Quote:
Originally Posted by Frank Lee
One final comment then: stylists don't run the show, marketing and mgmt does. The stylists have to give 'em what they want. Period.
|
Alfred P. Sloan Jr.,in his book,My Years with General Motors,intimated that the Sales Division was really the driver behind their product mix.And they were,early on,extremely concerned that all cars would end up looking alike.
The Executive Committee made it corporate policy that from about 1926-on,that it would be the official policy of General Motors to force style diversity among and within divisions,honoring "Paris-fashion'.
Sloan talks of the 'flop' of the 1929 'Pregnant Buick' which was pulled from the showrooms as fast as a replacement could be produced.Manufacturing pushed Earl's 1-1/2-inch body camber to over 5-inches without his knowledge,consumers hated it and it bombed.
Sloan also mentions the debaucle of the 'over-streamlined' 1934 Chrysler Airflow.
Walter Chrysler told R.Buckminster Fuller exactly why his Dymaxion Car could never be allowed.That discussion centered around the banking community.
Complex corporate dynamics.