful passage from the Hollywood to the Harbor required a diagonal move across four lanes of traffic. On the afternoon she finally did it without braking or once losing the beat on the radio, she was exhilarated, and that night slept dreamlessly.”
Some read that passage as anticipating the day when a sign on the San Diego Freeway will announce “Oblivion 1A.” Joan has always liked the radio station that follows its call letters with the eerie phrase “Freeways Are Forever… .” But, essentially, Maria drove the freeways because they were there. “She didn't have anything to do, she was kind of in limbo,” Joan explained. “When you're in that state, marking time and trying to stay together, you've got to have something to do to organize your day. The freeways give you a spurious sense of organization. You do have to be organized and in control. You're using skills that you have, and you do well or badly. You have a sense of accomplishing something.”
With Covid raging, to long for simpler days!
Simpler in 1953? H-Bombs, Communists in America, Polio -- life always has challenges.
That is why Jesus and Christmas is so important.
From Ed -- On our way this weekend to Nashville we traveled via Louisville and passed near the Ford Assembly Plant in that city where, off to our left, we saw fields full of unfinished Ford trucks waiting for parts, mostly computer chip related.
The Mercedes-AMG EQS 53 4MATIC+ (combined electrical consumption (WLTP*): 23,4–21,1 kWh/100 km, combined CO2 emissions: 0 g/km, electric range WLTP: 529-586 km) electric sedan starts to leave the production line at Factory 56 in the Mercedes-Benz Sindelfingen plant.
Prospective buyers can order the new Mercedes-AMG EQS 53 4MATIC+ from the authorized dealers since December 14th, 2021. Simultaneously the production of this first electric sedan from Mercedes-AMG has started in Factory 56 at the Mercedes-Benz Sindelfingen plant in Germany - flexible, digital, efficient and sustainable. As an all-electric model, the EQS 53 4MATIC+ fits into ongoing series production at the site. The Mercedes-Benz S-Class sedan, the long version, the Mercedes-Maybach S-Class and the all-electric EQS are already rolling off the production line in Factory 56.
Thanks to maximum flexibility, the assembly of different models and drive types is possible on one line at Factory 56. It was therefore possible to adapt the facilities and processes in the hall precisely to the requirements of the AMG derivative. The digital ecosystem MO360 forms the basis for the precise integration of the EQS 53 4MATIC+ into production. The digitalisation strategy puts people centre-stage and aims to optimally support the employees at Factory 56 and in the global production network of Mercedes-Benz Cars in their daily work.
Further information on the digital ecosystem MO360:
https://media.mercedes-benz.com/article/abc9fd0b-edf2-4edd-901a-8bd5a294804a
The high-voltage battery is adapted to the AMG requirements profile: the specific battery management system as well as new busbars and larger cable cross-sections ensure the high performance capability and deliver hallmark AMG moments. The battery systems for the EQS 53 4MATIC+ are produced in the Hedelfingen plant section at the Mercedes-Benz Stuttgart-Untertürkheim site in Germany.
The first battery-electric AMG production model is based on the Mercedes-EQ architecture for luxury and executive-class vehicles. It thus fits seamlessly into the group-wide electric strategy. The luxury sedan with an output of up to 560 kW has been newly developed or refined in Affalterbach in all performance-related areas: from the technology to the exterior/interior design and the emotive vehicle sound.
Further information on the Mercedes-AMG EQS 53 4MATIC+:
https://media.mercedes-benz.com/article/288aa07a-f5c0-4f49-a89c-2f578f128880
https://media.mercedes-benz.com/article/d41c9f68-f041-4f3f-8cb0-24e5c61444af
https://media.mercedes-benz.com/article/b0d2f29f-f59b-4cd9-8b5e-847a3f497cc4
The retort was nearly always: "So you're taking a girl there, right?"
Benz delivery vehicle of 1896 based on the Benz Victoria. Photo at the factory premises in Mannheim. Benz & Cie. delivered the vehicle to the long-established Parisian department store “Grands Magasins Du Bon Marché” in December 1896. (Photo index number in the Mercedes-Benz Classic archive: H3101)
Benz delivery vehicle of 1896 based on the Benz Victoria. Description of the vehicle with price and technical data in the catalogue of May 1896. Benz & Cie. delivered the vehicle to the long-established Parisian department store “Grands Magasins Du Bon Marché” in December 1896.
The year 1896 was an eventful one for the Rheinische Gasmotorenfabrik Benz & Cie. in Mannheim: the product range, which until then had been characterised by its open-top passenger cars, was expanded to include not just the delivery van, but also the first coup̩ with an internal combustion engine. The picture that emerges is one of successful diversification for the inventor of the car Рa strength that also characterises the Mercedes-Benz brand today.
Delivery vehicle for an enthusiastic French market
The “Benz delivery vehicle” was first mentioned in a Benz & Cie. catalogue in May 1896. The new concept of a “Patent motor vehicle of superior design for the delivery of goods, with 5-horsepower engine”, promptly met with considerable interest. However, it was not customers from Germany who were most interested in this pioneering design. Instead, the first documented specimen was handed over to the Parisian department store “Du Bon Marché”. Even the catalogue page for the delivery van is illustrated with a depiction of this vehicle together with advertising for the Paris department store.
The fact that the vanʼs first customer came from France fits in with the way the automotive market was developing at the time: for although the new means of mobility was invented in Germany in 1886 – by both Carl Benz and Gottlieb Daimler, quite independently of each other – it was in France and Great Britain in particular that the groundbreaking innovation was initially most well received. So it was only logical that, on 5 December 1896, this first motorised delivery van with an internal combustion engine, produced directly by a car manufacturer, should roll into Paris.
Underfloor design makes optimum use of space
The first delivery van in history had a payload of 300 kilograms and was based on a chassis that Benz also used for the “Victoria” and “Vis-Ã -Vis” models. The designers made optimum use of the overall length of the vehicle by placing the engine underneath the load area. The delivery van was therefore also the first commercial vehicle to feature an underfloor design. The driver sat directly above the front axle, which was fitted with wooden-spoke wheels with solid rubber tyres that were smaller than those on the rear axle.
The driver and the load area were almost on the same level, but this was not obvious to the observer at first glance. This is because the vehicle was in the form of a panel van, with a splendid advertisement for the department store and the purpose of this import vehicle from Germany on the side panels: “Grands Magasins Du Bon Marché. Livraison des Marchandises”. (“Department Store Du Bon Marché. Goods deliveries”). The pre-eminent customer was doing what the manufacturer had recommended in the 1896 catalogue, where Benz & Cie. emphasised the potential advertising impact of the van: “Major advertising for any significant business,” the prospectus suggested.
Urban goods deliveries with 3.7 kW
The delivery van was powered by a horizontally mounted single-cylinder engine with a displacement of 2.9 litres and an output of 3.7 kW (5 hp). A total of three gear ratios brought the engine power to the road: first stepped pulleys, then the planetary gear and finally the countershaft. From here, two chains led to the sprockets on the rear wheels. The clutch was operated by means of engaging and disengaging the belts. With this combination of engine and transmission system, the delivery truck reached 15 km/h with maximum load and overcame gradients of up to ten per cent.
The selling price of the vehicle was 4,500 Marks. One third of this amount had to be paid in cash upon ordering, the rest of the sum was due when the vehicle was handed over in Mannheim. How many customers back then opted to buy this innovative delivery van, in addition to the Paris department store, is not known.
Also at the end of 1896, Émile Roger, the Benz general agent for France, developed a plan for a delivery van of his own based on the Benz Velo. His partner in the venture was Léon LʼHollier of Birmingham, England. A number of such Benz “combination delivery vehicles” were built there in the Digbeth area. After the death of Émile Roger in 1897, the project came to an end.
The Benz Coupé
In 1896, in parallel to the light commercial vehicle, Benz also introduced a new body style for passenger cars, the Coupé: the elegant car here with the short, closed body is probably a unique example. Like the first delivery vehicle, the Coupé was handed over to a customer in the French capital 125 years ago. A contemporary photograph survives, but the Coupé is not mentioned in any price list or other Benz publications from this period. Its top speed is said to have been 32 km/h.
Comparisons with photos of other Benz cars from the mid-1890s show that this vehicle was based on a Benz Victoria. This first four-wheeled vehicle from Benz was built in 1893 and, at the time, replaced the three-wheeled Benz Patent Motor Car. The Vis-Ã -Vis model is the four-seater version and has bench seats facing each other. The modern design was made possible by the invention of the functional kingpin steering, for which Benz registered patent DRP 73151 on 28 February 1893.
One particularly striking difference between this vehicle and the Victoria is the curved windscreen of the Coupé. At this stage it did not have a windscreen wiper since this was not invented until the beginning of the 20th century. In the rain, the Coupé was therefore difficult to drive. As in the delivery vehicle, the drive system was probably a 2.9-litre single-cylinder engine with 3.7 kW (5 hp) installed in the rear. It seems most likely that the power transmission to the rear axle was also solved in a similar way. The Coupé is decelerated by a shoe brake and a band brake on the rear wheels.
A car pilot must choose between his love for car-racing, and his wife. His buddy's accident will help him to choose, and his loyal ways will get him a new friend - his main rival.
Peter Wells, a former world class driver of midget racers, has been struggling to regain his winning form in the two years since his discharge as an Air Force pilot. He's being pressed by his wife, who worries about his safety, to quit and his best friend 'Pic' Dallapiccola to retire to the pit crew. Wells also feels pressure from Guido Rosetti, a rival younger driver on his Corsi team, who thinks he's lost his nerve. After he has a disagreement with Pic just prior to an important race, his friend's car is involved in a horrific accident. Against orders, Wells quits the race early to be able to make his peace with his friend, who lies dying in the hospital. Tony Bellario, his Corsi boss, initially fires him for his actions, but relents and gives him one last desperate chance to redeem himself in the upcoming Grand Prix.
Mercedes-Benz is the first automotive company in the world to meet the demanding legal requirements of UN-R157 for a Level 3 system[1]. The German Federal Motor Transport Authority (KBA) has granted system approval for this on the basis of the technical approval regulation UN-R157, thus paving the way for offering such a system internationally[2], provided that national legislation allows it. Germany has taken a pioneering role in this with the opening of the Road Traffic Act (StVG) for Level 3 systems in 2017. This is why the first customers will be able to buy an S-Class with DRIVE PILOT in the first half of 2022, enabling them to drive in conditionally automated mode at speeds of up to 60 km/h in heavy traffic or congested situations on suitable stretches of motorway in Germany. The special DRIVE PILOT equipment takes the strain off the driver and allows him or her to perform ancillary tasks[3] on the central display such as online shopping or processing e-mails in the in-car office. The system approval also applies to the EQS.
"For many years, we have been working to realise our vision of automated driving. With this LiDAR based system, we have developed an innovative technology for our vehicles that offers customers a unique, luxurious driving experience and gives them what matters most: time. With the approval of the authorities, we have now achieved a breakthrough: We are the first manufacturer to put conditionally automated driving into series production in Germany," says Markus Schäfer, Member of the Board of Management of Daimler AG and Mercedes-Benz AG, Chief Technology Officer responsible for Development and Purchasing. "With this milestone, we are once again proving our pioneering work in automated driving and also initiating a radical paradigm shift. For the first time in 136 years of automotive history, the vehicle takes over the dynamic driving task under certain conditions. At the same time, we are pleased that Germany is continuing its pioneering role in automated driving with this approval."
The technical approval regulation with which such a system can be certified did not come into force until the beginning of 2021. Since then, it can be implemented in Europe - an opportunity that Mercedes-Benz was quick and the first manufacturer to seize. With the opening of the Road Traffic Act (StVG) for Level 3 systems in 2017, Germany was the first country to create a legal basis for the intended use of these systems.
Mercedes-Benz is initially offering DRIVE PILOT on 13,191 kilometres of motorway in Germany. Extensive test drives for this systems are already underway, for example in the USA and China. As soon as there is a national legal framework for conditionally automated operation in additional markets, the technology will be rolled out step by step.
DRIVE PILOT also has to cope with surprising traffic situations
On suitable motorway sections and where traffic density is high, DRIVE PILOT can offer to take over the driving, initially up to the legally permitted speed of 60 km/h. The controls needed for this are located in the steering wheel rim, on the left and right above the thumb recesses. When the driver activates DRIVE PILOT, the system controls the speed and distance, and effortlessly guides the vehicle within its lane. The route profile, events occurring on the route and traffic signs are correspondingly taken into consideration. The system also reacts to unexpected traffic situations and handles them independently, e.g. by evasive manoeuvres within the lane or by braking manoeuvres.
With LiDAR sensor and redundant systems
DRIVE PILOT builds on the surround sensors of the Driving Assistance Package and comprises additional sensors that Mercedes-Benz considers indispensable for safe conditionally automated driving. These include LiDAR, as well as a camera in the rear window and microphones, especially for detecting blue lights and other special signals from emergency vehicles, as well as a wetness sensor in the wheel well. As well as the sensor data, the DRIVE PILOT receives information about the road geometry, route profile, traffic signs and unusual traffic events (e.g. accidents or roadworks) from a digital HD map. This is made available and updated via a backend connection. The S-Class with the optional DRIVE PILOT also has redundant steering and braking systems and a redundant on-board electrical system, so that it remains manoeuvrable even if one of these systems fails and the safe handover to the driver can be ensured.
If the driver fails to take back control even after increasingly urgent prompting and expiry of the takeover time, e.g. due to a severe health problem, the system brakes the vehicle to a standstill in a controlled manner and with suitable deceleration. At the same time the hazard warning lights and, once the vehicle has come to a standstill, the Mercedes-Benz emergency call system is activated and the doors and windows are unlocked, to make access to the interior easier for any first responders.
High-precision positioning system
The top priority for Mercedes-Benz when introducing such a system is safety, which includes high demands on operational reliability. The exact location of the S-Class is determined using a highly accurate positioning system. This is much more powerful than conventional GPS systems. In addition, data obtained from satellite navigation are matched with sensor data and data from an HD map. Sensor data collected by LiDAR, camera, radar and ultrasonic sensors can be, for example, information on road geometry, route characteristics, landmarks or traffic signs.
The HD map provides a three-dimensional street and environment image. The map data are stored in back-end data centres and updated constantly. Each vehicle also stores an image of this map information on board, constantly compares it with the backend data and updates the local data set if necessary. The HD map thus offers stable positioning through a representation of the surroundings independent of e.g. shadowing effects or a soiled sensor. It also provides information on road geometry or special traffic events such as roadworks. This high-precision map differs from maps for navigation devices by, among other things, its higher accuracy in the centimetre rather than metre range and its detailed intersection and track model.
A powerful central control unit provides the necessary sophisticated software functions for conditionally automated driving. Within the framework of modern security architecture, important algorithms are calculated redundantly.
Conditionally automated driving on suitable motorway sections where traffic density is high
During the conditionally automated journey, DRIVE PILOT allows the driver to take their mind off the traffic and focus on certain secondary activities, be it communicating with colleagues via In-Car Office, surfing the internet or relaxing while watching a film. In DRIVE PILOT mode, applications can be enabled on the vehicle's integrated central display that are otherwise blocked while driving.
[1] SAE Level 3: the automated driving function takes over certain driving tasks. However, a driver is still required. The driver must be ready to take control of the vehicle at all times when prompted to intervene by the vehicle
[2] ECE contracting states (57) incl. states of the EU, GB, Japan, Korea, Australia
[3] Which secondary activities of the driver are legally permissible depends on the respective national road traffic regulations
The Great Recession, the G.M. and Chrysler Bankruptcies of 2007-2009, and Recovery
The Great Recession, with its foreclosures, personal bankruptcies, lost jobs, and closed automobile assembly factories, started with a slowing of auto sales after a banner year in 2005, during which almost 17.5 cars and light trucks were sold (see table). Afterwards, a foreboding trend reappeared, one that the American industry had experienced during the late 1950s, the late 1970s, and early 1980s – the remarkable rise in the sale of “pure” imports. These vehicles were not cars made at the transplants, and they increased significantly from 19.7 percent in 2005 to 26.1 percent in 2008.72Concurrently, credit tightened. Since some 90% of all automobile purchases were made with loans – that development also contributed to a marked decline in U.S. production. $4.00 per gallon gasoline prices also caused a drop in consumer confidence. It turned out to be a perfect economic storm directed at a fragile industry. In 2007, prior to the steep downturn, union pension and healthcare costs as well as post-employment benefits were addressed with the formation of a voluntary trust employee benefits association that also provided for a lower entry wage of $14.20 per hour for up to 20% of the UAW workforce. But it was too little a cost-saving measure, too late.
By the end of 2008 the Detroit Three were running out of cash and G.M. and Chrysler faced imminent bankruptcy. The outgoing Bush administration, led by Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson, responded with a Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) loan. A stopgap, it kept the threatened firms alive, and acted as an important bridge between the outgoing Bush and incoming Obama administrations. In the meantime, massive job losses followed. Employment at automobile assembly plants dropped from 185,800 to 123,400 and in parts plants from 607,710 to 413, 500. By 2009 only 10.6 million American-made units were sold, and recovery to 2005 levels did not occur until 2015.
After President Obama took office, a taskforce at the Department of Treasury was created with bankers Steven Rattner and Ron Bloom emerging as its leaders. Congress proved as ineffectual as auto industry leaders in reaching a compromise agreement. Conservatives wanted the industry – and especially organized labor – to pay a price for a government bailout, while liberal legislators favored a more lenient approach given the huge economic and social ramifications if the industry were to fail. In the end, both G.M. and Chrysler went through managed bankruptcies. G.M. was forced into bankruptcy with a 61% taxpayer ownership. G.M. also had a new chairman and four new board members who were appointed by the federal government. To allay consumer fears, the government backed warranties and President Obama created the Cash–for-Clunkers program to stimulate demand. Ed Whitacre, formerly at AT&T, was persuaded to come out of retirement to head G.M., followed 9 months later by Dan Akerson, formerly CEO at Nextel and then the Carlyle Group. Ford, securing a credit line during the first half of 2008, avoided government intervention in their business operations, and since 2011 has recovered nicely with annual profits ranging between $6.2 and $8.3 billion. Chrysler recovered but now is under the control of the Italian car company, Fiat.
G.M. has endured several crises since 2009, including one involving a faulty ignition switch. It thrives, in part because of its operations in China, where its Buicks are preferred as desirable vehicles, along with Audis and Porsches. Geographically, the post-Great Recession U.S. automotive industry now has two areas of concentration within the I-65 and I-75 corridor. Above US 30, cutting east to west between Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois, the auto assembly scene is dominated by the Detroit Three and suppliers; below it are the transplants with their headquarters in Japan, Korea, and Germany.
From the perspective of organized labor, the UAW is no longer what it once was, neither in the sense of its power during the 1950s nor its obvious weaknesses after the mid-1970s. In 2015 industry analysts Joel Cutcher-Gershenfeld, Dan Brooks, and Martin Mulloy concluded, “The UAW transitioned from a union that primarily threatens to withhold labor to one that primarily enables work. Union brings expertise to discussions of quality, safety, productive and preventative maintenance, workforce development, and team based operations.”73 In sum, the UAW has experienced a new role and resurgence by finding purpose in a new business environment.
