Industry | Automotive |
---|---|
Founded | 1945 |
Founder | Henry J. Kaiser Joseph W. Frazer |
Defunct | 1953 |
Fate | Merged to Willys-Overland |
Successor | Kaiser Jeep |
Headquarters | |
Key people | Edgar F. Kaiser |
Products | Automobiles |
The Kaiser-Frazer Corporation (1947–1953 as Kaiser-Frazer) was an American automobile company. It was founded jointly by industrialist Henry J. Kaiser and automobile executive Joseph W. Frazer.[1] In 1947, the company acquired the automotive assets of Graham-Paige, of which Frazer had become president near the end of World War II. Kaiser-Frazer was one of a few US automakers to achieve success after World War II, if only for a few years. Joseph W. Frazer left the company in 1949, replaced as president by Henry's son Edgar F. Kaiser.
In 1953, Kaiser bought the ailing Willys-Overland company, mainly for its Jeep brand, and merged the Kaiser and Willys operations under the "Kaiser-Willys Corporation". The Willys-Overland branch was renamed "Willys Motors", until ten years later, in 1963, it was renamed Kaiser Jeep.