Detroit's automobile industry functioned as a network of assembly plants, machine shops, stamping operations, engineering departments, foundries, parts suppliers, warehouses, rail sidings, and thousands of smaller firms. The famous automakers were the visible center of a much larger production ecosystem.

Detroit’s automobile economy depended on a web of plants, stamping operations, machine shops, engineering departments and suppliers. A finished car represented work performed across many buildings and trades, linked by streets, rail lines and freight routes.
Factories influenced where people lived, how they commuted and which commercial streets served them. The automobile industry was not simply one employer in Detroit; it was part of the physical geography visitors encounter throughout this site.
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