Re: Hugh Ferry: Packard's most underrated president?

Posted by 58L8134 On 2010/1/16 10:24:13

Hello Gentlemen

Of the original question, Hugh Ferry was a HUGELY underrated President, both by himself and the board of directors. His direction started the correction of most all of the neglect and backslide of the Christopher years.

The board of directors should have recognized what a fine job he was doing, insisted he remain President, then hired a dynamic marketing professional such as Nance to be General Product Manager to package the products for a contemporary market.

Ferry's years of auto industry experience in areas such as finance and manufacturing and intercorporate relations would have served to help him prevent pitfalls that came from Nance's inexperience in those areas. Ferry had the judgment to avoid disasters such as the Studebaker buyout, the move to Connor Avenue and the general draining of the cash reserves.

This isn't to vilify Nance, who I've come to view as dynamic and brilliant in bringing contemporary content to the product but woefully unqualified in the financial, manufacturing and overall management of the company.

Steve