The Auto Industry in America: California

The Auto Industry in America is a Carmoza series highlighting the history of the auto industry in each state and their contributions to the industry as a whole over the years.

CALIFORNIA

• QUICK FACTS
  
• California is the 3rd largest state in the United States and home to more people than any other state.
• Its geography ranges from coastal forests to dry arid deserts to the Sierra Nevada Mountains.
• The state has the highest and lowest points in the U.S.
• California was relatively unpopulated for many years, but an influx of settlers and explorers arrived in the mid-19th century after gold was discovered. The California Gold Rush caused small villages of tents and shacks to grow exponentially into the cities we know today.

THE AUTO INDUSTRY IN CALIFORNIA

There are several automobile manufacturers in the state of California that have built production facilities for various car models.

Toyota owns a factory in the Bay Area that produces Corollas, Tundras and, until the recent abandonment of the brand by General Motors, the Pontiac Vibe.

This factory is one of the larger facilities in the state of California and is responsible for the production and distribution of hundreds of thousands of vehicles in the United States and worldwide.

The plant recently came dangerously close to being closed, but state legislators are currently fighting to keep one of the state’s last remaining automobile production facilities open.

PHOTO CREDIT: PosseList.com