Auto Industry Human Resource Strategies: The US Response to Japanese Competition

Abstract

Coming out of the Second World War, the US auto industry shifted its priorities from airplanes and armored vehicles to cars and trucks, responding to the pent-up demand that had been building since the onset of the Great Depression. Sales during the years immediately following the Second World War were unprecedented in the annals of the industry. From sales of about one million automobiles in 1945, purchases jumped to roughly six million by 1950. Recessions of the early and late 1950s kept sales volume from advancing beyond seven million, but by 1960 the US economy had stabilized, and another period of unprecendented growth soon began. From 1960 to 1969 the sales of autos in the US skyrocketed from approximately six million to about 9.5 million. Nothing on the economic horizon seemed to cloud the optimistic view of the future held by industry leaders.