Editing Chalmers Automobile (section)

===Merger with Maxwell Motors===

Beginning September 1, 1917, the [[Maxwell automobile|Maxwell Motor Company]] bailed Chalmers by leasing its plants for five years.{{R|Chrysler}} Maxwell received $3 million in operating capital from the Chalmers Motor Company, issuing $3.15 million in mortgage bonds.{{R|Chrysler}}

When the U.S. entered World War 1, demand weakened for the Chalmers while the Maxwell cars were outselling them.{{R|Zatz}}  In 1917, Chalmers agreed to make Maxwell cars in the Chalmers' Jefferson Avenue plant while Maxwell would sell Chalmers cars through their dealer network.{{R|Zatz}}

Maxwell decided to keep the Chalmers car in production to preserve its good name and reputation.{{R|Chrysler}} Maxwell also committed to pay the interest on the mortgage bonds and to contribute half of the net profits made on all autos produced in the Chalmers factories to the Chalmers firm.{{R|Chrysler}} Hugh Chalmers moved up and out to become chairman of the board, and [[Walter Flanders|Walter E. Flanders]], already president of the Maxwell Motor Company, became president of Chalmers.{{R|Chrysler}} From 1917 until 1922, the Maxwell and Chalmers corporations shared the same managers, but the companies did not fully merge until 1922.{{R|Chrysler}} Maxwell built the Chalmers line of automobiles until 1923.{{R|Chrysler}}

Hugh Chalmers left for Washington, D.C., to work with the [[National Automobile Chamber of Commerce]] (NACC) as one of the "[[Dollar-a-year men|dollar a-year-men]]".{{R|fall}}
During 1917, following the April [[United States declaration of war on Germany (1917)|United States Declaration of War against Germany]], [[Maxwell Motor Company|Maxwell Motor Co]] took over Chalmers' operations to make cars and trucks for the U.S. Government.{{R|Maxwell}}  Chalmers merged with the [[Maxwell automobile]] Company in 1922.{{R|Kimes}}

When Hugh Chalmers returned to Detroit in 1919, both companies now had financial problems, and in mid-1920, the bank creditors formed a reorganization committee.{{R|fall}} In 1920, Walter P. Chrysler joined the Maxwell automobile company and faced numerous challenges, one of which was the unsuccessful merger with Chalmers. Subsequently, due to mechanical issues that had negatively impacted Maxwell's reputation, the company revamped and rebranded the vehicle as the "Good Maxwell".<ref>{{cite journal |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8ylaAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA191 |title=The Good Maxwell (advertisement) |page=191 |journal=Automobile Topics |date=1922-06-03 |access-date=2023-04-08 }}</ref>

In late November 1921, Chalmers reduced prices for all models, and production was down to about 20 cars a day while Maxwell was selling more than 100 vehicles a day.{{R|only20}} Walter P. Chrysler reorganized the company and finally merged them into Chrysler in 1923.{{R|six40}}

[[Chase Bank|Chase National Bank]] at that time had recruited the help of [[Walter Chrysler|Walter P. Chrysler]] to rescue [[Willys]] Overland Company and Chalmers.{{R|fall}}
Chalmers and Maxwell sued each other for millions of dollars.{{R|fall}} The Chalmers-Maxwell reorganization committee found that the lease agreement was too loose and poorly constructed.{{R|fall}}

Chrysler's financial and management overhaul of Maxwell in 1920–1922 was hindered by delays in Maxwell's takeover of Chalmers, which began in 1917.{{R|Chrysler}} The convoluted strands of the Maxwell-Chalmers relationship are difficult to summarize.{{R|Chrysler}} The original lease became increasingly unfavorable for Maxwell's shareholders as Chalmers' fortunes dropped after 1917 and Maxwell's performance improved.{{R|Chrysler}} Maxwell was losing money on the Chalmers brand while splitting revenues from the more profitable Maxwell automobile with Chalmers investors.{{R|Chrysler}} Both company' investors agreed to alter the original lease and merge the two companies. Still, the merger was delayed due to opposition by some Chalmers stockholders and threats of lawsuits.{{R|Chrysler}}

Maxwell and Chalmers were hurt by a lack of material and rising costs after the war.{{R|Zatz}}

Walter Chrysler had the difficult task of reviving both Maxwell and Chalmers.{{R|Chrysler}} In 1920, Chalmers' sales (almost 10,000 automobiles) were about a third of Maxwell's (34,000 cars), but by 1921, when Maxwell's sales had dropped to 16,000, Chalmers had only sold about 3,000 vehicles.{{R|Chrysler}} As a result, Chalmers produced only 3,978 automobiles in 1922, a dismal performance compared to Maxwell's robust sales of 48,883 cars.{{R|Chrysler}}
In 1921, Maxwell stopped producing cars in the Chalmers plant.{{R|Zatz}}

For the calendar year 1922, Maxwell had a profit of $2,018,266; however, Chalmers' losses for the year ($1,325,524) decreased Maxwell's net profit to barely $700,000.{{R|Chrysler}} A U.S. District Court judgment issued November 3, 1922, settled a lawsuit launched by the Fisk Rubber Company against Chalmers, ending the long-running feud between the Chalmers and Maxwell investors.{{R|Chrysler}}

The court declared the Chalmers company bankrupt and ordered its assets to be auctioned off.{{R|Chrysler}} On December 7, 1922, the Maxwell Motor Corporation purchased the Chalmers property for $1,987,600, completing a takeover that began in 1917.{{R|Chrysler}}

The last Chalmers branded car was probably produced in January 1924.{{R|six40}} The old Chalmers plant started to produce Chryslers in 1924, but Chrysler produced Maxwell cars until 1925.{{R|fall}}

{| class="wikitable"
|+Maxwell-Chalmers-Chrysler Unit Sales, 1920–1925{{R|Chrysler}}
!
!Maxwell
!Chalmers
!Chrysler
!Total
|-
|1920
|34,000
|10,000
|0
|44,000
|-
|1921
|16,000
|3,000
|0
|19,000
|-
|1922
|48,883
|5,989
|0
|54,872
|-
|1923
|74,000
|9,000
|0
|83,000
|-
|1924
|50,622
|0
|31,667
|82,289
|-
|1925
|30,811
|0
|106,857
|137,668
|}