Word: knudsens
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1950-1959
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
From Pontiac General Manager S. E. ("Bunky") Knudsen came word that in Pontiac's first three days in the showrooms, dealers delivered more than 6,000 of the 1960 models, and confirmed orders for another 17,359 cars. It was a performance, said Knudsen, that "shows promise of surpassing the 1959 model...
...Hearing that, Detroit wags recalled the time when Big Bill Knudsen, G.M.'s late president, boasted to Adman Bruce Barton that a certain new-model Chevy was "almost the perfect low-priced car-and it will really become perfect next year when we make one small change." Barton bit hard. "What change?" Deadpanned Bill Knudsen: "We're just going to hang a small hammock under the chassis. Catch all the goddam parts that fall...
...Pontiac job tied all the work together. Knudsen's first move after he became general manager was to go to the styling center. He knew what was wrong with Pontiac; it had a "grandma image" in the customer's mind. He wanted to change it so "teenagers would shout, 'Cool, man, real cool.'" The 1957 Pontiac was only 30 days from pilot production, just 60 days from volume production. Walking around the car, Knudsen announced abruptly: "Let's take the silver streaks off. That's the biggest change we can make." The stylists were...
...reorganized the division (retirements and transfers were encouraged, "and we did some firing too," says Knudsen) and set out to redesign the Pontiac from the wheels up-and out-aiming to make it real cool by this year. His biggest change was to widen the car by 2^ in. and push the wheels out as well. The effect was spectacular. The car not only looked flashy, but also the wide-track wheels gave better balance and road ability. Equally important, says Knudsen, "it gives people something to talk about. They can see it and they can understand it." Where...
...Bunky Knudsen, the rewards of success are a $100,000 annual salary, a sprawling, twelve-room colonial farmhouse, with two tennis courts and a swimming pool, on 40 acres in suburban Birmingham, Mich., where he lives with his wife Florence and their four teenage children. Knudsen does not spend much time there. His work day is ten hours long, and part of every evening is spent slamming Pontiacs, a new one each day, around the roughest roads he can find. Knudsen, who fidgets when he hears his success mentioned, likes to recall one of the few pieces of advice...