Re: One Story Assembly Plant What If?

Posted by Steve203 On 2014/6/9 10:29:02

From what I gather, my 1956 sat unsold on a Virginia dealer's lot for almost six months, even after a massive price reduction from $6204 to $4200.

Not surprised. Various sources state that, at the time EGB was closed, half of the 56s that had been produced were still unsold.

But having a former GM President as Secretary of Defense only ended up making General Motors a stronger company

Yup. Ward goes into that in some detail. Apparently, Wilson's funneling business to GM, at the expense of the other automakers, was so blatant that the media, including Drew Pearson, was attacking Wilson. One of the unknowns is that, had Packard sold the J-47 contract to Curtiss-Wright, or Continental CAE, would it have been cut the way it was when Packard was profiting from it? Neither C-W or CAE appear to have had any problem landing defense contracts.

In 55, just as the Packard J-47 contract was being closed out, CAE landed a contract to produce jet engines used in an Air Force trainer. CAE leased the government owned plant in Toledo that Packard had used for the Merlin program and it's late 40s jet development. CAE produced those engines for 20 years, and in the 80s was producing cruise missle engines there.

Interest rates and mandated high down payments kept more sales stillborn.

True, the Fed raising interest rates impacted all consumer spending. Packard, not having an in house finance company, like GMAC, could not subsidize it's customer's and dealer's financing as GM could.

S-P's fractured Board of Directors wasn't helping it's case though.

Following the AMC merger, the Hudson plant was quickly closed and production consolidated in Kenosha.

Not only did S-P keep both plants operating, in spite of both plants producing below their break even levels, Ward points out that they couldn't even agree to consolidate testing at one proving ground and sell the other.