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thirty years. From 1978 to 1998, the company produced nearly a million of its classic Saab 900 model. At the turn of the century, however, Saab (which had been purchased by GM) began to flounder, as it could not compete with high-volume luxury models like Audi and BMW but could not command the price point of fellow low-volume producers like Porsche. The company went out of business in 2011. In England, Triumph started out as a brand that built big luxury cars in the 1920s and 1930s. Those cars did not sell well, however, and Standard Motor Company bought Triumph in the 1940s and reinvented it as the sports car brand it is historically remembered as. By the 1960s, however, quality and reliability issues caused sales to decline, and Triumph eventually folded in 1984.

The pages of automotive history are spattered with the remains of companies that have imploded and collapsed for a variety of reasons. Yet, as in any industry, the success stories of the strong companies persist, and in the upcoming chapters, we will travel around the globe to tell them.

1. True or False? All three of America’s Big Three automakers are own by purely American interests. 2. What two companies formed the American Motors Corporation? 3. Which country did Saabs come from?

This chapter mentioned failed carmakers like Packard and Studebaker, but there are many others that tried to make the next great American automobile. Research and find two others that lasted at least 10 years and write a brief report on each, including pictures of the models they produced.

The TR6 is one of the best-selling Triumph models. They were made between 1968 and 1976, like this 1972 version.

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