Re: One Story Assembly Plant What If?

Posted by Craig the Clipper Man On 2014/5/15 11:29:26

Steve:

I am sorry but I do not believe DeSoto, LaSalle, Mercury, and the 120 "degraded" Chrysler, Cadillac, Lincoln (Ford), and Packard. To say that a LaSalle or a 120 caused the public to look down on Cadillac and Packard is absurd. What would be the point of an automobile corporation except to survive and make a profit? These so-called degraded brands or models were fine cars in their own right certainly didn't dissuade buyers from buying them. LaSalle was dropped because its price and reputation infringed on Cadillac's turf and I do not think Chrysler was damaged by DeSoto's popularity. DeSoto was not responsible for Chrysler's abysmal performance in the 1950s anymore than the ghost of LaSalle drove buyers away from Cadillac's showrooms throughout the 1950s and '60s. Lousy cars caused the decline of Cadillac and Lincoln in the 1970s and early '80s, which led to the rise of Mercedes Benz and BMW as the new luxury offerings. But remember, even those brands have lower priced models or off-shoots like Smart and Mini.

What degraded Packard was its fleet sales of lower-priced models to taxi companies in the 1940s, along with bringing out model years that buyers did not find especially attractive. Packard's 120 model disappeared after 1941. The Clipper supplanted it and was very successful then and later when it was brought back in 1953. Clippers far outsold "senior" Packards in 1955 and 1956 before the plug was pulled. Packard ceased production of V-12s because the high cost of producing those cars, along with low sales.

The only thing that would have happened had Packard not offered the 120 and 110 would probably have been the demise of the company before 1942. It is wonderful to look back on those brands whose cars were never degraded by lower cost models: Locomobile, Duesenberg, Pearce, Pierce-Arrow, Stutz, and on and on. I am sure that the former employees of those companies could take heart knowing that those cars were never degraded as they stood in the unemployment lines.

One last point: Augie Duesenberg did not feel entirely comfortable building the highest priced cars in America. He did not see the production as a viable strategy for long-term existence, since he realized that there was a limited market for his cars and that once reached, sales would fall. Though he did not live to see it, he clearly understood Duesenberg's future would be fleeting.