Created in 1954 by the merger of Hudson Motors and Nash-Kelvinator, American Motors was the largest corporate merger at that time. A 'Rambler' model was launched in 1956 and this was created as a new brand, with the names 'Nash' and 'Hudson' being dropped. From 1966 the decision was made to phase out the 'Rambler' name and rebrand all cars as 'AMC'.