Kaiser
Kaiser Motors was a company that manufactured automobiles between 1945 and 1953. Kaiser was based in the US, at Willow Run, Michigan, from 1953 the Kaiser company and Willys-Overland merged to form Kaiser Jeep.
The history of Kaiser Motors
Kaiser Motors built vehicles internationally and even though the main factory was in the US, there were others scattered around the globe. After the end of World War II the company, trading under the name Kaiser and Frazer manufactured a small car that was called the Henry J.
As an independent car manufacturer in post-war America, it was never an easy market. While the initial response for its vehicles was strong, in the long term Kaiser did not have the financial 'clout' to compete with the likes of Chrysler, GM, and Ford.
The Kaiser-Frazer car design did not change quickly enough with the times and soon became dated. Using a 'plodding' 6-cylinder engine, Kaiser suffered setbacks in the highly competitive market for luxury cars.
With high production costs, Kaiser tried to find a niche with cabin interior designs that were elaborate and fancy, with high-class upholstery. The company came up with a range of 'traveller' sedans that was an attempt to get into the manufacture of station wagons. With heavy competition towards the end of the 1940s and early 1950s, Kaiser didn't sell 50 per cent of its models and because of badly tooled and underinvested production lines could not recover.
With the end of US production in 1955, the company directors blamed competition as a big reason for failure. From 1955, a holding company was established with the name Kaiser Industries Corporation.
The production of Jeeps continued, and the company kept production going in Argentina and Brazil.
Kaiser Jeep
In 1963, Kaiser changed its name to Kaiser-Jeep, but by 1970, Kaiser Industries was sold to AMC. (American Motor Corporation). As part of the deal, Kaiser gained a 22 per cent interest in the company. AMC became AM General and is still operating today. It is a company that is famous for manufacturing the Hummer H1.