American Cars, The Lost Glory

Khodrocar – US known as one of the leaders in the global auto industry which had Henry Ford, Ransom E. Olds, David Dunbar Buick, Louis Chevrolet, Walter Chrysler in its history brief. America shows its glory in auto industry by producing the fastest car in the beginning of 20th century and producing powerful engines or different options till the mid-century but its glory reduced and in take 3 decades to recapture it again.

Experts believe that Mercedes Benz was the only competitor of American auto manufacturers during those years and each luxury item of Mercedes cars could be found in American cars with better quality and cheaper price. Americans didn’t invent all the vehicle’s parts but they just did well in inventing some crucial items such as: gullwing doors, fuel injections splash system, leather indoor design, intelligent up light and etc. but 70s didn’t start with good news and ended with even worst news.
Experts think the main reasons for the decline of American car glory are the followings:

In 1973, the first wave of fuel crisis hit American auto industry. 400 percent rise in the price of oil products forced auto makers to limit their systems and as a result 300 to 600 hp engines reduced power to only 130 to 250 hp. In the 1979 the second fuel crisis wave hit the market and prices increased for 100 percent and shrank the American car’s market. In this condition most of powerful coupes didn’t even enter 80s or some of them became smaller. There were other fuel crisis in 1990 and 2000 but they weren’t as big as 73 and 79.

Alongside fuel difficulties, environmental standards increased with higher peace and insurance companies set new rules which had high costs for powerful car owners. Lying about the power of engines wasn’t a new thing but this time auto makers had to reduce the engine displacements and luxury items to survive through the 80s.

By imposing compulsory physical and technical changes from automakers, sales increment and expensive and shortage of fuel, customers taste changed suddenly. Small and economic Japanese and European start to sale well in this market and new hatch backs replaced the old luxury and big American cars. In this period brands like Toyota, Datsun, Nissan and Mitsubishi capture the America’s market step by step and in fact they improved because American cars were losing glory.

America’s auto industry was taking its glory back during the last decade and they just revived their special and classic opinion. What was their key of success in this time?

Khodrocar Reporter: Mostafa Anisi

Khodrocar Translator: Amin Zamani