Around 1920, there were hundreds of car companies in the United States. Industry revolved around local communities and the cars from those companies transported their local economies.
Wood craftsmen skilled in building wagons jumped into the car business. There were many chassis designs, but often the tiny car makers outsourced engines from a reputable engine supplier because they didn't have the resources to design their own cars.
Many local companies provided jobs and products in the communities they served using larger national suppliers for a complex standardized part. Hercules engines were used by some of these companies for their cars.
Most of these car companies were killed off by the depression and consolidation.
Fiat SpA Chief Executive Officer Sergio Marchionne says building 6 million cars is the minimum he that is required to be profitable through the economic contraction. bloomberg.com
Roger Penske, who grew his roots selling cars, is taking an entirely different turn after buying Saturn. The tossed off General Motors step-child will manufacture no cars and will source all of it's cars from yet undetermined manufactures. Time will tell if a trade-off between less risk and less total control will work as a car company. usatoday.com
In any case, it's a smaller, dealer run company and dealers as a force have a greater motivation to sustain their local economies.
It isn't reality to think that a group of woodworkers today could build and sell a horseless carriage with an outsourced engine and compete in a global market, however smaller, less corporate self-serving companies that can innovate in a global market might motivate people to invest money and soul in the products they consume.
