American Automobile Industry

The only major auto companies to survive the Great Depression were General Motors Corporation, Ford Motor Company, Chrysler Corporation, Hudson Motor Car Company, Nash-Kelvinator Corporation, Packard Motor Car Company, Studebaker Corporation and Crosley Motors. The former three companies, known as the Big Three, enjoyed significant advantages over the smaller independent auto companies due to their financial strength which gave them a big edge in marketing, production and technological innovation. Most of the Big Three's competitors ended production by the 1960s, and their last major domestic competitor was acquired in the 1980s.
Crosley Motors ceased auto production in 1952. Packard Motor Car Company and Studebaker Corporation merged in 1954, but ended production of Packard branded cars in 1958 and ceased all auto production in 1966.
Kaiser-Frazer Corporation was started in 1945 and acquired Willys-Overland Motors (maker of the Jeep) in 1953. Production of passenger cars was discontinued in 1955. In 1970, the company was sold to American Motors Corporation.
In 1954, Nash-Kelvinator Corporation and Hudson Motor Car Company merged to form American Motors Corporation (AMC). The company was unable to compete successfully with the big three and struggled financially. The French auto maker Renault took control of AMC in the early 1980s, but financial difficulties continued and AMC was sold to Chrysler Corporation in 1987.