Editing Dodge (section)

===Dodge brothers death and sale to Chrysler===
[[File:Dodge Series 124 4-Door Sedan 1927.jpg|right|thumb|1927 Dodge Brothers Series 124 sedan]]
[[File:Street scene looking toward store front of Dodge Brothers Motor Cars-Graham Brothers Trucks LOC matpc.08816 (cropped).jpg|thumb|Store front of Dodge Brothers Motor Cars & [[Graham Brothers]] Trucks dealer, ca. 1920–1935]]

Dodge Brothers cars continued to rank second place in American sales in 1920. However, the same year John Dodge died of [[pneumonia]] in January.<ref>{{cite news |title=John P. Dodge Dies At Ritz-Carlton. Detroit Manufacturer Was Stricken With Pneumonia At Automobile Show. His Brother Recovering As Minority Stockholders Of Ford Company. They Won $60,000,000 Suit Against Henry Ford |url= https://www.nytimes.com/1920/01/15/archives/john-p-dodge-dies-at-ritzcarlton-detroit-manufacturer-was-stricken.html |quote=John F. Dodge, the Detroit automobile manufacturer, who had been ill for a week with pneumonia in his apartments at the Ritz-Carlton, failed to survive the crisis of the attack and died last night at half past 10 o'clock. For some time before the end, he was unconscious and unable to recognize his wife and daughters who were at his side. |newspaper=The New York Times |date=January 15, 1920 |access-date=August 17, 2014}}</ref> His brother Horace then died of [[cirrhosis]] in December of the same year (reportedly still grieved over the loss of his brother, to whom he was very close).<ref>{{cite news |title=Horace E. Dodge Dies in Florida. Detroit Automobile Manufacturer Succumbs Suddenly at Beach Home. Brother Died This Year. Sole Head of Industry Employing 18,000 Men Began His Career as Machinist With John F. Dodge |url= https://www.nytimes.com/1920/12/11/archives/horace-e-dodge-dies-in-florida-detroit-automobile-manufacturer.html |quote=Horace E. Dodge, millionaire automobile manufacturer, died here tonight at his Winter home. |newspaper=The New York Times |date=December 11, 1920 |access-date=August 17, 2014}}</ref> With the loss of both founders, the Dodge Brothers Company was left in the hands of their widows, [[Matilda Dodge Wilson]] and [[Anna Thompson Dodge]], who promoted long-time employee Frederick Haynes to the presidency. During this time, the Model 30 was evolved to become the Series 116 (retaining the same basic construction and engineering features). As the 1920s progressed, Dodge gradually lost its ranking from the third-best-selling automaker to seventh place in the U.S. market.

Dodge Brothers expanded its truck line and became a leading builder of light trucks. After expanding production capacity, Haynes signed a contract in 1921 for Dodge's large dealer network to exclusively market trucks with bodies built by [[Graham Brothers]] of Evansville, Indiana. The Graham truck line from then on used only Dodge-built chassis, from 1-ton to 3-ton capacity, and Dodge kept making light-duty trucks.<ref name="Dodge-my1934">{{cite web|url= https://forums.aaca.org/topic/210257-my-1934-dodge-4x4-15-ton/ |title=my 1934 Dodge 4x4 1.5 ton - Dodge Trucks |work=Antique Automobile Club of America - Discussion Forums |date=June 5, 2019 |access-date=December 5, 2019}}</ref>

Development was stagnating, and sales dropped Dodge Brothers to fifth place in the industry by 1925. That year, the Dodge Brothers company was sold by the widows to the investment group [[Dillon, Read & Co.]] for no less than US$146&nbsp;million which at the time was the largest cash transaction in history (${{formatnum:{{Inflation|US|146000000|1925}}}} in {{Inflation-year|US}} dollars{{inflation-fn|US}}).<ref>{{cite web|url= https://usjunkyardsnearme.com/car-resources/dodge-history/ |title=Dodge History |website=usjunkyardsnearme.com |access-date=August 31, 2019}}</ref>

Dillon, Read & Co. offered non-voting stock on the market in the new Dodge Brothers firm, and along with the sale of bonds was able to raise $160&nbsp;million (${{formatnum:{{Inflation|US|160000000|1925}}}} in {{Inflation-year|US}} dollars{{inflation-fn|US}}), reaping a $14&nbsp;million (net) profit (${{formatnum:{{Inflation|US|14000000|1925}}}} in {{Inflation-year|US}} dollars{{inflation-fn|US}}). All voting stock was retained by Dillon, Read. Frederick Haynes remained as company head until E.G. Wilmer was named board chairman in November 1926. Wilmer was a banker with no auto experience and Haynes remained as president. Changes to the car, save for superficial things like [[Trim level (automotive)|trim level]]s and colors, remained minimal until 1927, when the new Senior six-cylinder line was introduced. The four-cylinder line was renamed the [[Dodge Fast Four|Fast Four]] line until it was dropped in favor of two lighter six-cylinder models (the Standard Six and Victory Six) for 1928.

On October 1, 1925, Dodge Brothers, Inc., acquired a 51% interest in [[Graham Brothers]], Inc., for $13&nbsp;million (${{formatnum:{{Inflation|US|13000000|1925}}}} in {{Inflation-year|US}} dollars{{inflation-fn|US}}) and the remaining 49% on May 1, 1926. Haynes purchased all of Graham's truck production, and in 1926, the Graham branch took charge of all of Dodge's truck manufacturing. Briefly – until the purchase by Chrysler – all trucks were Graham badged.<ref name="Dodge-my1934"/> A total of 60,000 trucks were built in 1927.<ref>{{cite magazine |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=ObM3AAAAMAAJ&pg=PA16 |magazine=Power Wagon |volume=XL |number=277 |date=January 1928 |page=28 |editor-first=Austin W. |editor-last=Stromberg |title=Graham Bros. Display 5 Sizes |via=Google Books |access-date=May 7, 2024}}</ref> The three Graham brothers, Robert, Joseph and Ray, assumed management positions in Dodge Brothers before departing early in 1927. The brothers established the [[Graham-Paige]] company to build a new line of Graham passenger cars.

Despite this, Dodge Brothers' sales had dropped to thirteenth place in the industry by 1927 selling the [[Dodge Fast Four]], and Dillon, Read began looking for someone to buy the company. Dodge was sold to the new Chrysler Corporation in 1928 in a stock transfer instead of cash for $170 million (${{formatnum:{{Inflation|US|170000000|1929}}}} in {{Inflation-year|US}} dollars{{inflation-fn|US}}) who had attempted to purchase Dodge two years earlier.<ref name="kimes1996">{{cite book|last=Kimes|first=Beverly|title=standard catalog of American Cars 1805–1942|pages=459–482|year=1996|publisher=Krause publications|isbn=0-87341-478-0}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://gearheads.org/the-dodge-motor-company/ |title=The Dodge Motor Company |date=May 21, 2012 |website=gearheads.org |access-date=August 17, 2014 |archive-date=July 22, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140722160820/http://gearheads.org/the-dodge-motor-company/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> Chrysler successfully purchased Dodge to gain the [[Detroit/Hamtramck Assembly|Dodge Factory]] and dealership network to better compete in the low-priced car field against Ford and Chevrolet, and in one year Dodge progressed from thirteenth place in sales to seventh place by 1928.<ref name="kimes1996"/> On January 2, 1929, Chrysler announced that the Graham Badge was dropped, and Chrysler was now building Dodge Brothers trucks.<ref name="Dodge-my1934"/>