Re: Would it have been easier to salvage Packard than Studebaker?

Posted by ScottG On 2011/1/3 23:09:10

John's summary is point on. By the fifties, Packard was turning profits on military goods which did little to burnish their public image. When that stream of cash dried up, they had nothing but their auto production on which to rely. That, of course, had been allowed to languish shortly after the war and left the company to compete in an increasingly difficult market with a diminished reputation among consumers. It must surely have seemed a pretty hopeless situation.

As for Charlie Wilson, I doubt that he randomly decided to destroy Packard. He was a self-interested bureaucrat who directed what he could in a manner that best served those interests (nothing new there). Packard, and any other corporation or individual that may have suffered as a result, was simply collateral damage. In Packard's case the damage was fatal because they had become too reliant upon government contracts.

Also, I don't want to go about blasting holes in anybody's romantic image of World War II, but America didn't really turn to Packard for help. Our government essentially "offered" Packard and other industrial concerns the "opportunity" to assist in the war effort. Had they declined the opportunity, the government simply would have put them out of business by impeding their ability to obtain the materials needed to sustain their enterprise (and by painting them as "unpatriotic" which would've poisoned their brand image). Think of it as a democracy's way of seizing facilities for the production of war materiel.

Consequently, I doubt that the military thought one bit about the Packard of 1941 versus the Packard of 1953. I also doubt that the White House livery played much of a role in any bureaucratic decision making either. The government had an objective to accomplish and, for whatever reasons, Packard didn't fit into Uncle Sam's plans as the Cold War unfolded.

Finally, as John suggested, everyone that has a chance should read Ward's the Fall of the Packard Motor Car Company. It's well written and offers great insights into the collapse of the marque we all love.