> People think that Ford Motor was one of the first (if not the only) car manufacturer in States in the early 1900s, but it was quite the contrary. The car was a revolutionary technology: it had a combustion engine, it was fast, etc. Over 100 car companies were launched in the early 1900s.
There were over 1,800 automobile manufacturers in the United States from 1896 to 1930. Very few survived and only a few new ones were started after that period.
A lot of the reason for the lack of very many new car companies for decades has been due to insider sponsored regulations meant to target upstarts and using political power to crush competitors (which of course has been tried on Tesla in a variety of ways).
Not suggesting you didn't know that, but it's still worthwhile to point out.
There were over 1,800 automobile manufacturers in the United States from 1896 to 1930. Very few survived and only a few new ones were started after that period.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_automobile_manufacturer...