Editing White Motor Company (section)

===Demise===
[[File:1962 White Truck; Patchogue, New York-1.JPG|thumb|1962 tractor]]
In 1953, White purchased [[Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania]]-based [[Autocar Company]]. From 1951 until 1977, White also distributed [[Freightliner Trucks]].<ref name=geschichte>{{cite web | url = http://www.whiteroadcommander.de/fakten/firmengeschichte/?path=fakten/firmengeschichte | editor-first = Achim | editor-last = Schmidt | title = Zur Geschichte der White Motor Company | trans-title = History of the White Motor Company | language = de | access-date = 14 May 2014 | work = White Road Commander | url-status = live | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140105080402/http://whiteroadcommander.de/fakten/firmengeschichte/?path=fakten%2Ffirmengeschichte | archive-date = 5 January 2014 }}</ref> This took place under an agreement with Freightliner's parent, [[Consolidated Freightways]]. White manufactured trucks under its own brands—White, Autocar, and Western Star—as well, leading to the company becoming known as the "Big Four" through to the mid-1970s. The [[Sterling Trucks|Sterling]] nameplate, unused by White as long as the company owned it, went to Freightliner after the companies' split. It was then used by Daimler Trucks, who manufactured the former Ford heavy truck line under the Sterling name, from 1997 to 2008.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aVh1nKjJ8RqI&refer=home |first1=Chris |last1=Reiter |first2=Andreas |last2=Creme |title=Daimler to Close Sterling Trucks Unit, Cut 3,500 Jobs |date=14 October 2008 |publisher=Bloomberg |access-date=15 May 2013 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100613163056/http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087 |archive-date=13 June 2010 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.sterlingtrucks.com/Company/default.asp |title=To our customers |date=October 2008 |quote=Daimler Trucks North America's (DTNA) decision to discontinue the sale of Sterling branded Heavy, Medium, and Light duty Truck. |publisher=Sterling Trucks |access-date=15 May 2013 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130515032414/http://www.sterlingtrucks.com/Company/default.asp |archive-date=15 May 2013 }}</ref>

Sales dropped during the 1960s, and White tried merging with [[White Consolidated Industries]], the original company that once made sewing machines, however the federal government blocked this deal. The company opened plants in [[Virginia]] and [[Utah]], since they did not have unions, but this did not help. [[Semon Knudsen]], former president of [[Ford Motor Company|Ford]], made the company successful for a time, but the decline continued. Later, the federal government approved a merger with White Consolidated, which feared being hurt by White's troubles. Mergers with [[Daimler-Benz|Daimler]] and [[Renault]] were also considered.<ref name="wrhs"/> Production was somewhat limited as White did not have a lighter range (13,330 units built in 1978), leading to several attempts at linking up with various European manufacturers.<ref name=Baldwin>{{citation | ref = obs40 | last = Baldwin | first = Nick | title = The Observer's Book of Commercial Vehicles (#40) | publisher = Frederick Warne | date = 1981 | page = 191 | location = London | isbn = 0-7232-1619-3}}</ref>

By 1980, White was insolvent, filing [[Chapter 11 bankruptcy]] case {{not a typo|80-13361}} in the Northern District of Ohio on September 4 of that year. [[Volvo]] acquired most of the assets of the company in 1981, while two energy-related companies based in [[Calgary]], Alberta, [[Bow Valley Resource Services]], and [[NovaCorp]], an Alberta corporation, purchased the Canadian assets, including the [[Kelowna]], British Columbia plant, and the Western Star nameplate and product range.<ref>{{cite news | newspaper = [[The New York Times]] | url = https://www.nytimes.com/1981/05/09/business/white-motor-will-sell-truck-business-to-volvo.html | title = White Motor Will Sell Truck Business to Volvo | date = 9 May 1981 | page = 29 }}</ref>