[4] During the early stages of World War II, the association played a role in adapting American automotive manufacturing capabilities towards arms production efforts, especially regarding large aircraft engines.
[6] Some 654 manufacturing companies joined, and produced nearly $29 billion in output,[6] including tremendous numbers of motorized vehicles, tanks, engines, and other products for the Allied military forces.
They promoted the use of the word accident to describe car wrecks, as a way to make vehicle-related deaths and injuries seem like an unavoidable matter of fate, rather than a problem that could be addressed.
[8] Following the 1955 Le Mans disaster and the 1957 NASCAR Mercury Meteor crashes into the grandstands, the Automobile Manufacturers Association placed a ban on factory-supported racing.
[12] In August 1972, the group changed its name to the Motor Vehicle Manufacturers Association,[13] to reflect the growing importance of truck makers.
[15] In 1986 the association ruled that foreign transplants had to manufacture half their American sales within the country in order to join; a grandfather clause allowed Honda and Volvo to stay in.
[15] In late 1992, the group expelled Honda, Volvo, and heavy truck makers and changed its name to the American Automobile Manufacturers Association.