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)
Prev Next

Content: They did well until 1951, when Kaiser and Frazer split over differing opinions on how to sell their cars. Kaiser Motors would continue, though – eventually buying Willys-Overland, creators of the Jeep, and bringing the Jeep to a new audience after being bought, themselves, by the American Motors Corporation. American Motors Corporation (AMC) (1954-1988)
AMC was founded as a result of a merger between Hudson Motor Company and Nash-Kelvinator Corporation. It was the largest corporate merger in U.S. history at the time. In the late 1950s, they began focusing on compact, fuel-efficient cars – a bold and unique decision that would pay dividends in the 1960s. AMC’s Jeeps would keep the company afloat through the 1970s, as the rest of its line aged ungracefully. Chrysler would eventually pick up the pieces in the 1980s as a way to grab the profitable Jeep line. Edsel (1957-1959)
Ford promoted the Edsel as the perfect car, created after endless hours of market research – a “YOU car,” that all Americans would love and want. Unfortunately, when the car was unveiled on “E Day,” September 4, 1957, it was met with a lukewarm welcome. Everything from its name to its design and performance were found to be tacky and unattractive.