Continuing the theme of corporate genes vs epigenes.
GM developed its hierarchy late in life. At first Billy Durant was just buying up companies because he enjoyed buying up stuff. After DuPont took over, Sloane lined up the random companies into a hierarchy of price. Acquisition was the gene, organized hierarchy was an epigene.
Ford started as a one-brand company, didn’t even try a hierarchy until 1939, and never fully grasped the concept. Even after MacNamara formed the requisite five names, Ford kept misplacing or duplicating identities. (A cargo-cult level of understanding!)
When Walter Chrysler got disgusted with Billy and started his own company, the Sloane hierarchy was starting to succeed, so he decided to follow the same pattern. The Chrysler hierarchy was genetic, not epigenetic.
Chrysler later added an epigene which GM never imitated. Each division had a targeted price level of private customer, and each division also had a targeted type of fleet customer.
Plymouth sold company cars for salesmen and technicians and mail carriers. A company that needed big business coupes or sedans for their troubleshooters or agents would deal with Plymouth’s fleet department. Commercial cars were about 1/4 of Plymouth’s entire sales in the ’30s and ’40s.
Dodge did trucks. Nuff said.
DeSoto did taxis, and formed connections with taxi companies around the world. Taxis in Egypt and Greece had the DeSoto brand, even though they were actually regrilled Plymouths.
The Chrysler division made luxury limos for executives.
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Why was GM less fleety? Two reasons. The first is fairly obvious. GM created strong differences between brands and between years. Chrysler’s brands were much less distinct, and Chrysler couldn’t afford fast changes. Maintaining a fleet is easier with a small and constant stock of parts. The second reason, according to people who seem to know, is that most GM brands used torque tube driveshafts. U-joints wear out fast in city traffic. Changing a torque tube is an all-day job, while changing an open shaft is a half hour.
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