All the major car companies have three roles: they design cars for the future, they build cars, and they sell them through network of locally-owned dealers. Until recently the car-makers built practically the entire car. In the 21st century, however, the makers build their own engines but purchase nearly all the other parts from independent parts companies, then assemble them. Several thousand parts companies now operate in the U.S.; the largest are Delco, Visteon, American Axle (as well as the tire makers). They employ more factory workers than the car makers do, typically at much lower wages. Blue collar workers at the Big Three (GM, Ford and Chrysler) are unionized and are paid on average $55 an hour (including benefits). Blue collar workers at the "transplants" in the U.S. (Toyota, Honda, Mercedes, etc.) are not unionized and are paid on average $40 an hour (including benefits. The automobile industry in Canada is integrated with the U.S. industry.
The [[Recession of 2008]] saw auto sales plunge plunged by a third18% from 2007, leaving to only 13.2 million units, with very steep declines at the end of the year as sales fell 36% in December. GM and Chrysler close to verged on bankruptcy. They were rescued, temporally, by a bailout from President [[George W. Bush]] in December, 2008, in order to avoid a major economic disaster that would cost the nation hundreds of thousands of jobs.
== Manufacture ==
Many of the world's major auto companies have plants in the U.S., called "transplants." Ford started in 1910 to open factories across the world, and General Motors followed 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.
The "Big Three" American makers are Ford, General Motors (GM), and [[Chrysler]]. Japanese companies include [[Toyota]], [[Nissan]], [[Honda]], [[Mazda]], [[Suzuki]], and [[Subaru]]. The German companies include [[BMW]], [[Mercedes-Benz]], and [[Volkswagen]]. [[Fiat]] is based in Italy, and [[PSA Peugeot Citroën]] and [[Renault]] in France. South Korea has [[HyudaiHyundai]] and [[KiaKIA]]. Sweden is famous for the [[Saab]] and [[Volvo]]. Chinese and Indian companies are growing rapidly.
Many companies operate factories in several countries. The largest producers in 2007 in descending order, each with over 1 million cars, are:
:Toyota, GM; Volkswagen; Ford; Honda; PSA Peugeot Citroën; Nissan; Fiat; Renault; Hyundai; Suzuki; Chrysler; Daimler; BMW; Mitsubishi; KiaKIA; and Mazda.
==Industry trends==