Re: When and how the luxury market dominance was being lost?
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Forum Ambassador
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I enjoyed every word of your response until I got to the word "snow". We'll typically get 4 or 5 snow storms here in northern NJ, maybe one will be 10 or 14 inches, the rest pretty trivial. The only context I want to think of snow in is if I should take a cruise down to Antarctica this winter. Maybe the Amazon or Caribbean is a better idea!
Posted on: 2008/12/15 18:27
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Re: When and how the luxury market dominance was being lost?
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Forum Ambassador
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Not to take this thread off topic as it is so very interesting hearing the various opinions but It is bitterly cold here today with windchill about -40C (or F as it is the same at -40). The snowfall was about only 12" but had drifted in my driveway to a depth of 2 feet in places. An Antarctic cruise would be interesting. I have always been facinated with that continent, the wildlife and the men who explored it especially Ernest Shacketon but I digress......thank you.
Posted on: 2008/12/15 19:23
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Re: When and how the luxury market dominance was being lost?
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Home away from home
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Owen & Clipper47: Here are some production figures for 1927 and 1928.
1927 total production 29,821 cars. 4.486 Eights built and 25,335 Sixes. 1928 total production 49,550 cars. 7,800 Eights built and 41,750 Sixes built. It would be really interesting to see how much profit Packard made from each of the two models lines in both years. Also it would be interesting to see which made more profit per unit for Packard the Eight or Six. John F. Shireman
Posted on: 2008/12/16 21:08
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REMEMBERING BRAD BERRY MY PACKARD TEACHER
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Re: When and how the luxury market dominance was being lost?
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Forum Ambassador
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John, Interesting figures and as you mentioned it would be an interesting exercise to see which car contributed the most profit per unit. Typically with modern cars the more bells and whistles the more profit so I suspect there was more per unit profit on the more expensive line. A 1980's Chevrolet Nova and a Cadillac Cimarron (remember that gem?) were basically the same car but the profit on the Caddie was very much higher.
Nineteen twenty-eight was a boom year for the economy with the stock market going wild on margin buying (sound familiar)as was 1929 until Black Friday, October 25 so high end cars were selling like hotcakes and the 626 Eight was a big seller for Packard. A record year that stood until 1936 I think. I wonder why Packard discontinued the Six in late 1928 if it was a big money maker? The Standard Eight offered more prestige for about the same money I guess. I don't imagine Packard made cars for the VERY wealthy just for the fun of it. If the big Custom Eights had not been profitable they would have been dropped as soon as the Great Depression began in earnest in the early 30's. I suspect that profit margins on the larger more expensive models was greater than on the smaller less ostentatious ones. Of course when I made mention that Packard made a mistake in offering the Six,I was referring to the 1937 version not the Six of the 1920's which was in no way shape or form anything but a high price car for the wealthy and I don't mean a John D. Rockefeller wealthy.
Posted on: 2008/12/16 23:07
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Re: When and how the luxury market dominance was being lost?
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Ckipper47, I empathise with you. I'm up in Minnesota visiting family for Christmas and it is C-O-L-D
Posted on: 2008/12/16 23:23
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Re: When and how the luxury market dominance was being lost?
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Webmaster
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I always like to think of it as "Titanic economics". The White Star line made most of their profit from the Steerage passengers, not the First Class passengers. It's all about the volume.
Posted on: 2008/12/16 23:29
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-BigKev
1954 Packard Clipper Deluxe Touring Sedan -> Registry | Project Blog 1937 Packard 115-C Convertible Coupe -> Registry | Project Blog |
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Re: When and how the luxury market dominance was being lost?
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Randy, Thermometer was at -25F this morning so yes it is COLD! Are you in southern Minnesota or up north?
Posted on: 2008/12/17 1:45
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Re: When and how the luxury market dominance was being lost?
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Forum Ambassador
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As did our Detroit three (you know, the companies that force Americans to buy thirsty SUVs that break down every month), when the Luxury thing is going well you make LOTS of profit on each unit, the cost to make a Cadillac vs a Chevy ins't nearly as big as the retail price difference of each. But when people aren't buying luxury in big numbers you had better have what they want to buy. One detail I have observed in the companies that survived the depression/war/1950s shakeout is that they were the companies that were hostile to labor and preditory in their business models. One "what if" I like to ponder is a join-up that could have happened during the wild days of the 1920s between Nash and Packard (who actually held talks about this). Charles Nash would have needed to run things, his business acumen and legendary frugality (OK, he was CHEAP!) allowed Nash to survive the depression and actually post a profit in 1932, a mean feat. He did it through tight control of expenses. Had they been able to combine, and perhaps bring a low price high volume product into the mix they could have survived, maybe. The last great join-ups were formulated in the 1920s.
Posted on: 2008/12/17 10:36
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Re: When and how the luxury market dominance was being lost?
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Forum Ambassador
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A Packard- Nash in the 20's might have worked since as you say Nash both Charlie ( a man after my own heart was Charlie ) and the company emphasized frugality so the product line could have run from the lowly 600 all the way to custom bodied 12's and the 120 would not have been necessary.
Posted on: 2008/12/17 10:53
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