Editing American Motors Corporation (section)

=== The "dinosaur-fighter" ===
[[File:1958 Rambler sedan pink and white NJ.jpg|thumb|1958 Rambler Custom 4-Door Sedan]]

Sales of Ramblers soared in the late 1950s partly because of American Motors' focus on the compact car and its marketing efforts. These included sponsoring the hugely popular [[Walt Disney anthology television series]] and as an exhibitor at the Disneyland theme park in Anaheim, California. George Romney himself pitched the Rambler product in television commercials.

While the "Big Three" introduced ever-larger cars, American Motors followed a "dinosaur-fighter" strategy. [[George W. Romney]]'s leadership focused the company on the compact car, a fuel-efficient vehicle 20 years before there was a real need for them.<ref>{{cite book|first1=Gerald C. |last1=Meyers |first2=John |last2=Holusha |year=1986 |title=When it hits the fan: Managing the nine crises of business |publisher=Houghton Mifflin |isbn=978-0-395-41171-1 |url-access=registration |url= https://archive.org/details/whenithitsfanman0000meye}}</ref> This gave Romney a high profile in the media. Two core [[Critical success factor|strategic factors]] came into play: (1) the use of shared components in American Motors products and (2) a refusal to participate in the Big Three's restyling race. This cost-control policy helped Rambler develop a reputation for building solid economy cars. Company officials were confident in the changing market and in 1959 announced a $10&nbsp;million (US${{formatnum:{{Inflation|US|10000000|1959}}}} in 2016 dollars{{inflation-fn|US}}) expansion of its Kenosha complex (to increase annual straight-time capacity from 300,000 to 440,000 cars).<ref name=rvm15>{{cite magazine |url= http://wardsautoworld.com/ar/auto_rearview_mirror_15/index.html |title=Rearview mirror|magazine=Ward's AutoWorld |date=February 1, 2000 |access-date=August 31, 2012|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110728081550/http://wardsautoworld.com/ar/auto_rearview_mirror_15/index.html |archive-date=July 28, 2011}}</ref> A letter to shareholders in 1959 claimed that the introduction of new compact cars by American Motors' large domestic competitors (for the 1960 model year) "signals the end of big-car domination in the U.S." and that American Motors predicts small-car sales in the U.S. may reach three million units by 1963.<ref name=rvm15/>

American Motors was also beginning to experiment with non-gasoline-powered automobiles. On April 1, 1959, American Motors and Sonotone Corporation announced a joint research effort to consider producing an [[electric car]] that was to be powered by a "self-charging" battery.<ref>{{cite magazine |url= http://wardsautoworld.com/ar/auto_rearview_mirror_13/index.html|title=Rearview Mirror|magazine=Ward's AutoWorld |date=April 1, 2000 |access-date=August 31, 2012 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110728081557/http://wardsautoworld.com/ar/auto_rearview_mirror_13/index.html |archive-date=July 28, 2011}}</ref> Sonotone had the technology for making sintered plate [[nickel–cadmium batteries]] that can be recharged very rapidly and are lighter than a typical automobile [[lead–acid battery]].<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.roger-russell.com/sonopg/sononst.htm |first=Roger |last=Russell |title=Sonotone History: Tubes, Hi-Fi Electronics, Tape heads and Nicad Batteries |publisher=Sonotone Corporation History |access-date=July 12, 2010 |archive-date=July 12, 2012 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20120712044321/http://www.roger-russell.com/sonopg/sononst.htm |url-status=live }}</ref>

In 1959, American Motors hired designer Dick Teague, who had previously worked for [[General Motors]], [[Packard]], and [[Chrysler]]; after [[Edmund E. Anderson]] left the company in 1961, Teague was named principal designer and in 1964, vice president.

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