All Change

ARE AMERICA’S AUTOMAKERS READY?

- Angus MacKenzie

We used to call them the Big Three because, well, they were the three biggest automakers in the world. For much of the 20th century, GM, Ford, and Chrysler each made more cars—and more money—than anyone else in the auto biz. They made Detroit the automotive capital of the world by the 1920s and one of the wealthiest cities in America by the 1950s. Back then, the masters of the universe cruised Woodward Avenue, not Wall Street. 

A lot has changed. 

For a start, the Big Three aren’t so big anymore. According to global sales figures from industry analyst JATO, GM now languishes in fourth spot, behind Volkswagen, Toyota, and Hyundai, fifth if you factor in the new Renault- Nissan-Mitsubishi alliance. Ford, for decades the world’s No. 2 automaker, is now merely the sixth largest. And 20 years after being swallowed by Daimler—and subsequently spat out before being merged with Fiat in 2014— Chrysler barely makes the top 10.