Title: 14 Defunct Car Brands and Why they Failed
Headings: Defunct Car Brands
Defunct Car Brands
Studebaker (1852-1966)
Oldsmobile (1897-2004)
Packard (1899-1958)
Pontiac (1926-2010)
DeSoto (1928-1961)
Plymouth (1928-2001)
Mercury (1938-2011)
Tucker (1944-1950)
Kaiser-Frazer (1945-1951)
American Motors Corporation (AMC) (1954-1988)
Edsel (1957-1959)
DeLorean (1975-1982)
Saturn (1985-2010)
Hummer (1992-2010)
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Content: They managed to prolong their life by 13 years at Packard’s expense in a disastrous merger. Oldsmobile (1897-2004)
Originally independent, Oldsmobile was purchased by GM in 1908. Its “Rocket V8” engine and reputation for speed made it a famously powerful and adventurous brand throughout the 1950s, 60s, and 70s. By the 1990s, Oldsmobile had fallen behind and its performance image was fading – rebadging slowly toppled the giant. Packard (1899-1958)
Packard was conceived as a luxury model – it cost over 4 times as much as a comparative Oldsmobile. This luxury image would prove vital to sustaining the brand, even through the Great Depression. Only when they began introducing mid-priced vehicles did they run into problems – they simply were unable to compete with the “Big Three” in a mid-priced market. Price wars among the big auto corporations and a dangerous merger with Studebaker drove the independent manufacturer into the ground. Pontiac (1926-2010)
Like many brand names on this list, Pontiac was introduced as a cheaper alternative to a more expensive luxury car. Pioneering leadership in the late 1950s, among them John DeLorean, made the Pontiac into a fast-racing, exciting, muscle and road car.