Domestically, Fiat Chrysler soared to a 16 percent increase in sales last year compared with 2013. The company sold more than two million vehicles in the United States, and its Jeep brand set a record for its best sales year.
Although we’re all familiar with the “Big Three” automakers — GM, Ford and Chrysler — there are still many small, niche manufacturers operated in the U.S. A partial list includes Anteros, Avanti, Callaway, Carbon, DeLorean, Dragon, Fisker, Mosler, Panoz, Shelby American, SSC, Tesla and Zimmer.
In the 1890s, dozens of inventors made and marketed custom-made “horseless carriages.” However, history credits Charles and Frank Duryea as being America’s first true commercial automobile manufacturers. Their Duryea Motor Wagon Company, based in Springfield, Mass., sold 13 identical vehicles in 1896.