6 Degrees of Separation: Studebaker, Mercedes, Audi

Interesting tie between Studebaker and Mercedes by the Automotive Traveler. Here's an excerpt and link to the full article.

"But at the time, less than 20 years after the end of the Second World War, Mercedes-Benz was a fairly small player in the US market. Its distribution rights for the United States were in the hands of the most famous marque in South Bend, Studebaker in an agreement that dated all the way back in 1958, when the South Bend firm went by the name corporate name of Studebaker-Packard. As this 1962 ad for this the then new 220SE coupe clearly shows, Mercedes-Benz cars were distributed in the US by Mercedes-Benz Sales, Inc., South Bend, Indiana (A Subsidiary of Studebaker-Packard Corporation.)

(As Packard was discontinued, Mercedes-Benz partially filled the premium car void in the showroom of some Studebaker dealers. Unfortunately as Mercedes-Benz was growing in sales in the US, Studebaker was declining. In fact less than five years after this Auto Union-DKW ad ran in the pages of Road & Track, Studebaker was gone from the automotive scene.)"

Read the full article on The Automotive Traveler.