This Chevrolet film illustrates how, in 1952, the automobile played a central role in the U.S. economy. 

Produced for the Chevrolet division of General Motors by Jam Handy, the bow-tie brand’s favorite movie maker, this 1952 film short demonstrates the central role of the automobile industry in the U.S. economy in the postwar years. As the film notes just past the one-minute mark, in 1952 there were nearly 50 million cars in the USA. (In 2020, it’s around 288 million.) And according to the film, around one in seven Americans were employed, directly or indirectly, in the domestic auto industry.

Of course, the Chevrolet division could take credit for a good part of the economic impact, for in those years Chevy towered over the car industry, often selling more vehicles per year than the rest of the GM car brands combined. (Get the story on the popular 1952 Chevy line here.) Meanwhile, GM owned so much the industry’s total market share that the automaker was under constant scrutiny for anti-trust violations.

That stands in stark contrast to today, with GM now holding around a 16.6 percent market share in the USA. And according to the Center for Automotive Research, the car biz is currently responsible for around 8 million jobs, or one in 42 paychecks. There are a bucketful of reasons for the shrinking role of the auto industry in the U.S. economy, naturally, starting with automation, mechanization, and globalization. Times change. Video follows.