Changes

== Manufacture ==

== Manufacture ==

Many of the world's major auto companies have plants in the U.S., and the U.S. companied have plants and subsidaries across the world, a pettern begun by Ford in the 1920s.

Many of the world's major auto companies have plants in the U.S., and the U.S. companied have plants and subsidiaries across the world, a pattern begun by Ford in the 1920s.

It is often difficult to tell if a car is a domestically or foreign produced vehicle simply by the name of the manufacturer.  For example, in 2006 Japan-based manufacturer Toyota had 14 manufacturing plants in North America producing parts and cars such as the Camry, while American manufacture [[General Motors]] has operations in [[Mexico]] producing trucks such as the Silverado and Suburban for export to the United States.

It is often difficult to tell if a car is a domestically or foreign produced vehicle simply by the name of the manufacturer.  For example, in 2006 Japan-based manufacturer Toyota had 14 manufacturing plants in North America producing parts and cars such as the Camry, while American manufacture [[General Motors]] has operations in [[Mexico]] producing trucks such as the Silverado and Suburban for export to the United States.

==Financial crisis==

==Financial crisis==

In 2008 a series of damaging blows drove the "Big Three" (GM, Ford and Chryser to the verge of bankruptcy. Part of the cause was very high labor costs (much higher than the foreign plants in the U.S.), which prevents lower prices. The Big Three had in recent years stressed expensive, fuel-guzzling SUVs and large pickups. They were much more profitable than smaller, fuel-efficient cars. When gasoline prices shot past $4 in 2008, Americans stopped buying the big cars, and the Big Three saw their sales plummet.  The [[Financial Crisis of 2008]] played a role as no one was willing to loan GM the mnoney to buy Chrysler. Consumer credit has tightened and it became much harder for people with average or poor credit to obtain a bank loan to buy a car, so sales fell further.  Stock prices fell as shareholders worrued about bankruptcy; GM's shares fell to 1942 levels. Intense debate is underway about a massive bailout, that would be in addition to a $25 billion loan Congress passed in September 2008 to assist in increasing fuel efficiency.

In 2008 a series of damaging blows drove the "Big Three" (GM, Ford and Chrysler to the verge of bankruptcy. Part of the cause was very high labor costs (much higher than the foreign plants in the U.S.), which prevents lower prices. The Big Three had in recent years stressed expensive, fuel-guzzling SUVs and large pickups. They were much more profitable than smaller, fuel-efficient cars. When gasoline prices shot past $4 in 2008, Americans stopped buying the big cars, and the Big Three saw their sales plummet.  The [[Financial Crisis of 2008]] played a role as no one was willing to loan GM the money to buy Chrysler. Consumer credit has tightened and it became much harder for people with average or poor credit to obtain a bank loan to buy a car, so sales fell further.  Stock prices fell as shareholders worried about bankruptcy; GM's shares fell to 1942 levels. Intense debate is underway about a massive bailout, that would be in addition to a $25 billion loan Congress passed in September 2008 to assist in increasing fuel efficiency.

Intense discussions  

Intense discussions  

== Fuel ==

== Fuel ==