In all fairness, the man who was at the helm of Studebaker when it
died was not responsible for that company's death. The "Big Three"
worked diligently after WWII to squeeze-out all non-corporate
competition. In their sights were: Packard, Studebaker, Nash, Hudson,
Kaiser and, of course, that upstart, Tucker. Tucker was first on the
list with its paradigm-changing feature list. The Big Three couldn't
allow the Tucker on the market with its safety innovations: seatbelts,
pop-out windshields, and "crash-cubby" footwells. Nor could they allow
a car on the market with disc brakes, a flat, air-cooled motor and 135
MPH performance. If you know the story, the big three did everything
in their power to stop Tucker from getting the resources he needed.
They even bribed government officials and senators and Congressmen!
Finally they trumped up securities fraud charges to kill the car off.
They did similar things (though not as overtly) to the other car
manufacturers on their list. Changing tastes and small budgets kept
companies like Studebaker from truly keeping-up. As their designs fell
further behind, their sales dropped, as their sales dropped, their
revenues shrank. With less and less money available to develop new
products, these marginalized car companies could do little but rehash
and recycle older designs. The Studebaker Avanti, for instance, was
nothing more than a decade-old Golden Hawk with a sexy new fiberglass
body. It was all too little too late. That "last president" couldn't
have saved Studebaker if he was BIll Gates! Also, don't forget, "the
sins of the father shouldn't be placed on the shoulders of the son."
Whatever one might think of any given presidential candidate, one
shouldn't assess his (or her) ability based on what his/her father did
in his career.
George Graves
'86 GTV-6 3.0 'S'
On Jan 12, 2012, at 6:39 AM, Pete Lundquist wrote:
I wholeheartedly agree with George G. and his missive on corporate
DNA. You lose a generation of workers, and the DNA is dead.
His cited some excellent examples (Fisher et al) to support the
belief that the Alfa Romeos we drive are the last of an incredible
run by a fantastic group of Italians that kept the company running
through two world wars. I believe a lot of the problems we face in
the world today are due to the selfish "me generation" and an
unwillingness to work together for a common goal. Badge engineering
is the brain child of weak people in positions of power out for
their own gain. I think there is even someone running for President
who's daddy ruined Studebaker (remember the Avanti!) yet loves to
crow about his business acumen and family legacy.
If the world is ever going to produce Fishers, Alfa Romeo's, and
other similar products, the silent majority must exert themselves
and put an end to the selfish me first madness. Thanks George for
being so eloquent on behalf of innovative companies and their place
in human history.
Pete
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