The Budd Company was a manufacturer of steel automobiles, passenger rail cars, and other transportation products. The company began in 1912 in Philadelphia as the Edward G. Budd Manufacturing Company, specializing in the manufacturing of all-steel-body automobiles. Motor vehicle design and manufacturing pioneer Edward Gowen Budd (1870-1946) met engineer Joseph Ledwinka (1869-1949) while working at the Hale & Kilbum Manufacturing Company. In 1912, Budd and Ledwinka left Hale & Kilbum to establish their own company. Hupp, Packard, Garford Motors, and Oakland Motors were early customers of the Budd Company. The company's first large order came in 1914 from the Dodge Brothers, and production increased steadily into the 1920s.

In 1916, the Budd Wheel Company was begun. It made wire wheels, and soon also manufactured steel disc wheels as developed by the French company Michelin. Ford, Buick, and Studebaker bought steel bodies from the Budd Manufacturing Company at this time. The Edward G. Budd Manufacturing Company and its subsidiary, Budd Wheel Company, merged to form the Budd Company on June 11, 1946.

In April 1978, Budd became a subsidiary of the German steelmaker Thyssen AG. Thyssen restructured the auto-parts side of the business and sold the poorly performing railcar business to Bombardier, Inc. of Canada in 1987. The Red Lion site was redeveloped in the 1990s, and Budd ended its long presence in Philadelphia by closing the Hunting Park Avenue plant in 2002. In 1998, Thyssen merged with Krupp, and Budd became a division of ThyssenKrupp Budd. In 2006, the Budd Company was sold to Martinrea International. In 2014, the Budd Company filed for bankruptcy.