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→Industry trends: update
Major car companies include Ford, General Motors(or GM), [[Chrysler]], [[Toyota]], [[Nissan]], [[Honda]], [[Mazda]], [[BMW]], [[Mercedes-Benz]]. Major American based manufacturers include [[Ford Motor Company|Ford]] and [[General Motors]], produce several brands such as [[Ford Mercury|Mercury]], [[Lincoln (car)|Lincoln]], [[Chevrolet]], and [[Hummer]], however these often have many of the same "platforms" or basic car components.
Major car companies include Ford, General Motors(or GM), [[Chrysler]], [[Toyota]], [[Nissan]], [[Honda]], [[Mazda]], [[BMW]], [[Mercedes-Benz]]. Major American based manufacturers include [[Ford Motor Company|Ford]] and [[General Motors]], produce several brands such as [[Ford Mercury|Mercury]], [[Lincoln (car)|Lincoln]], [[Chevrolet]], and [[Hummer]], however these often have many of the same "platforms" or basic car components.
==Industry trends==
==Industry trends==
The annual capacity of the industry is 17 million cars; sales in 2008 dropped to an annual rate of only 10 million vehicles made in the U.S. and Canada. All the automakers and their vast supplier network account for 2.3% of the U.S. economic output, down from 3.1% in 2006 and as much as 5% in the 1990s. Some 20% of the entire national manufacturing sector is still tied to the automobile industry. The transplants can make a profit when sales are at least 12 million; the Big Three when sales are at least 15 millio.<ref> Louis Uchitelle, "If Detroit Falls, Foreign Makers Could Be Buffer," [http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/17/business/economy/17impact.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin ''New York Times,'' Nov. 16. 2008] </ref>
The "Big Three" (General Motors, Ford and Chrysler) have done poorly in recent years. They have lost most of the market to imports and "transplants" (cars made in U.S. factories owned by foreign makes). The first signs came when Volkswagen and Honda started importing cheap, well-made cars in the 1960s. Detroit convinced Congress to impose quotas, and the foreign companies responded by opening their own plants in the U.S.
The "Big Three" (General Motors, Ford and Chrysler) have done poorly in recent years. They have lost most of the market to imports and "transplants" (cars made in U.S. factories owned by foreign makes). The first signs came when Volkswagen and Honda started importing cheap, well-made cars in the 1960s. Detroit convinced Congress to impose quotas, and the foreign companies responded by opening their own plants in the U.S.