Dodge

Dodge is a brand name of automobiles and light to heavy-duty trucks, marketed by the German-American-based DaimlerChrysler AG from 1928 to the present. From 1914 to 1927, the company was named Dodge Brothers Motor Vehicle Company. more...

In 1998, Dodge along with all other Chrysler subsidaries, was purchased by Daimler-Benz.

History

In 1901 John Francis Dodge and Horace Elgin Dodge moved their Dodge Brothers Bicycle & Machine Factory to Detroit, Michigan. Their bearings and other parts were in demand with the early automobile industry, and they helped design motor parts for early Oldsmobiles.

In 1902 the Dodge Brothers were approached by Henry Ford, who was looking for help in financing his own automobile company. Dodge Brothers helped finance the start of the Ford Motor Company as well as manufacturing parts for early Fords, to Ford and the Dodge Brothers mutual financial benefit.

In 1914 the Dodge Brothers started their own auto company, which they named the Dodge Brothers Motor Vehicle Company. Early models had some similarities to the Ford Model T, but with such refinements as electric rather than crank start, as were becoming popular with the middle class. The new Dodge cars were a commercial success.

In 1917 Dodge Brothers began building motor trucks as well, at first for use by the United States Army during World War I, then commercially after the war's end.

In 1925 the Dodge Brothers Company was purchased by Dillon, Read & Company for $146 million, said to be the largest cash transaction in history up to that time. Dillon Read in turn sold Dodge to the Chrysler Corporation on July 31, 1928.

Following Chrysler's takeover of the British Rootes Group and Simca of France, and the resultant establishment of Chrysler Europe in the late 1960s, the Dodge brand was used on light commercial vehicles previosuly branded Commer (a Rootes subsidiary) and on pick-up and van versions of the Simca 1100. The most common of these was the Dodge 50 series, widely used by utility companies and the military, but rarely seen outside the UK. Following Chrysler Europe's collapse in 1977, the Dodge factory and some rights to use the Dodge name in Europe were purchased by Renault, who gradually re-branded the range of vans and trucks through the 1980s, eventually dropping the name altogether and using the factory for engine production.

Read more at Wikipedia.org