# Why did Detroit become the center of the U.S. automobile industry? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 1, 2009, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-detroit-become-the-center-of-the-u-s-automobile-industry/498383 "2009-06-01T18:01:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![joebuck20](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/74df32/32.png) [@joebuck20](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joebuck20)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2009, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-detroit-become-the-center-of-the-u-s-automobile-industry/498383/1 "2009-06-01T18:01:29Z")
The bankruptcy of GM got me thinking about this. What was about the city that drew so many early visionaries? Why did so few other cities manage to have homegrown automobile companies? ---
**Author:** ![gazpacho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/6f9a4e/32.png) [@gazpacho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gazpacho)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2009, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-detroit-become-the-center-of-the-u-s-automobile-industry/498383/2 "2009-06-01T18:04:55Z")
One reason is being on the great lakes gave the companies cheaper access to raw materials. ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2009, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-detroit-become-the-center-of-the-u-s-automobile-industry/498383/3 "2009-06-01T18:18:01Z")
In the early days of automotive development, other cities DID have them. The ones in Detroit were the survivors. Cleveland was home to several of the early manufacturers, such as Winton, Peerless and Baker Electric. Dig through the wiki defunct US automobile manufacturer’s list, and you’ll find that notable early companies were headquartered in many places: > **[List of defunct automobile manufacturers of the United States](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_defunct_United_States_automobile_manufacturers)** > > This is a list of defunct automobile manufacturers of the United States. They were discontinued for various reasons, such as bankruptcy of the parent company, mergers, or being phased out. ---
**Author:** ![BlueOhio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/439d5e/32.png) [@BlueOhio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlueOhio)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2009, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-detroit-become-the-center-of-the-u-s-automobile-industry/498383/4 "2009-06-01T18:36:30Z")
As for Detroit, it was very well situated to received the raw materials it needed for production, specifically coal and steel from the Appalachian region, and other ores from Northern Minnesota. ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2009, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-detroit-become-the-center-of-the-u-s-automobile-industry/498383/5 "2009-06-01T19:47:52Z")
I’ve wondered about this too. True there were other areas like Fort Wayne and Cleveland but why not Chicago or Toledo? Or other Great Lake Cities. Perhaps it was easier for car manufactures to get their way in a new city then in a major one that was established like Chicago? Union laws, were they less? Or did the big shots, just happen to live in Michigan? Detroit is situated well to receive materials, but so are other cities. A similar debate goes on between Chicago overtaking St Louis. Both were central but Chicago stormed passed St Louis with the railroads coming of age. (But that’s another thread) ---
**Author:** ![Sternvogel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc79bd/32.png) [@Sternvogel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sternvogel)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2009, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-detroit-become-the-center-of-the-u-s-automobile-industry/498383/6 "2009-06-01T20:09:21Z")
> [@Markxxx](#): > > True there were other areas like Fort Wayne and Cleveland but why not Chicago or Toledo? Toledo was home to Willys-Overland Motor Company, which was second only to Ford in USA automobile production [from 1912 to 1918.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willys) The corporation survived the 1920’s and '30’s, then gained its “second wind” when the Willys Jeep started rolling off the assembly line in 1941. After World War II, civilian versions of the Jeep proved popular enough for Willys to re-enter the passenger car market with the Aero, which was manufactured from 1952-55 in Ohio. Following a succession of ownership changes, the Toledo complex is still turning out Jeeps. As for Cleveland, [this article](http://ech.cwru.edu/ech-cgi/article.pl?id=AI3) on the city’s automotive history features this paragraph: > [@](#): > > Why did Cleveland, an early leader in the American automotive industry, lose out to Detroit? There is no single answer, but as historian John Rae has argued, the manufacturers and financiers of Detroit were more willing to take the risks involved in building the massive plants required to shift to assembly-line mass production than were comparable businessmen in any other manufacturing center of the nation. Still, Cleveland was an ideal location for the automotive industry: it had ready access to steel, glass, and rubber; it had many companies with experience in using the machine tools necessary to make the equipment for assembly lines; it had large pools of both skilled and unskilled workers; and it was a major transportation center. For all of those reasons, as well as its early experience in automobile manufacturing, Cleveland became the 2nd-largest center of the automotive industry in the U.S. with the rise of parts manufacturing in the 1910s and 1920s. While companies producing cars were withering, others that made particular items were being founded in Cleveland. CLAUD FOSTER, for example, invented the Gabriel horn and hydraulic shock absorber and manufactured them in Cleveland. Charles E. Thompson began making valves for Winton’s engines in 1904, establishing an automotive company that became Thompson Products in 1926, later part of TRW. The Torbensen Gear & Axle Co. moved to Cleveland in 1915 and evolved into the EATON CORP., a major producer of gearing for commercial vehicles. Willard storage batteries were made in Cleveland from 1896 but were not specially made for the automotive market until 1908. A group of Case School of Applied Science graduates founded the LUBRIZOL CORP. in 1928 to manufacture a motor oil additive, and later marketed a variety of lubricants. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2009, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-detroit-become-the-center-of-the-u-s-automobile-industry/498383/7 "2009-06-02T01:41:19Z")
It actually took a relatively long time for auto manufacturing to consolidate in Detroit. In addition to Toledo and the Jeep, Studebaker stayed in South Bend, Indiana until the company folded up in the 1960s. AMC moved its headquarters to Detroit following the Nash-Hudson merger, but kept its manufacturing at Kenosha, Wisconsin right up until the company sold out to Chrysler. Checker, the manufacturer of the classic taxicab, stayed in Kalamazoo, Mich until it went out of the manufacturing business in 1982. If you want to throw in trucks, Navistar is headquartered in Chicago, Mack is in Allentown, Pennsylvania and Freightliner is still in Portland, Oregon, although its manufacturing has moved elsewhere. ---
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2009, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-detroit-become-the-center-of-the-u-s-automobile-industry/498383/8 "2009-06-02T01:43:39Z")
> [@Markxxx](#): > > I’ve wondered about this too. True there were other areas like Fort Wayne and Cleveland but why not Chicago or Toledo? Or other Great Lake Cities. Perhaps it was easier for car manufactures to get their way in a new city then in a major one that was established like Chicago? Union laws, were they less? Or did the big shots, just happen to live in Michigan? Cleveland was one of the biggest cities in the US around this time period, IIRC larger than Chicago (but I’d have to double check) so it’s not new vs established in that case. ---
**Author:** ![Notassmartasithought](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c0e974/32.png) [@Notassmartasithought](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Notassmartasithought)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2009, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-detroit-become-the-center-of-the-u-s-automobile-industry/498383/9 "2009-06-02T02:34:12Z")
As near as I can tell, the historian **Sternvogel** cites has it about right. The difference was the management of the company. At the end of the day the powerhouses in Detroit led by Henry Ford, William Durant and then Alfred Sloan for GM, and Walter Chrysler, were just the best businessmen of their times in the US auto business. The geography was good, but as many have said, Cleveland, and even Buffalo, were equally good. Chicago and Southeast Wisconsin slightly (but only slightly) less good.