Sisten

Sisten is an American automobile division of the American manufacturer Sisten Motoring Company. Sisten-branded vehicles are sold in most automotive markets worldwide, producing a wide range of vehicles. In 2019, the brand sold over 4,200,000 vehicles worldwide.

History
Bill J. Tennant initially entered the automobile industry in 1903 by investing into the Huyler Motor and Engineering Company. Huyler was founded by Thomas Huyler, a businessman from Detroit whom Tennant was an acquaintance with. Facing financial worries and after producing just two prototypes, the company declared bankruptcy later in 1904. Through the investment however, Tennant had developed an interest in developing cars on his own. He hired Humphrey Saget as the lead engineer of his first prototype, with Tennant himself designing the car. Huyler was brought on as an investor, advisor and occasional engineer and on February 2, 1905, the Sisten Motoring Company was incorporated. While owning 51% of the company, Tennant had managed to find an additional 5 investors, bringing the total sum up to 6 investors owning 1000 shares.

Their first vehicle, the Sisten One, went into production in 1905 in limited numbers. Cars were being produced in an old factory near East Detroit that Huyler had acquired from the previous owner. After a light restoration to the building, the company started producing the Sisten Two in 1907. The 1910 Sisten Five became popular as an entry-level car across Michigan, which allowed Sisten to expand beyond the single state. Dealerships soon opened in Ohio, New York and Wisconsin. Sisten Fives variants, the Six and Seven, featured larger engines and more features, such as a windshield. Sisten started mass production in 1914 with the latter two models in new factories constructed in Montana and California. A mass marketing campaign was started throughout 1915 featuring the tagline “Try everything, drive Sisten”.

At a stockholder meeting on September 27, 1915, Huyler was forced out of his position as vice-president by the investors. It was argued that Huyler was “…blocking the future of the Sisten Motor Company due to contrasting views…” as he had maintained the idea throughout the years that Sisten would be more profitable as a producer of higher end vehicles. Huyler sold his shares and, with his previous knowledge gained from the “Freebird” project and newly gained wealth, went on to create The American Luxury Vehicle Company. Renamed to simply Taluvec Motor Company six months later, the Taluvec V8 went on sale in 1917 becoming a surprise hit for the new company. The car was well known for its build quality, powerful engine and relatively low price. Having seen the success of Taluvecs first model and fearing the growth of the brand, Bill J. Tennant of Sisten offered a buyout of the company. Offering $5000 for the deal, Huyler declined. The upgraded Taluvec V12 started production a year later - sadly however, during a test run of the new model on open roads, Thomas Huyler was involved in a collision with another car. He arrived at a hospital in critical condition while the vice-president, Franklin John Adams took care of his duties. Adams, known as someone who was easily impressed and easy to alter the opinions of, was taken advantage of by Tennant. He again offered a buyout of Taluvec, this time for $5200, and Adams agreed to the deal. On December 13, 1917, Sisten Motoring Company fully acquired the Taluvec Motor Company which was simply renamed to Taluvec, as a division of the newly founded SMC.

Through the '20s, Sisten held a steady market share within the United States. In 1932, the Great Depression forced the company to lay off over 3000 employees which to some investors wasn’t enough. Tennant wished to keep as many jobs as possible without causing the company to go bankrupt, but investors sensed a bad outcome from this decision and intimidated Tennant by threatening to sell their shares. Eventually, Tennant gave in and closed the plant in Louisinia, in process laying off another 1000 employees. On January 5th 1942, all production of automobiles from Sisten ceased. During World War II, the factories were converted to producing military vehicles, ammunition and fabricating metal. During the war, Bill J. Tennant appointed Walter Clay as the new president of the Sisten Motoring Company while maintaining his position in the board of directors. After the war in 1945, Clay immediately resumed production of the former car lineup and despite a shortage of materials at first, business thrived in the passing years and by the '50s, Sisten had established themselves as one of the biggest automakers in the United States. In 1955, the Torecca sports car was officially introduced. Designed after rocket ships, it was the brainchild of Clay who saw an opportunity to slide in to the sports car market with innovative styling that would stand out among the crowds. The Torecca became a hit and paved the way for other vehicles in markets which Sisten had never touched before.

By the early 70s, as imported cars were becoming more and more popular within the US, the Lyra subcompact was launched. With that, the company started offering smaller engines in the GS full-size sedan. The latter tactic did not work and the 1971 GS 4-12 is known as one of the worst vehicles produced by the company - known for its slow performance, poor fuel economy and weak build quality. In 1973, the oil crisis hit the US. Despite the Lyra, Sistens and especially Taluvecs lineups consisted of full-size cars with fuel efficiency figures that paled when compared to imports. Cars like the GS, Tenaya and Gran Callahan quickly fell out of favor with the public. After a 30 year run as the president of the company, William Clay was succeeded by Jack Tennant, the grandson of Bill. J Tennant, and was given the hard task of restructuring the company. Sisten started downsizing their lineup and despite the 1979 energy crisis, plans were being drawn up of a new brand within the hierarchy. Officially introduced to the marketplace in 1981, Corsica slotted above Sisten but below Taluvec in the hierarchy, despite the base level Corsica Solar sedan being cheaper than the platform sharing Sisten Sunburst. Through the '80s and '90s, Sisten cut production costs and introduced new cars in new markets, such as the Starcruiser minivan in 1983, Trecker sport-utility vehicle in 1986 and Atacama mid-size pickup in 1994. This marked an uphill turn for the company and in 1994, Jack Tennant was replaced as CEO by his son, Michael Tennant.

Light truck sales started dropping sharply after 2005 when oil prices began to rise and reached a peak during the 2007 financial crisis and automotive industry crisis from 2008 to 2010. Under the management of the recently promoted new CEO John Hart, SMC avoided near-bankruptcy by mortgaging certain assets, cutting ties with some dealerships, receiving a large line of credit, and discontinuing unpopular models such as the Sisten Tenaya EX. The company went on a slow route of recovery, reaching the highs of pre-2007 sales in 2015. In 2019, an announcement was made that Sisten had started a partnership with Hokuto Heavy Industries regarding the co-development and production of electric vehicles. The first models to come from the partnership, the Corsica Summit and Hokuto Satori, were both unveiled the same year.