Word: donner
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Dates: during 1950-1959
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...push behind inflation. So far, productivity is running ahead of 1958 wage hikes; autoworkers settled last month for more moderate terms than in recent years (4% wage rise for Ford). The cost of the new contracts has already been written into 1959 car prices. Said Frederic G. Donner, chairman of General Motors, in Manhattan last week: "I think it's fair to say that the contract, as we have signed it, would not require any further adjustment in prices...
Coleman and Siegel also got heavy debts at high interest rates. To climb out, Coleman negotiated a swap with the See-burgs of $1,200,000 in cash for the $2,000,000 owed in notes, borrowed another $700,000 from them. Siegel raised more from Philadelphia's Donner Foundation and the New York Water Corp. In addition, they sold off their Fort Pitt clothing and beer business for $3,000,000 plus a hefty beer royalty from the new brewery owners. With Seeburg's cash position in shape, they were able to pay off their bank debts...
Does G.M. feel a responsibility not to compete so hard as to drive marginal producers out of the business? Snapped Donner: "And when did you stop beating your wife? If you are thinking of Studebaker-Packard, we didn't drive them to their present con dition. They drove themselves there. Did you ever stop to wonder what they did with the profits of the lush war years, if they reinvested them in the business...
...average American's attitude toward cars changing, with more interest in low-cost transportation than in the appearance of the car? Such theories, said Donner, "were just rationalizations for not 'buying a car. Lots of this sort of attitude would change overnight if economic conditions change, especially if we have a fresh new product-and speaking for G.M., we are going to have a fresh new product...
...Donner admits he does not fully understand the reasons for the small-car vogue, but he is in no rush to order basic changes in G.M.'s product line. "I don't know for sure what it^ means, but I can tell you this-before we move at G.M., we will be sure. What would you do if you were Chevrolet and had the responsibility for selling a million and a half cars a year...