Random thought on the usual subjects.
The Nash Metropolitan was the first offshoring in the US auto industry.
Most US makers had branches in Canada and Euro countries from the start. The branches functioned in different ways: some made their own cars, some made identical US models, most made variations or descendants of US cars. None of them were sold here AS Fords or Chevies or Hudsons. All were sold in the country where they were made, maintaining a closed loop in those countries and a closed loop here. The only connection was at the corporate level. Capital and parts moved outward, profits moved inward.
Nash was slow on the global front, adding Canada in 1948. It didn’t add the rest of the world until it bought Hudson in ’54. The Hudson factory in Australia definitely stayed active with AMC; I don’t know what happened to the others.
The Metro was NOT made by a branch of Nash. Austin was completely independent, with no partial ownership. Nash simply subcontracted Austin to build Metros to Nash specifications, then imported them and sold them as Nash products. The first offshoring in the modern sense.
Polistra's Mill 