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Alfred P. Sloan

Executive who built General Motors into a global industrial giant.

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Alfred Pritchard Sloan Jr. was an American business executive who served as president, chairman, and CEO of General Motors.[1] The pricing structure and annual styling changes that Sloan introduced are what gave rise to the notion of planned obsolescence.[2]

Key facts and history

By 1903, Henry Leland castigated Sloan for delivering inconsistent bearing tolerances, a conversation Sloan said gave him a genuine conception of mass production.[3] In 1919, Sloan and his deputies created the General Motors Acceptance Corporation, which historian David Farber says invented the auto loan credit system.[4][5] His memoir, My Years with General Motors, was published in 1964 after GM's legal staff held up its publication for nearly a decade.[6][1] Sloan died on February 17, 1966.[1]

Alfred Pritchard Sloan Jr. was born on May 23, 1875 in New Haven, Connecticut and completed his studies at MIT in 1895.[1][7] In 1899, after his father and another investor purchased Hyatt Roller Bearing from its previous owner, Sloan assumed the roles of president and owner of that company.[8] United Motors Company was formed in 1916 through a merger involving Hyatt, and that entity was soon absorbed into General Motors.[9]

What the cited sources add

The Marriott account states that between 1932 and 1939, General Motors bosses poured $30 million into I.G. Farben plants.[10] According to Marriott, Sloan paid for the National Council of Clergymen and Laymen in 1936 at which speeches favoring Hitler were delivered.[10] Marriott also reports that Sloan frequently visited Berlin and hobnobbed with Göring and Hitler.[10] Charles Levinson alleged that Sloan remained on the General Motors-Opel board during the war, with information and trade continuing to flow between Detroit and Axis-controlled territories.[10]

The American RadioWorks account notes that by 1930, more than two-thirds of all automobiles were bought on the installment plan.[4]

References

  1. Wikipedia, "Alfred P. Sloan" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Alfred P. Sloan Jr. Dead at 90; G.M. Leader and Philanthropist; Alfred P. Sloan Jr., Leader of General Motors, Is Dead at 90", The New York Times, 1966-02-18 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  2. Wikipedia, "Alfred P. Sloan" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Hounshell, "From the American System to Mass Production, 1800-1932: The Development of Manufacturing Technology in the United States", Johns Hopkins University Press, 1984 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  3. Wikipedia, "Alfred P. Sloan" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Wood, "Alfred P. Sloan: Critical Evaluations in Business and Management, Vol. 2", Taylor & Francis, 2003, p. 141; Farber, "Sloan Rules: Alfred P. Sloan and the Triumph of General Motors", University of Chicago Press, 2002, p. 22 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  4. Smith, "The American Dream and Consumer Credit", American RadioWorks. facts only, no text reused. americanradioworks.publicradio.org
  5. Wikipedia, "Alfred P. Sloan" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Smith, "The American Dream and Consumer Credit", American RadioWorks (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  6. Wikipedia, "Alfred P. Sloan" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: . (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  7. Wikipedia, "Alfred P. Sloan" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Who was Alfred P. Sloan Jr.?", Alfred P. Sloan Foundation; "Who was Alfred P. Sloan Jr.?", Alfred P. Sloan Foundation (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  8. Wikipedia, "Alfred P. Sloan" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Peters, "Leadership Lessons: Alfred Sloan", New Word City, 2017 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  9. Wikipedia, "Alfred P. Sloan" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Farber, "Sloan Rules: Alfred P. Sloan and the Triumph of General Motors", University of Chicago Press, 2002, p. 22 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  10. Marriott, Red, "How the Allied multinationals supplied Nazi Germany throughout World War II", libcom.org, 2006. facts only, no text reused. libcom.org

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Alfred P. Sloan (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.

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Test yourself

Three questions drawn from this entry’s sources. Pick an answer to check it.

1. In what year did Alfred P. Sloan die?

Correct.

Not quite. The answer is 1966.

From the source: “Sloan died in 1966.”

2. In which place was Alfred P. Sloan born?

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Not quite. The answer is New Haven, Connecticut, U.S..

3. In what year was Alfred P. Sloan born?

Correct.

Not quite. The answer is 1875.

From the source: “Alfred Pritchard Sloan Jr. ( ; May 23, 1875 – February 17, 1966) was an American business executive in the automotive industry. He was a longtime president, chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of General Motors (GM). First as a senio”

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Sources

Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.

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