How GM lost its way – a simplified view
Former GM boss Alfred P. Sloan Jr. is pictured in a slide presentation. (Gene Ritvo)
One of the classic books on organizing and running a major corporation is My Years with General Motors by Alfred P. Sloan Jr.
Joshua Davidson, who worked as an automotive consultant, speechwriter, engine-re-builder and publisher, has obtained the audiobook rights to Sloan’s book and plans to release it soon.
Davidson met with the New England Motor Press Association last Tuesday and gave his synopsis of how GM grew into a corporate giant … and how it lost its way.
Quotes from Davidson:
“Sloan introduced a logical way of doing business. He made it clear that GM’s primary objective was to make money, not motorcars.
“Ford was selling 1.1 million cars in 1920, and GM was a mess with Cadillac, Buick, Chevrolet and Oldsmobile all competing with each other.
“Ford’s Model T was strictly price-oriented. Henry Ford had perfected mass production and cost control, but he didn’t have a business plan going forward. Sloan did.
“He knew people wanted choices so his concept was to have a stepladder of brands, starting with Chevrolet and advancing to Oakland (Pontiac), Buick, Oldsmobile/LaSalle, and Cadillac. The idea was twofold: The brands wouldn’t compete with each other, and people would aspire to move up the ladder, creating customer loyalty.
“In the GM heyday of the ‘50s, that business plan got subverted and perverted. R&D advances (fuel injection, turbocharged engines, aluminum blocks, rear-engine vehicles, and even a fuel cell) were frittered away as the company lost focus.
"Instead of being fact-driven as it was under Sloan, it was fear driven. People feared Ralph Nader, antitrust investigations, new [foreign] competition, and even for their jobs. It was individual and collective fear. You had plenty of bright people but no one was able to see the big picture.”
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Boston.com reports the latest trends, auto shows and wrings out the newest cars in our city's hellish maze - and across the great roads of New England.In the garage: 2008 MBTA Zone 1A monthly pass, 1995 21-speed Iron Horse. Bill Griffith is an automotive correspondent for The Boston Globe and has reviewed cars for 10 years. He was also the Globe's assistant sports editor for 25 years and the paper's sports media columnist.
In the garage (over the years): 1956 T-Bird, 1959 Nash Metropolitan, 1980 El Camino, 1997 supercharged Camry TRD.
