AM General Mishikawa Plant, Indiana

This plant makes heavy vehicles primarily for the government, especially Humvees, and civilian Hummers. The first HMMWV (High Mobility Multi-purpose Wheeled Vehicle), aka Humvee, came of the assembly line here in 1984, and more than 100,000 were made over the following decade. AM General is based nearby in South Bend, Indiana, and its roots go back to the Willys Overland company, which made vehicles as early as 1910, but became famous for making the iconic JEEPs of WW2. The company was purchased by Kaiser Motors, in 1953, which then purchased Studebaker’s facilities in South Bend in 1964. Kaiser was purchased by American Motors in 1970, which spun off the government vehicle division as AM General in 1971. In 1992, AM General was purchased by the investor Ira Rennert’s Rencorp.