Why did the automobile industry collapse in Detroit?

Thanks for the A2A. Despite decades of boom and bust cycles, the collapse of two of the “Big 3” based in Detroit finally culminated in a taxpayer-funded emergency bailout in 2008 and 2009 bankruptcy filings for GM and Chrysler. read more

The assumption is that the industry has collapsed, and the factories in Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Iowa, Missouri, Ontario, Quesbec, New York are no longer there. Yes, Some have moved, some have expired, but As-Far-As-I-Know AFAIK, the automobile industry is much alive in Detroit. read more

In 1900, Detroit had a population of 285,000 people, making it the thirteenth largest city in the U.S. Over the following decades, the growth of the automobile industry, including affiliated activities such as parts manufacturing, came to dwarf all other manufacturing in the city. read more

Detroit was already bursting at the seams with residents and housing when the industry began to move to one-story plants, so companies looked to the suburbs, which still had swaths of vacant land, for development. And there's partly the reason why so many Detroit residents decamped to the suburbs. read more