Re: What SINGLE factor MOST contributed to the demise of Packard?

Posted by Dave Brownell On 2013/10/21 12:40:24

If I were asked to do a Mulligan for Packard history, knowing what I know about it from several books, here's where I saw mistakes being made. Firstly, Packard was profitable and prudent company with a healthy line of credit when bad decisions started to be made. My over-riding thought was that the untimely death of Nash/Hudson's George Mason doomed Studebaker, Packard and Willys from a merger that would have equalled Chrysler or Ford for production economies and the ability to negotiate with suppliers in volume. Could Mason's love of fine cigars and fatty food have caused the demise of some fine American car names?

Hotpoint's Whiz-Kid Jim Nance came in at a critical time with a flashbang need to quickly improve sales and profitability. Foolishly, no one audited Studebaker before the merger, which saddled Packard with underproduction and declining favor with car buyers. Failure for Nance or the Packard board to do a forensic audit of Studebaker's books probably began the dominoes falling.

The auto price wars of 1953-57 hurt everybody in the industry, but the Independents the most. Lee Iaccoca saved Ford in 1956 with his famous campaign "$56 for a '56" to barely move cars enough to stay in the black for that year. Feeling the need to sell cars, even at a loss, wasn't good for any company.

Finally, not having a V-8 for the Series 54 cars made buyers look elsewhere (although Pontiac and Hudson had only L-head sixes and eights that year, too). Having that good engine a year earlier, along with staying away from the Studebaker merger and resulting Curtiss-Wright ownership,might have made the difference in America having two quality high-priced car companies.

Even if subsequent Packard cars might have eventually faded from the scene ten or twenty years later, Packard might have been a producer of quality jet engines. Unfortunately, the guy who cancelled the critical contract with Packard for J-47 jet turbines at the Utica Packard facility was the Secretary of Defense (Charles W. Wilson), former President of General Motors. Paraphrasing him, what's good for GM wasn't good for Packard.