American automobile industry in the 1950s
In 1954, the smaller American Motors Corporation (AMC) was formed when Hudson merged with Nash-Kelvinator Corporation in a deal worth almost USD $200 million ($1.735 billion in 2013 dollars) the largest corporate merger in U.S. history at that time. Other mergers with smaller independent manufacturers followed. Although AMC was moderately successful it was never sufficiently large to challenge any of the Big Three, and was eventually bought by Chrysler in 1987.
Stoddard-Dayton
In 1912, about 25,000 automobiles in twenty-six models were manufactured. In June 1912, Stoddard-Dayton became part of the United States Motor Company, which advertised the Stoddard-Dayton line with the simple statement: "None can go farther. None can go faster." They made an advance purchase of a large volume of engines from Atlas Engine Works (Indianapolis, Indiana) and made commitments for 30,000 chassis, factors that contributed to financial instability. In February 1912, Charles Stoddard resigned as Vice President of United States Motor Company, and Henry Edwards resigned as Chief Designer to form the Edwards Motor Car Company. Stoddard remained a Director of USMC and continued his financial holdings. However, United States Motor Company went into receivership in late 1912 and failed in bankruptcy in 1913. The Stoddard-Dayton went down with it.