1950s American automobile culture
During the decade, many smaller manufacturers could not compete with the Big Three and either went out of business or merged. In 1954, American Motors was formed when Hudson merged with Nash-Kelvinator Corporation in a deal worth almost $200 million, the largest corporate merger in United States history at that time.
American Motors Corporation
A new company was formed in Palmdale, California, in 2001. A registration for the American Motors trademarks was filed in 2001 by this California-based firm. The company's website specifically claimed no affiliation to the previous American Motors, but used AMC's history and logos on its website. The website is now dead, and the company's claims to AMC's trademarks expired in 2005.