Oldsmobile


In 1897 Ransom E. Olds founded a small car company and they produced vehicles under Ford later, all the way until the line was discontinued in 2004 due to declining sales and declining dealerships that carried the vehicle. Having lasted for almost 110 years, this company would have had its 110th anniversary this year.They began to manufacture vehicles in 1897, and by 1901 they produced 400 cars, making it the first to produce a high volume number of luxury automobiles. Olds was the first to implement the oft Henry Ford credited assembly line, by doing so years before Ford started using an assembly line to speed up production. After Olds sold the company it was later renamed.

Oldsmobile

He sold it in 1899 after working in it for many years, and thus the Olds Motor Works was formed and it moved to a new plant. By 1901 the company had lines of new innovative vehicles ready for mass production, but tragedy struck. A careless worker caused a fire in the plant, destroying what could have been the first mass marketed car in the U.S. Only one prototype survived the fire – the Curved Dash.

Later on during the thirties Olds used a two digit model number and since then were numbered through 66 and 99. In the later thirties they introduced a four speed semiautomatic transmission that was revolutionary at the time – however it was actually built in the Buick plant. Throughout the 40s they were the first to use a fully automatic transmission rather than a semi automatic, and it featured four speeds, however during the war they produced many large caliber bullets and guns, along with materials for the war. During the 50s and 60s the car was very successful and capable of selling quite well, however the 1958 recession did set them back for a year.

Oldsmobile car

During the 70s and 80s the Oldsmobile vehicles had larger sales than ever before with more cars being brought out with faster engines and better fuel efficiency while maintaining their great legacy of luxury. However, the 90s suddenly changed everything, with the brand losing pace to Pontiac and Buick. Their cars later just became re-branded autos and finally they had begun to falter in sales. With failing sales and no plans to save the company they phased out the brand in 2004 after 107 years.

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