Trust and power : consumers, the modern corporation, and the making of the United States automobile market

Figure 3.1 The Fifteenth Millionth Model T (the last one) with Henry and Edsel Ford, 1927. Henry Ford was forced to shut down production because the Model T’s market share had slumped. The experience served as a painful lesson that the low price of the Model T did not sustain the brand’s sales.

Figure 1.01 Olds Motor Works Factory, circa 1901.

Figure 7.2 Market Share and Median Prices for General Motors’ Five Brands, 1954 Notes: The pyramid represents the market share for new cars held by the five GM brands in 1954, beginning with Chevrolet and moving up to the top brand, Cadillac. GM’s total market share was 50.7 percent, and the five brands each claimed the following shares: Chevrolet, 25.6 percent; Pontiac, 6.5 percent; Oldsmobile, 7.4 percent; Buick, 9.3 percent; and Cadillac 2.0 percent. The pyramid is stylized since the market shares do not represent an exact pyramid. My pyramid is based on a revised model of a price pyramid created by James M. Rubenstein in Making and Selling Cars: Innovation and Change in the U.S. Automotive Industry (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2001), 206.

Figure 5.3 General Motors Art and Colour Section, late 1920s. Although the Art and Colour Section went on to be a large division within GM, it began with a modest staff of ten designers.

Figure 7.02 Volkswagen, 1965.

Figure 2.3 Buick Automobile Dealership, circa 1909. This photograph was taken around the time when Donald MacPherson purchased his Buick runabout.

Figure 5.05 Cord 810.

Figure 5.03 Cord 810.

Figure I.01 Adam Smith

Figure 3.3 Walter P. Chrysler, 1924. Chrysler had mimicked GM’s marketing strategy, but he also counted on close ties to suppliers to break into the low-price, high-volume segment of the market.

Figure 1.06 Women’s New York to Philadelphia Run, 1909.

Figure 2.01 Automobile Accident.

Figure 1.1 A Curved-Dash Oldsmobile, 1902. Manufacturers conducted many stunts during the early 1900s. The events served different purposes which ranged from displaying vehicles’ novelty to convincing potential car buyers of the machines’ sound operation.

Figure 7.4 Importing VW Bugs, 1962. As an affordable and sturdy vehicle, the Bug offered an important alternative to Detroit’s price ladder of brands.

Figure 5.02 Cord 810.

Figure 1.02 Roy D. Chapin, with curved dashed Oldsmobile.

Figure 7.3 Distribution of Car Sales by Income Groups, 1954. Notes: New cars were concentrated among the richest thirty-eight percent of the population; families in the top and middle income groups accounted for most used car sales; and families in the bottom twenty percent of the population bought few cars. My pyramid is based on a revised model of a price pyramid created by James M. Rubenstein in Making and Selling Cars: Innovation and Change in the U.S. Automotive Industry (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2001), 206.

Figure 1.04 A Packard’s 1903 Transcontinental Tour.

Figure I.02 Canongate Church

Figure 1.08 Chicago Floral Parade, 1910.