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How Did The Great Depression Affect The Automobile Industry

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The automotive industry was the most adversely affected in the crisis. The effects of the Great Depression also set the stage for another huge moment in the American automotive industry. During the depression, automobile companies had to make financial sacrifices to stay in business, and the working conditions of their employees worsened. Hours got longer, pay cuts were rampant, and strikes and walkouts became worse. This would lead to eventual unionization of the automotive workers in the late 30s and early 40s. The formation of the UAW in 1935 and its huge growth in subsequent decades drastically changed the landscape of the industry for both auto companies and their workers. When the depression ended, there was a large increase in replacement demand. More families could afford to purchase cars, and those who already had them were looking to upgrade to newer models. Ford, GM, and Chrysler were ready to fill …show more content…

Because GM had limited backward integration, it was able to keep fixed costs low and transfer some volume risk to suppliers, enabling GM to scale down production quickly when demand collapsed. The company used the same engine and parts across different brands to further reduce inventories and create flexible capacity. And it merged its sales forces across middle market brands to make the sales force more effective and better use sales capacity. Virtually all the smaller companies competed in the expensive or mid priced segments of the market. They were highly exposed to sharp drops in sales as demand fell away. They were slow to cut costs and introduce low-priced models. Apart from Chrysler, the small players either went out of business or lost so much market share that they could no longer compete effectively. Packard, a luxury brand, did not introduce a mid priced model until

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