I love my car!
- In 2001, 70% of Americans drove to work in cars
- According to the US Bureau of Transit Statistics for 2008 there are 255,917,664 registered passenger vehicles. Of these, 137,079,843 were classified as automobiles.
- In the year 2009, about 17 million vehicles were sold in the United States according to the U.S. Department of Transportation.
- The US was the largest producer of vehicles in the world in 2003, followed by Japan and Germany.
- According to many sources, the extended US operations of foreign based companies now rival those of American automobile manufacturers. For example, Toyota Motor Company now operates twelve manufacturing plants in the US, producing 1.55 million vehicles
- General Motors is the largest automobile manufacturer in the United States. However, in 2008, Toyota passed General Motors as the world’s largest automobile manufacturer. It is the first time in 77 years that General Motors is not the world’s largest automobile manufacturer. GM employs approximately 327,000 people, sold 9.17 million cars worldwide, and had a $192.6 billion revenue for the year 2005.
All facts and figures are from wikipedia
But what has happened? The Decline of Detroit.
Using the information below you are going to tell the story of Detroit’s decline from one of the most wealthy cities in the world.
You are to tell the story from the point of view of an old person who has lived and worked in Detroit all their life.
Imagine you are telling the story to your grandchildren.
You should –
1) Describe how life was 1950’s when Detroit and the motor industry were at their peak.
2) What went wrong, why the factories closed and what affect it had on the city and its population?
3) What life is like today and how you feel about it.
4) Is there any hope for the future?
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| Packard Plant Luxury-auto maker Packard produced its last car here in 1956. |
Anatomy of Detroit’s Decline
In a matter of decades, Detroit went from one of America’s most prosperous cities to one of its most distressed. Here is a look at how the collapse of this metropolis – battered by financial missteps, racial tensions and leadership lapses – culminated in insurmountable debt that led the city to file for bankruptcy.
