Why did auto sales surge in the 1950s?

The American manufacturing industry switched from war-related items to consumer goods after World War II. Forty years before that, Henry Ford set a goal that any person with a good job should be able to afford a car, and in the 1950s he made it happen. There were 25 million registered cars, most of which were manufactured before the Second World War, and there were 67 million registered by 1958. To support the 1950's car culture, new categories of companies were created, including drive-through and drive-in restaurants and drive-in movie theaters. Beginning in 1955, the National Highway System was expanded with wider, multi-lane highways to enable increased speeds and more vehicles.