As I've said before, the Kenosha factory was terribly inefficient and outdated.  Transporting partially assembled vehicles around to final assy???   Maybe that was ok in 1950.  In 1981 AMC was still doing things like they were in the 1950s-60s- almost everything by hand.  GM was using robotic spot welding in the mid 1970s, and simple 1 axis automatic spot welding in ~1971.  You can't compete when you're 20+ years behind your competitors in assembly technique and using twice the labor.

Wheres the video link? Just a text story I see no where to click for the video. I know I'm blind but.

Help.

 i understand and am far sighted.  it is in the link i provided.  scroll down - between paragraph 3 and 4.  click on the image.

Guess I'm a dummy.  No video link in sight!

Maybe someone could be so good as to simply post the URL to the video without the need to go on a hunting expedition?

I don’t think AMC’s production numbers ever really justified the expense. Back in the Rambler days when they were producing fairly big numbers, the technology wasn’t there. In ‘81, they were producing far fewer cars with a low profit margin and couldn’t justify the investment even if they had the cash available, which they didn’t. Even in the late 60’s, one GM division probably produced more vehicles in one month than what AMC produced of all models in one year. Demand drives improvements in efficiency and productivity. 

no you are not a dummy!   it is not a link, it is an embedded video.  if you are not seeing it, then it might be a technology issue (browser, etc.)  Here is the farcebook site that the embedded video references in the story:  https://www.facebook.com/AmericanMotorsMovie/videos/255250005369384/?t=0

https://jalopnik.com/watch-long-lost-factory-tour-footage-of-american-motors-1831869754

Lets make it easier for the ones that don't copy and paste well.

http://jalopnik.com/watch-long-lost-factory-tour-footage-of-american-motors-1831869754" rel="nofollow - http://jalopnik.com/watch-long-lost-factory-tour-footage-of-american-motors-1831869754

http://www.facebook.com/watch/?ref=external&v=255250005369384" rel="nofollow - http://www.facebook.com/watch/?ref=external&v=255250005369384

Tom

They were producing 200K+ cars a year in Kenosha; that's more than most single auto production factories did at the time.  The technology was there in the early 70s, and AMC was still producing cars like it was 1960- because they didn't have the $ to invest.  Just like the didn't have the $ to invest in new car designs- and just kept recycling the same crap.  Rambler, Hornet, Gremlin, Spirit, Concord....  They needed something to fight the Pinto, Vega, Celica....  and all they had a reskinned Rambler with an inefficient 1960s designed engine. 

I had a Hornet with a 258 that I drove for years, including many long road trips.  Great engine, great car, loved it.  But it struggled to get even 20 MPG even with great compression, a new timing chain, and properly tuned.  How well did AMC, with that engine, compete against the Asian invasion cars that got 50%+ more mileage?  We know the answer.  Honda, Toyota.... are still in business and killing it.  AMC is.... not.

At the end in the 1980s, AMC was still building bodies (and cars) at Kenosha like it was 1960; everything by hand, manually.  I can't imagine that Milwaukee was worse, that would be tough, but....  maybe.

It's a shame that there isn't more photographic evidence of AMCs production lines- just to document how things were done, what colors parts were, etc.  I'm sure that 40-50 years ago there were thousands of pictures documenting it, but very little has survived.  Unlike GM.