Meridian Automotive Holdings, Inc.
Meridian’s Origins
The beginning of what is now Meridian started in 1972, when Andrew Balboa of Williamsport, Pennsylvania began manufacturing his own hand-built vehicles out of his garage. Upon connecting with business partner Byron Billings, the two moved to Reading, Pennsylvania to produce vehicles under the Balboa-Billings name. Upon successful franchise establishment by the late 1980’s, the two names split to become their own brands with different focuses- Balboa with the larger passenger car segment, and Billings with the Truck and newly emerging SUV segment. By 2008, Balboa had purchased several struggling auto companies, though failed to hold onto all of them through the recession, and ultimately was restructured into Union Automotive Group. Union retained Balboa, Billings, ASM(American Sport Motors), Anselm, and Braddock. Tayami, Kearny, and Tango were all discontinued before or in the 2009 model year. In 2016, after stagnation of sales, the decision was made to axe the Anselm brand. In 2024, following the success of the Balboa Meridian SUV, another restructuring occurred. Union Automotive Group would cease to be the name of the holding company, and Meridian was to be the name of the new one. The Balboa brand was to be cut and all models would fall into either the Meridian, Billings, ASM, or Braddock brands. Under the new, all-encompassing Meridian name, the company is set to continue producing vehicles across the world.
History & Lore of Meridian and Balboa
The Beginning of Balboa
The basis of what is now Meridian began in 1972, when Andrew Balboa of Williamsport, Pennsylvania began manufacturing his own vehicles out of his garage. Using sheet metal, body pieces, and parts from existing vehicles, he created the original Balboa Truman. He hand-built 10 of these vehicles before purchasing a small warehouse in Reading, Pennsylvania along with a new business partner, Byron Billings. The two men used the warehouse as a factory to produce hand-built vehicles under a new, small-market marque: Balboa-Billings. Under this marque, they produced their first attention grabbing halo car: the Spearhead, a Grand Touring car which was their highest-produced vehicle until 1979.
Balboa Runner
In 1979, the Balboa-Billings Company set out on an endeavor to create a mass-market sedan that would establish itself as a player in the larger automotive world. Their product was the Runner, a sedan that was roughly the size of a Chevrolet Nova and had fastback styling. It was an instant hit, selling just under 40,000 vehicles in its first year in production, with the number nearly doubling in 1980. The Runner was only offered with a 4.5L I6 during its first generation. The success of the Runner caused the Reading facility to expand drastically, now capable of supporting up to 100,000 vehicles per year.
Balboa-Billings Split & the Kearny Company
In 1987, following the success of the third generation Spearhead and second generation Runner, Balboa-Billings sought after a new method to reach the coupe and sports car segments. Andrew Balboa and Byron Billings disagreed on how to accomplish this, with Balboa seeking to create or buy another brand to introduce a new but familiar name to Balboa-Billings. Billings dissented, asking to instead produce an in-house model to save costs. Ultimately, the company purchased the Kearny Company of Kearny, New Jersey. The Kearny Company had been producing the Preston, a hand-built sports car that did not sell very well and was discontinued halfway through 1988. The purchase included a production facility in South Kearny, an industrial district with enough space to produce a new line of vehicles for the company. In 1989, due to the lingering disagreements between Andrew Balboa and Byron Billings, and the failure of the Kearny brand, the two nameplates split into Balboa and Billings, with Balboa retaining its Reading plant and Billings moving into and retooling the Kearny facility. The two companies remained in partnership under the Balboa Company, however, and continued to produce vehicles under that name as a holding corporation. They found competition in the mid-level luxury segment from Braddock, a marque that produced just one model, the Delaware.
The 1986 Braddock Delaware.
The 1990’s, Tayami, Anselm, and ASM
The 1990’s were a defining moment for Balboa and Billings. Billings had established itself as a key player in the newly emerged SUV segment, at first rivaling the Jeep Grand Wagoneer and Ford Explorer with its own AnneMarie model, named after Byron’s wife. For the 1993 model year, the AnneMarie had been updated heavily in anticipation of rival SUV development following the Grand Wagoneer’s departure. Balboa had found continued success in the fourth generation runner and second generation Crafter, the Runner’s wagon counterpart. In 1995, the company American Sport Motors of Elizabeth City, North Carolina had caught the attention of Balboa following a submission of two ambitious concepts- a quick sedan called the Bandit, and a Lamborghini Diablo-rivaling supercar concept called the Spartan. The Spartan was finished as a concept in 1997, while the Bandit had begun production at Balboa’s newly acquired Chesapeake, VA plant in 1996. Billings, however, had eyes on two struggling brands in Germany and Japan; Anselm and Tayami, respectively. Anselm had been attempting to produce its Bianca sedan, and Tayami had been trying to make its Street city car. Byron Billings proposed a buyout of the two as a way to launch operations in Europe and Asia, and Andrew Balboa agreed. By 1998, Balboa had been producing cars in the US, Germany, and Japan. The Runner, by then still a compact car, had found immediate success in Japan during its fourth generation.
Shown is the 1993 Billings AnneMarie SE. Photo taken in Brooklyn, NY.
New Millenium and the 2008 Recession
By 2002, the Balboa Company had firmly placed itself as a competitor among American automakers. It found early competition with the slew of models Chrysler had come out with in the early 2000’s, though still held its ground. In 2002, Billings introduced the Eagle, a full size SUV rivaling that of the Tahoe/Suburban, and Expedition. The Eagle eventually became the progenitor of what Billings is today as a premium SUV competitor to Chevrolet, Ford, and GMC. It rivaled the Tahoe, Suburban, and Expedition upon introduction. Tayami’s most successful models included the Street and the Kissaki, made successful by the buyout of the company, similar to how Anselm’s Bianca was rivaling against Volkswagen models. By 2005, however, it was clear Tayami, Anselm, and Balboa were all struggling. Tayami introduced the Kissaki SRS as a finale to the Kissaki sedan/hatchback line anticipating collapse, produced along the final generation of the Balboa Runner. When the 2008 Crisis finally hit, Tayami was the first to be discontinued. Tango, a small luxury automaker acquired by Balboa was also sacrificed, along with what remained of the Kearny name. After 2009, only the Balboa, Billings, Anselm, and ASM brands survived into the newly restructured Union Automotive Group. This merger included Braddock, a mid-level luxury brand rivaling Buick, that had been famed for its Delaware model that had been produced since the 1980’s. In 2008, the Reading, PA plant was closed and production was moved to Braddock’s Fruitland, MD plant. The Chesapeake, VA and Kearny, NJ plants remained operational.
2002 Billings Eagle LSE, the highest trim offered. Photo taken in Juab County, UT.
2004 Tayami Kissaki SRS Sedan & Hatchback
Union Automotive Group Era & 2010’s
After the 2008 Restructuring, the Balboa Company was reorganized into the Union Automotive Group, a holding company for Balboa, Billings, ASM, Braddock, and Anselm. The early 2010’s marked a period of stagnation of almost all companies following the 2008 crisis, except notably, Braddock. Braddock sold record numbers of the Delaware since 1986, and saw a huge increase of sales in their large sedan, the Salisbury. As Braddock sales began to takeover in the 2010’s, Anselm sales rapidly declined in the American, Canadian, and European markets, prompting the discontinuation of the brand in 2016 following the release of the final halo car, the Schnellwagen. Union Automotive Company moved their headquarters following the discontinuation of Anselm from Reading, PA., to Philadelphia, PA. By 2015, Billings had discontinued the AnneMarie, though kept up production of their Treader and Crusader, both of which were introduced for 2009. In 2015, the Crusader was redesigned, ultimately rivaling the F-150, Silverado, and Ram 1500 in sales. It sold 39,425 units in 2015, beating the Sierra, Tundra, and Titan. Until 2019, no other model of Union Automotive outsold the Crusader.
2008 Braddock Delaware, the brand’s newly introduced and best-selling model upon merging with Union Automotive
Balboa Meridian and Second Restructure into Meridian Automotive
In 2019 the Balboa Meridian was introduced with tech that was new in the industry such as Lane Keep Assist, Accident Maneuvering, and Apple Carplay/Android Auto, all as standard on the lowest trim and up. The Balboa Meridian targeted buyers of both the Nissan Pathfinder and the Jeep Grand Cherokee specifically for its value and capability, of which it stole sizeable numbers, becoming its biggest success in years in both the US and Europe. The Meridian was the best selling model in years for Balboa, becoming its most recognizable nameplate past the COVID pandemic. This would ultimately become the basis for the changing of the nameplate from Union/Balboa into Meridian. Balboa introduced the Zenith for 2022, and Billings introduced their new Osprey for the same year. Finally, in 2024, after the discontinuation of the Balboa Crest, the brands final sedan, Union Automotive Group reorganized into Meridian Automotive Holdings, Inc. Balboa, Billings, ASM, and Braddock were all integrated. After the 2024 model year, ASM held the highest sales records, as the newly introduced Outlaw SUV and redesigned Bandit took the top spots of sales records. Into 2025 and the future, Meridian Automotive continues to focus on Hybrid vehicles as they continue to draw a larger number of sales.
The 2019 Balboa Meridian, the SUV that began the trend of modern day Meridian.
The 2024 ASM Outlaw Luxe, one of the best selling ASM models thus far.
