Willys Motor Company
The Willys Motor Company was created in 1953 from the merger of Kaiser Motors in Willow Run (Michigan) and the Willys Overland Company in Toledo (Ohio) .
history
Auto maker Willys-Overland, founded by John North Willys , had survived World War II producing Jeep vehicles for the U.S. Army, and the Jeeps were the company's crown jewels in the 1950s as well.
Joseph W. Frazer left Kaiser-Frazer in 1950 and was then President of Willys-Overland for a time. Henry J. Kaiser operated the merger of Kaiser Industries with Willys-Overland, which came about in 1953. Kaiser hoped the combined companies could offer a wide range of products to compete with GM , Chrysler , Ford , Studebaker and Nash-Kelvinator Corporation .
After the Kaiser and Willys brands were discontinued in 1955, Kaiser Industries gave up car production in the USA and sent the remaining machines and systems to Brazil , where Kaiser Industries manufactured cars until the 1960s.
The Willys Motor Company continued to build Jeep-based commercial vehicles in the United States, e.g. B. the Jeep CJ , the Station Wagon and the Jeep FC , which was introduced in 1956. In 1963 Willys introduced the Jeep Wagoneer as a replacement for the Station Wagon, which was still kept in the style of the 1940s. Designed by Brooks Stevens , it remained in production until 1991 and is considered America's first true SUV .
In 1963 Kaiser Industries wanted to combine all of its companies under the name Kaiser and therefore renamed the Willys Motor Company to Kaiser Jeep Corporation , with which the name Willys also disappeared from the cars.