No insult was intended. There was a rash of failures of pretty much all the independants. Perhaps only avoidable with really exceptional good upper management. The writing on the wall was there for all the remaining independants. The big threes volumes where accelerating enough to substantially reduce production costs.

I think most Studebaker dealers where both loyal and the majority had long exposure with the company. There were a lot of other independants that died or just stopped production as well.

Advertising seems to still sell cars. I wonder if their smaller advertising budgets where also a major contributor. You run a good advertising program even today and it will move cars that are really poor efforts in comparison to others. One or two of them still build some junk models year after year without improving their really known problems.

Iaccoca temporaily saved Chrysler for example with a combination of some new products. Plus his personal seemingly constant very expensive advertising appeal. Just to buy the products was new to the car business. In my opinion it probably worked. They were the first bailout of the big three if I remember. Paid the money back even faster than was agreed to.

Unfortunatly long term salvation of the company by really upping total quality was not enacted. For example some had good luck with the K car but I did not. The poor quality of far too many domestic products in the 1980s was a great aid in establishing the massive acceptance of the Japanese labels.