DECG50 offered an intriguing response to our article, “Did early-postwar independent automakers try too hard to be different?” I’m front-paging the comment to give it wider attention.
I wonder if the lingering effects of the depression and the concept of path dependency can illuminate this. The latter basically boils down to the idea that the path which led an organization to succeed in something becomes a habit that is hard to break when circumstances change.
From left, a 1941 and 1954 Nash ad. Click on images to enlarge (Old Car Advertisements)
Both Nash and Studebaker remained committed postwar to engineering for low running costs, which for each of them was the recipe for survival during the 1930s. Had the 1950s been like the 1970s, I expect they would have done very well. But their organizational cultures were not well suited to an age of prosperity (leaving aside the brief Eisenhower recession).
From left, 1940 and 1950 Studebaker ads. Click on images to enlarge (Old Car Advertisements)
Willys might be included in this category too, though it wisely delayed getting back into the car market postwar. But when it did, it was in the same vein as its prewar formula.
Packard’s recipe for surviving the 1930s was to move down market to drive higher volumes, but for a luxury product that strategy risks eroding brand equity, which in the end happened. Rather like what happened to Cadillac in the 1970s.
From left, a 1936 and 1953 Packard ad. Click on images to enlarge (Old Car Advertisements)
Hudson survived by taking desperate gambles, particularly with the Terraplane. You can see its gambles on the monobilt step down and the Jet as being in the same vein. The first two paid off for a little while and bought time. The third didn’t.
Kaiser-Fraser falls outside this analysis, aside from perhaps a little Graham legacy. It was just undercapitalized I think. And Henry Kaiser wasn’t the genius for mass production he had been for more bespoke industrial processes.
— DECG50
ADVERTISING & BROCHURES:
- oldcaradvertising.com: Hudson (1936); Nash (1941, 1953); Packard (1936, 1953); Studebaker (1940, 1950)
Indie Auto invites your comments (see below) or letters to the editor (go here). Letters may be lightly edited for style.
Be the first to comment