Re: Had They Merged

Posted by Charles Neuhaus On 2009/1/17 12:26:44

The evidence is strong that Nance scuttled the Nash-Packard merger when he found he would not be in charge. One source quoted Nance as saying, "Mason will come back to the table, he hasn't anywhere else to go." Apparently the Nash-Hudson merger took him by surprise. I think that Mason realized that Studebaker was the "sick puppy" among the independents and I doubt he ever wanted them included. Studebaker had an obsolete factory, spoiled workforce and a very unfavorable contract with the UAW, not to mention a somewhat out of touch management. I have never understood why Nance went to an outside consulting firm to survey Studebaker. I cannot believe that a team of Packard engineers and cost accountants would not have recognized Studebaker's fatal weaknesses very quickly. I have always thought that Studebaker bribed the consulting firm to produce such a glowing report. Packard probably could not have survived over the long term without some form of merger, but tying themselves to an anchor like Studebaker (who built some great cars) was fatal.