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General Discussion / Re: Kaiser Frazer and associated companies in India, 1940s-70s

« on: November 24, 2015, 04:57:44 AM »

Thank you very much for your responses!

My information on Kaiser and its subsidiaries or parent companies is very week so far. There's a bit of stray information here and there. For example, I found that companies like Kaiser Engineers Overseas Corp. and Willys Overland Export Corporation sponsored a 1959 conference in Washington by the Committee for International Economic Growth on "India and the United States".

I will keep watching for information on this and other cooperations between Indian and US car makers and look forward to sharing this with you here. But I think I will find more substantial information only in relevant company archives. Kaiser and/or Willys might have archives of themselves, but relevant material might have also become part of the archives of the American Motor Company (AMC) if these exist. This latter company took over Kaiser and Willys in the 1950s. Can anyone provide more information on this?

I would be grateful for further leads in this regard!

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General Discussion / Kaiser Frazer and associated companies in India, 1940s-70s

« on: November 23, 2015, 02:41:29 PM »

Dear forum members,

I am a historian, currently working on the development of India's automotive industry. I am writing to ask if anyone here can provide further information on the history of Kaiser Frazer in general and of the interests of the concern in India in particular. I found that the company (or the Kaiser Frazer Export Corporation) had a tie-up/cooperation agreement with the Motor House (Gujarat) Ltd. This cooperation seems to have been active until 1956 at least, and it consisted of import, assembly and later manufacture of US cars in India. Other literature suggests that Kaiser Frazer had more substantial interests in the Indian market even later on. For example, Kaiser-owned Willys-Overland agreed to the manufacture of Willys jeeps in India after the 1940s.

I found it very difficult to retrieve more information on these aspect as well as on the history of the company. Do you know more about exports of Kaiser products to India or cooperations with Indian manufacturers? Has Kaiser created or left behind a company archive of some sort, where I might find further information on this? I would be very grateful for any further leads and discussions on these aspects.

Best wishes,
Stefan