Nonbarking Italy

All substantial US auto companies had a Canadian factory at one time or another. Nearly all had England. Most had some combination of France, Germany, Holland, Argentina, Brazil, Mexico and Australia. Ford had a Russian factory, and GM and Packard had consultive connections with Russia. Ford had China in the 1930s. Willys was everywhere after WW2, including countries that no American business of any sort had ever worked in.

What’s missing in this picture? Italy. [As far as I can tell, anyway. Proving a negative is hard.]

Italy was one of the main auto producers from the start, and Italian cars influenced ours in the early days. None of our companies ever had an Italian factory until very recently when Fiat bought Chrysler.

Nash and Chrysler had Italian connections but no factory. Nash hired Pininfarina as a stylist, and Chrysler hired Ghia to build a few concept cars and limos.

Is Fiat the explanation for the nonbark? Did the Agnelli family control all production so firmly that no American company was ever allowed in? I don’t know.

It’s plausible that Willys had some kind of presence there, given their universal coverage, but Google doesn’t find it.