Is Payne Motors in NBC’s ‘American Auto’ a Real Carmaker?

While Payne Motors is definitely a fictional carmaker, its goals are certainly rooted in reality. American Auto opens up with Payne Motors attempting to roll out its first self-driving car, confusingly called the Ponderosa. The new CEO, played by Ana Gasteyer (SNL), asks in a classically corporate fashion, “The name Ponderosa, do we like it? To me, it sounds, like, ponderous. Like dull, you know? Like a dull ponderous car.”