The Model T
We ask (1) why the United States adopted the car more quickly than other countries before 1929, and (2) why in the United States the car changed from a luxury to a mass market good between 1909 and 1919. We argue that the answer is in part the success of the Model T in the United States and its relative lack of success abroad. Mass production of the Model T began in 1913; by 1917, more than 40 percent of cars on the road were Model Ts. Cross-state and cross-county evidence suggest that the Model T opened up a new market for cars among farmers and in poorer areas of the country. Tariffs and difficulties producing outside Detroit made the U.S. success of the Model T difficult to replicate abroad, even in Canada.
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Copy CitationShari Eli, Joshua K. Hausman, and Paul Rhode, "The Model T," NBER Working Paper 31454 (2023), https://doi.org/10.3386/w31454.Download Citation
Published Versions
Eli, Shari & Hausman, Joshua K. & Rhode, Paul W., 2025. "The Model T," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 85(1), pages 110-151, March. citation courtesy of 
Shari Eli & Joshua K. Hausman & Paul W. Rhode, 2025. "The Model T," The Journal of Economic History, vol 85(1), pages 110-151.
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