1 00:00:04,400 --> 00:00:07,800 Speaker 1: Welcome to tech Stuff, a production from I Heart Radio. 2 00:00:12,080 --> 00:00:15,080 Speaker 1: Hey there, and welcome to tech Stuff. I'm your host, 3 00:00:15,240 --> 00:00:18,279 Speaker 1: Jonathan Strickland. I'm an executive producer with iHeart Radio and 4 00:00:18,320 --> 00:00:21,919 Speaker 1: a love of all things tech, and previously on tech 5 00:00:21,960 --> 00:00:26,439 Speaker 1: Stuff before we had the unintended break due to my 6 00:00:27,080 --> 00:00:31,240 Speaker 1: lack of WiFi, I covered the founding of General Motors, 7 00:00:31,600 --> 00:00:35,160 Speaker 1: which officially began as a company in nineteen o eight. 8 00:00:35,479 --> 00:00:38,920 Speaker 1: I talked about how WILLIAMS. C. Durant, founder of GM, 9 00:00:39,080 --> 00:00:43,800 Speaker 1: acquired companies like Buick, Oldsmobile, Oakland, which was later known 10 00:00:43,840 --> 00:00:48,520 Speaker 1: as Pontiac and Cadillac. I explained that his acquisition DASH 11 00:00:49,000 --> 00:00:52,159 Speaker 1: made his investors nervous, to say the least, and how 12 00:00:52,159 --> 00:00:55,160 Speaker 1: they responded by removing Durant as head of GM in 13 00:00:55,240 --> 00:00:58,560 Speaker 1: nineteen ten, and then how Durant went and co founded 14 00:00:58,600 --> 00:01:01,560 Speaker 1: a new car company called cheval Lay, bought up shares 15 00:01:01,600 --> 00:01:04,760 Speaker 1: of General Motors with his earnings, got the backing of 16 00:01:04,760 --> 00:01:07,920 Speaker 1: the DuPont family as well, and eventually returned to GM 17 00:01:08,000 --> 00:01:11,080 Speaker 1: in nineteen sixteen. So today we're going to learn a 18 00:01:11,120 --> 00:01:14,720 Speaker 1: bit more about the early days of GM, and then 19 00:01:14,840 --> 00:01:17,560 Speaker 1: we'll cover some more of its evolution. Now, originally I 20 00:01:17,600 --> 00:01:20,280 Speaker 1: had planned on just kind of covering a little bit 21 00:01:20,319 --> 00:01:22,920 Speaker 1: more about the early history of GM and then skipping 22 00:01:23,000 --> 00:01:27,800 Speaker 1: forward like nearly a century to talk about what led 23 00:01:27,840 --> 00:01:31,320 Speaker 1: it to get into financial trouble in the two thousand's. 24 00:01:31,360 --> 00:01:34,320 Speaker 1: But as it turns out, there's a lot more interesting 25 00:01:34,440 --> 00:01:38,440 Speaker 1: history and important stuff in the automotive industry and the 26 00:01:38,440 --> 00:01:42,920 Speaker 1: the labor movement as well that took place in the 27 00:01:43,240 --> 00:01:47,119 Speaker 1: early decades of General Motors. So we're gonna be sticking 28 00:01:47,120 --> 00:01:50,280 Speaker 1: with a little longer than I had intended. Al Right, 29 00:01:50,480 --> 00:01:53,720 Speaker 1: So one thing I won't be doing. I will not 30 00:01:53,760 --> 00:01:56,920 Speaker 1: be covering every single car that was produced off of 31 00:01:57,000 --> 00:02:00,640 Speaker 1: General Motors assembly lines. That would just be ludicrous. I 32 00:02:00,760 --> 00:02:05,200 Speaker 1: might mention a couple of standouts, but I'm not going 33 00:02:05,240 --> 00:02:08,760 Speaker 1: to go through each and every car making model. That 34 00:02:08,760 --> 00:02:11,720 Speaker 1: would just it would be ludicrous. Now, one thing I 35 00:02:11,760 --> 00:02:14,560 Speaker 1: did not go into detail in the last episode was 36 00:02:15,080 --> 00:02:17,519 Speaker 1: to talk about what was going on at GM between 37 00:02:17,720 --> 00:02:23,320 Speaker 1: nineteen ten and nineteen sixteen during Durant's first exile when 38 00:02:23,360 --> 00:02:26,519 Speaker 1: he was off founding you know, or co founding Chevrolet 39 00:02:26,520 --> 00:02:30,600 Speaker 1: and plotting his revenge, i mean return. Well, the banks 40 00:02:30,600 --> 00:02:34,520 Speaker 1: helped keep the company afloat while the various acquired car 41 00:02:34,600 --> 00:02:38,839 Speaker 1: companies were manufacturing automobiles, and even with all those acquisitions, 42 00:02:38,880 --> 00:02:42,639 Speaker 1: General Motors was still well behind the Ford Motor Company 43 00:02:42,720 --> 00:02:46,280 Speaker 1: when it came to the largest automakers in the United States. 44 00:02:46,600 --> 00:02:50,799 Speaker 1: Ford was focused on producing one type of car, the 45 00:02:50,880 --> 00:02:54,680 Speaker 1: Model T, and it would do so for another more 46 00:02:54,720 --> 00:02:57,440 Speaker 1: than another decade. Now. A big thing to come out 47 00:02:57,639 --> 00:03:02,040 Speaker 1: during Durant's first exile was the trick starter. This was 48 00:03:02,160 --> 00:03:04,680 Speaker 1: a huge development, and it helps if we go back 49 00:03:05,160 --> 00:03:08,519 Speaker 1: to something I talked about in the previous GM episode. 50 00:03:08,919 --> 00:03:12,800 Speaker 1: So in that episode I described the four stroke process 51 00:03:12,800 --> 00:03:15,640 Speaker 1: with car engines, in which a piston in a cylinder 52 00:03:15,720 --> 00:03:20,200 Speaker 1: draws in air and gasoline in a little mixture, compresses 53 00:03:20,520 --> 00:03:23,640 Speaker 1: that mixture. Then a spark plug strikes a spark that 54 00:03:23,720 --> 00:03:27,600 Speaker 1: ignites that mixture, which pushes the piston outward and provides 55 00:03:27,639 --> 00:03:29,760 Speaker 1: the energy needed to make the car move. And then 56 00:03:29,800 --> 00:03:33,560 Speaker 1: the piston comes back up through the cylinder and pushes 57 00:03:33,560 --> 00:03:35,880 Speaker 1: out the exhaust and the whole process starts again. But 58 00:03:36,600 --> 00:03:40,000 Speaker 1: how does that process get started? I mean that once 59 00:03:40,040 --> 00:03:43,000 Speaker 1: you get it going, it can sustain itself for as 60 00:03:43,040 --> 00:03:46,120 Speaker 1: long as you have fuel and you're operating the engine. 61 00:03:46,520 --> 00:03:48,640 Speaker 1: But how do you get it started in the first place. Well, 62 00:03:48,680 --> 00:03:54,480 Speaker 1: these days, internal combustion engines have ignition starters that engage 63 00:03:54,480 --> 00:03:58,000 Speaker 1: an electric motor to turn a flywheel. That fly wheel 64 00:03:58,080 --> 00:04:01,000 Speaker 1: is in turn connected to the c inank shaft of 65 00:04:01,560 --> 00:04:04,880 Speaker 1: the engine, and that electric motor provides the force needed 66 00:04:04,920 --> 00:04:08,080 Speaker 1: to turn the crank shaft and get those pistons moving, 67 00:04:08,280 --> 00:04:12,080 Speaker 1: and that starts that process of pulling in air and fuel, 68 00:04:12,360 --> 00:04:15,280 Speaker 1: assuming you've got the throttle open and you can get 69 00:04:15,320 --> 00:04:18,039 Speaker 1: the combustion cycle going that way. But in the early 70 00:04:18,120 --> 00:04:21,520 Speaker 1: days that was not an option. So in the old 71 00:04:21,520 --> 00:04:25,600 Speaker 1: old old days, the earliest automobiles had what was called 72 00:04:25,640 --> 00:04:29,039 Speaker 1: a crank wheel, and the crank wheel connected to the 73 00:04:29,160 --> 00:04:32,840 Speaker 1: crank shaft of the automobile, and the ones I've seen 74 00:04:32,960 --> 00:04:35,479 Speaker 1: were horizontal wheels that were mounted on the engine, and 75 00:04:35,480 --> 00:04:38,279 Speaker 1: the engine was typically mounted on the back of the vehicle. 76 00:04:38,880 --> 00:04:43,120 Speaker 1: So giving the crank wheel a spin manually, as in, 77 00:04:43,320 --> 00:04:46,120 Speaker 1: you know, actually gripping it with your hands and turning 78 00:04:46,160 --> 00:04:49,560 Speaker 1: it in the correct direction would rotate the crank chaft. 79 00:04:49,640 --> 00:04:52,360 Speaker 1: This was not necessarily easy to do. By the way, 80 00:04:52,640 --> 00:04:57,200 Speaker 1: the piston in the cylinder is typically a single cylinder 81 00:04:57,240 --> 00:05:00,800 Speaker 1: engine connects to the crank shaft, so as the crank 82 00:05:00,839 --> 00:05:05,880 Speaker 1: shaft turns, it provides the the energy needed, the force 83 00:05:05,960 --> 00:05:09,559 Speaker 1: needed rather to move the piston up and down, because 84 00:05:09,560 --> 00:05:11,919 Speaker 1: the piston is connected to the crank shaft and that 85 00:05:12,440 --> 00:05:16,599 Speaker 1: rotation uh motion of the crank shaft gets converted into 86 00:05:16,640 --> 00:05:19,400 Speaker 1: the reciprocal motion of a piston going up and down 87 00:05:19,400 --> 00:05:23,040 Speaker 1: inside the cylinder. So spinning the wheel at the right 88 00:05:23,080 --> 00:05:26,479 Speaker 1: speed could get the crank shaft spinning and move the 89 00:05:26,480 --> 00:05:29,120 Speaker 1: piston and start the process similar to what it described 90 00:05:29,160 --> 00:05:31,279 Speaker 1: a second ago with the electric motor, except in this 91 00:05:31,320 --> 00:05:34,000 Speaker 1: case you're doing it by hand. The piston begins to 92 00:05:34,120 --> 00:05:38,120 Speaker 1: draw air into the cylinder, but that's obviously not enough 93 00:05:38,120 --> 00:05:41,159 Speaker 1: for ignition. To ignite an engine, you also have to 94 00:05:41,240 --> 00:05:43,839 Speaker 1: prime it a bit by allowing that mix of air 95 00:05:43,880 --> 00:05:46,840 Speaker 1: and fuel into the piston. It can't just be air, 96 00:05:47,560 --> 00:05:50,320 Speaker 1: or it would be like striking a match in a 97 00:05:50,360 --> 00:05:55,360 Speaker 1: normal room. You don't get explosions, assuming you're not filling 98 00:05:55,400 --> 00:05:58,240 Speaker 1: that room with you know, explosive fumes or something. So 99 00:05:58,440 --> 00:06:00,120 Speaker 1: in order to do that, you do have to have 100 00:06:00,240 --> 00:06:04,280 Speaker 1: the throttle open just a little bit, not necessarily all 101 00:06:04,320 --> 00:06:07,080 Speaker 1: the way open, but a little open to allow fuel 102 00:06:07,200 --> 00:06:10,719 Speaker 1: to go into the piston as well as air. You 103 00:06:10,800 --> 00:06:14,880 Speaker 1: also typically would have something called the choke that you 104 00:06:14,920 --> 00:06:18,560 Speaker 1: needed to open when. As the name suggests, the choke 105 00:06:18,720 --> 00:06:22,479 Speaker 1: controls whether or not air can flow into the system 106 00:06:22,560 --> 00:06:27,360 Speaker 1: through the carburetor. UH. These old vehicles had carburetors. This 107 00:06:27,440 --> 00:06:30,000 Speaker 1: creates a mix that can then be ignited once you're 108 00:06:30,040 --> 00:06:33,440 Speaker 1: ready to actually start the vehicle. So with the handbrake on, 109 00:06:33,800 --> 00:06:36,680 Speaker 1: which is a very important step with these old cars, 110 00:06:37,240 --> 00:06:41,520 Speaker 1: you would engage the method for the spark plugs to spark. UH. 111 00:06:41,600 --> 00:06:44,240 Speaker 1: Many early automobiles had a control kind of like a 112 00:06:44,360 --> 00:06:47,440 Speaker 1: lever to advance the frequency of the spark plugs sparking, 113 00:06:48,160 --> 00:06:52,160 Speaker 1: sometimes called a spark advance. Interesting thing is that because 114 00:06:52,240 --> 00:06:56,120 Speaker 1: this was not an automated system, it wasn't all working together. 115 00:06:56,839 --> 00:07:02,240 Speaker 1: You had to manually changed the spark advance. So once 116 00:07:02,240 --> 00:07:05,000 Speaker 1: you've got an engine running, you would actually need to 117 00:07:05,080 --> 00:07:07,599 Speaker 1: move the spark advance a bit to kind of find 118 00:07:07,600 --> 00:07:11,440 Speaker 1: a sweet spot where the spark frequency is hitting it 119 00:07:11,640 --> 00:07:17,160 Speaker 1: just the right point in the four stroke process. And 120 00:07:17,480 --> 00:07:19,040 Speaker 1: you could tell you could just hear it in the 121 00:07:19,080 --> 00:07:22,880 Speaker 1: engine when it hit that that sweet spot, because otherwise 122 00:07:22,880 --> 00:07:25,880 Speaker 1: it was kind of chugging along and it did mean 123 00:07:25,880 --> 00:07:29,440 Speaker 1: that you were actually manually adjusting how frequently the spark 124 00:07:29,480 --> 00:07:33,000 Speaker 1: plugs were sparking. But where did the electricity come from 125 00:07:33,040 --> 00:07:36,320 Speaker 1: to create those sparks. Well, again, in the early days, 126 00:07:36,320 --> 00:07:40,480 Speaker 1: you were typically talking about a magneto, which isn't just 127 00:07:40,800 --> 00:07:45,440 Speaker 1: a villainous mutant in the Marvel universe, although it's that too. 128 00:07:45,560 --> 00:07:49,200 Speaker 1: A magneto works on the principles of electro magnetic interactions, 129 00:07:49,240 --> 00:07:52,200 Speaker 1: something I've talked about a lot on episodes of tech Stuff. 130 00:07:52,880 --> 00:07:56,200 Speaker 1: A magneto is kind of like an electro magnet in reverse. 131 00:07:56,360 --> 00:07:59,920 Speaker 1: But here's the gist. Let's say you take a conduct 132 00:08:00,120 --> 00:08:04,200 Speaker 1: of material, typically we're talking about copper wire, and you 133 00:08:04,240 --> 00:08:08,120 Speaker 1: wrap that copper wire around an iron core, and then 134 00:08:08,280 --> 00:08:12,240 Speaker 1: you pass that copper wire around the core through a 135 00:08:12,280 --> 00:08:16,360 Speaker 1: magnetic field. Well, passing it through that magnetic field would 136 00:08:16,400 --> 00:08:19,280 Speaker 1: mean that the field would induce a current to flow 137 00:08:19,400 --> 00:08:22,480 Speaker 1: through the copper wire, but this would only last a 138 00:08:22,560 --> 00:08:26,440 Speaker 1: moment as the copper wire encountered this magnetic field, as 139 00:08:26,480 --> 00:08:29,640 Speaker 1: long as there was some sort of fluctuation there. If 140 00:08:29,680 --> 00:08:33,000 Speaker 1: you put copper wire into a magnetic field and then 141 00:08:33,040 --> 00:08:35,760 Speaker 1: just let it stay, you sit in the stable magnetic 142 00:08:35,800 --> 00:08:38,640 Speaker 1: field that flow of current would stop. You would have 143 00:08:38,960 --> 00:08:41,600 Speaker 1: a kind of equilibrium. But if you were to change 144 00:08:41,640 --> 00:08:45,000 Speaker 1: the magnetic field, if you were to create a fluctuating field, 145 00:08:45,559 --> 00:08:48,200 Speaker 1: you could continue to induce current to flow in the 146 00:08:48,240 --> 00:08:52,200 Speaker 1: copper wire and make it even change direction. Now, changing 147 00:08:52,200 --> 00:08:55,280 Speaker 1: the magnetic field is not actually that hard. If you 148 00:08:55,320 --> 00:08:58,560 Speaker 1: flip a magnet so that the north and south poles 149 00:08:58,559 --> 00:09:01,320 Speaker 1: of the magnet change position over and over and over again, 150 00:09:01,520 --> 00:09:03,800 Speaker 1: that's enough to do the trick. So if you have 151 00:09:03,840 --> 00:09:07,400 Speaker 1: a spinning permanent magnet and you put that spinning permanent 152 00:09:07,400 --> 00:09:10,800 Speaker 1: magnet next to a coil of copper wire wrapped around 153 00:09:10,800 --> 00:09:14,040 Speaker 1: an iron core, you're going to induce an electric current 154 00:09:14,080 --> 00:09:17,560 Speaker 1: to flow through that copper wire. So if you set 155 00:09:17,640 --> 00:09:20,040 Speaker 1: up a system in which you either rotate a coil 156 00:09:20,160 --> 00:09:23,199 Speaker 1: of wire between the poles of a permanent magnet, or 157 00:09:23,640 --> 00:09:26,719 Speaker 1: you rotate magnets around a stationary coil of wire. There 158 00:09:26,720 --> 00:09:29,720 Speaker 1: are systems that use one of the two ways and 159 00:09:30,280 --> 00:09:32,880 Speaker 1: others that use the other way. But the system will 160 00:09:32,920 --> 00:09:36,400 Speaker 1: subject that coil to a fluctuating magnetic field when the 161 00:09:36,440 --> 00:09:39,440 Speaker 1: apparatus is in motion, and that induces current to flow 162 00:09:39,520 --> 00:09:43,160 Speaker 1: through it. Now, ignition magnetos and early automobiles were a 163 00:09:43,160 --> 00:09:46,720 Speaker 1: bit more complicated than this, just as a you know, 164 00:09:47,080 --> 00:09:50,000 Speaker 1: kind of reverse electro magnet. That's because to create a 165 00:09:50,000 --> 00:09:53,960 Speaker 1: spark you need a really high voltage. So the analogy 166 00:09:54,040 --> 00:09:57,120 Speaker 1: everyone uses when they talk about voltage is with plumbing. 167 00:09:57,679 --> 00:10:01,240 Speaker 1: Voltage is kind of like water press. Sure, a spark 168 00:10:01,280 --> 00:10:05,239 Speaker 1: plug is essentially a pair of electrodes that are separated 169 00:10:05,280 --> 00:10:08,800 Speaker 1: from one another with a little air gap in between them. Now, 170 00:10:08,920 --> 00:10:12,560 Speaker 1: the voltage in a spark plug is high enough, meaning 171 00:10:12,600 --> 00:10:16,920 Speaker 1: the electric potential between those two electrodes becomes great enough, 172 00:10:17,679 --> 00:10:21,880 Speaker 1: there will be a brief electric arc connecting those two electrodes. 173 00:10:22,000 --> 00:10:25,320 Speaker 1: That's the spark. So it's electricity that can travel a 174 00:10:25,360 --> 00:10:27,920 Speaker 1: short distance through the air. You know, the air is 175 00:10:27,960 --> 00:10:32,000 Speaker 1: not a really good conductor of electricity, which is honestly 176 00:10:32,040 --> 00:10:34,720 Speaker 1: a pretty good thing. At least the air down where 177 00:10:34,720 --> 00:10:37,160 Speaker 1: we live is not a good conductor of electricity. If 178 00:10:37,160 --> 00:10:39,560 Speaker 1: you go out to the ionosphere, it's a different story. 179 00:10:40,360 --> 00:10:42,320 Speaker 1: So you have to get the voltage high enough to 180 00:10:42,400 --> 00:10:45,560 Speaker 1: allow this to happen. But if it's not high enough, 181 00:10:45,559 --> 00:10:48,679 Speaker 1: then you don't get any spark. So your standard magneto 182 00:10:49,040 --> 00:10:52,160 Speaker 1: actually doesn't produce enough voltage to do this all on 183 00:10:52,200 --> 00:10:55,880 Speaker 1: its own. So to manage this, the ignition magneto first 184 00:10:56,080 --> 00:10:59,880 Speaker 1: uses two coils of copper wiring. The first coil, or 185 00:11:00,000 --> 00:11:04,320 Speaker 1: a primary coil, tends to be thicker copper wire wrapped 186 00:11:04,360 --> 00:11:07,160 Speaker 1: around an iron core a certain number of times or turns. 187 00:11:07,600 --> 00:11:10,360 Speaker 1: We call it turns of copper wire. So let's say 188 00:11:10,960 --> 00:11:13,680 Speaker 1: it has just for the sake of argument, it's got 189 00:11:13,760 --> 00:11:18,280 Speaker 1: ten turns, and the secondary coil is typically thinner copper 190 00:11:18,320 --> 00:11:21,400 Speaker 1: wire that's wound many many many more times than the 191 00:11:21,400 --> 00:11:24,040 Speaker 1: primary coil. So for the sake of this example, let's 192 00:11:24,040 --> 00:11:26,840 Speaker 1: say it's got a thousand turns. So you have ten 193 00:11:27,679 --> 00:11:30,440 Speaker 1: of the thicker copper wire and a thousand of the 194 00:11:30,480 --> 00:11:34,040 Speaker 1: thinner one. Now, if you know about transformers, not the 195 00:11:34,160 --> 00:11:37,679 Speaker 1: robots in disguise, but electrical transformers, this is all going 196 00:11:37,720 --> 00:11:40,920 Speaker 1: to start to sound really familiar, because if you induce 197 00:11:41,040 --> 00:11:44,600 Speaker 1: current to flow through one coil of a conductive wire 198 00:11:44,640 --> 00:11:48,760 Speaker 1: wrapped around an iron core, you also create a magnetic field. 199 00:11:48,920 --> 00:11:51,280 Speaker 1: This is an electro magnet. If you ever made one 200 00:11:51,280 --> 00:11:54,400 Speaker 1: of these in school, I remember wrapping a piece of 201 00:11:54,440 --> 00:11:59,240 Speaker 1: copper wire around uh an iron nail, for example, and 202 00:11:59,240 --> 00:12:01,760 Speaker 1: then connecting the copper wire to a battery and then 203 00:12:01,840 --> 00:12:04,440 Speaker 1: using the nail to pick up like iron filings and stuff. 204 00:12:05,000 --> 00:12:08,040 Speaker 1: That's your basic electro magnets. So, in other words, just 205 00:12:08,200 --> 00:12:12,040 Speaker 1: as a magnetic field induces current to flow through a conductor, 206 00:12:12,440 --> 00:12:15,880 Speaker 1: current flowing through a conductor produces a magnetic field. So 207 00:12:15,960 --> 00:12:19,440 Speaker 1: let's say you're using alternating current, being the direction of 208 00:12:19,480 --> 00:12:23,160 Speaker 1: the current changes many times a second through a coil 209 00:12:23,160 --> 00:12:26,319 Speaker 1: of copper wire wrapped around an iron core. The changing 210 00:12:26,360 --> 00:12:29,120 Speaker 1: direction of the current also means the polls of the 211 00:12:29,160 --> 00:12:32,240 Speaker 1: magnetic field are switching many times a second as well, 212 00:12:32,559 --> 00:12:36,600 Speaker 1: So you're creating a fluctuating magnetic field by using alternating 213 00:12:36,640 --> 00:12:39,000 Speaker 1: current through a coil of wire. If you were to 214 00:12:39,000 --> 00:12:43,200 Speaker 1: bring a second coil of copper wire within that fluctuating 215 00:12:43,240 --> 00:12:47,280 Speaker 1: magnetic field that was generated by current flowing through the 216 00:12:47,320 --> 00:12:53,000 Speaker 1: primary coil of copper wire, then that magnetic field will 217 00:12:53,040 --> 00:12:56,800 Speaker 1: induce electric current to flow through the secondary coil. There 218 00:12:56,840 --> 00:12:59,280 Speaker 1: doesn't need to be any connection between the two copper 219 00:12:59,320 --> 00:13:03,560 Speaker 1: wires in this case, so you've got electric current flowing 220 00:13:03,559 --> 00:13:07,680 Speaker 1: through primary coil or coil number one. You bring coil 221 00:13:07,760 --> 00:13:10,280 Speaker 1: number two close enough to be within the magnetic field 222 00:13:10,280 --> 00:13:12,960 Speaker 1: that's generated as a result, Now you're going to have 223 00:13:13,200 --> 00:13:16,280 Speaker 1: a current flowing through coil number two because of induction. 224 00:13:17,080 --> 00:13:20,839 Speaker 1: What's more, the ratio of the number of turns or 225 00:13:20,960 --> 00:13:25,360 Speaker 1: coils between the primary and the secondary coil determines the 226 00:13:25,440 --> 00:13:28,040 Speaker 1: change in voltage from one to the other. The thickness 227 00:13:28,040 --> 00:13:30,720 Speaker 1: of the conductor wire also matters, but we're just gonna 228 00:13:30,720 --> 00:13:34,640 Speaker 1: focus on turns for now. So if the secondary coil 229 00:13:34,880 --> 00:13:38,320 Speaker 1: has more turns than the primary coil, the voltage in 230 00:13:38,320 --> 00:13:41,719 Speaker 1: that secondary coil will be stepped up compared to the 231 00:13:41,760 --> 00:13:44,880 Speaker 1: primary coil, So you can increase the voltage this way. 232 00:13:44,920 --> 00:13:49,960 Speaker 1: That's what transformers do. They change the voltage of transmission 233 00:13:50,000 --> 00:13:53,199 Speaker 1: by using these different coils. But if the secondary coil 234 00:13:53,240 --> 00:13:57,640 Speaker 1: has fewer turns than the primary coil does, the voltage 235 00:13:57,640 --> 00:14:00,960 Speaker 1: gets stepped down. So trans rumors are why the world 236 00:14:01,000 --> 00:14:05,000 Speaker 1: adapted to alternating current for the purposes of transmitting electricity 237 00:14:05,040 --> 00:14:08,520 Speaker 1: great distances. You could use a transformer to boost the 238 00:14:08,559 --> 00:14:12,720 Speaker 1: voltage way up and thus push the electricity much further 239 00:14:12,800 --> 00:14:15,720 Speaker 1: out from the point of generation, and then once it 240 00:14:15,760 --> 00:14:17,480 Speaker 1: got to where it needed to be, you could step 241 00:14:17,640 --> 00:14:21,200 Speaker 1: down the voltage using another transformer and then feed that 242 00:14:21,240 --> 00:14:24,960 Speaker 1: electricity into homes. And businesses. But I'm getting off track 243 00:14:25,040 --> 00:14:27,920 Speaker 1: and I know it, and I'm sorry for our purposes. 244 00:14:28,760 --> 00:14:31,400 Speaker 1: This pairing of windings meant that there was a step 245 00:14:31,520 --> 00:14:35,000 Speaker 1: up effect going on with ignition magnetos. But there are 246 00:14:35,040 --> 00:14:37,640 Speaker 1: also a couple of other components at play, with a 247 00:14:37,680 --> 00:14:41,440 Speaker 1: control unit that consists of a breaker and a capacitor. 248 00:14:41,920 --> 00:14:45,000 Speaker 1: That's the job of this control unit to disrupt the 249 00:14:45,040 --> 00:14:48,520 Speaker 1: magnetic field and to channel the electric current from the 250 00:14:48,560 --> 00:14:51,800 Speaker 1: magneto to the spark plug. The capacitor is kind of 251 00:14:51,840 --> 00:14:55,080 Speaker 1: like a temporary storage for electric charge. It releases an 252 00:14:55,080 --> 00:14:59,040 Speaker 1: electric charge all at once, unlike a battery, which is 253 00:14:59,200 --> 00:15:03,200 Speaker 1: a constant, steady source of electric charge as long as 254 00:15:03,200 --> 00:15:06,600 Speaker 1: the battery still has you know, electrochemicals reactions going on 255 00:15:06,640 --> 00:15:09,880 Speaker 1: inside of it. Capacitors are used for all sorts of purposes, 256 00:15:09,920 --> 00:15:13,280 Speaker 1: like the flash bulb and a classic camera flash. Also, 257 00:15:13,320 --> 00:15:16,080 Speaker 1: I should mention that capacitors can hold onto electric charge 258 00:15:16,160 --> 00:15:19,400 Speaker 1: even if the device that they're part of isn't attached 259 00:15:19,400 --> 00:15:22,440 Speaker 1: to a battery or plugged in or whatever. That's why 260 00:15:22,760 --> 00:15:26,480 Speaker 1: you should never just bust up an old CRT television set. 261 00:15:26,880 --> 00:15:29,840 Speaker 1: You could get a serious shock because of capacitors in there. 262 00:15:29,960 --> 00:15:31,960 Speaker 1: Now to get the whole operation of spark plugs and 263 00:15:32,000 --> 00:15:35,600 Speaker 1: magnetos would really take a long time for me to 264 00:15:35,720 --> 00:15:38,600 Speaker 1: describe in detail. It's complicated by the fact that this 265 00:15:38,680 --> 00:15:41,640 Speaker 1: is obviously an audio podcast. I can't really illustrate what 266 00:15:41,680 --> 00:15:44,120 Speaker 1: I'm talking about. But the important thing to remember is 267 00:15:44,120 --> 00:15:47,920 Speaker 1: that with this system there wasn't necessarily a need for 268 00:15:47,960 --> 00:15:51,600 Speaker 1: a battery, although many early cars would also have batteries. 269 00:15:52,040 --> 00:15:54,960 Speaker 1: The magneto ignition is used in lots of stuff today, 270 00:15:55,000 --> 00:15:58,080 Speaker 1: including power and lawnmowers, so it's not like it's an 271 00:15:58,120 --> 00:16:02,800 Speaker 1: obsolete technology now. A rotor connected to the engine provided 272 00:16:02,840 --> 00:16:06,200 Speaker 1: the rotational force to operate the magneto, so turning a 273 00:16:06,280 --> 00:16:09,800 Speaker 1: crank wheel or a crank handle would mean the magneto 274 00:16:10,040 --> 00:16:12,680 Speaker 1: would spin as well as you know the piston going 275 00:16:12,720 --> 00:16:15,800 Speaker 1: up and down. So with enough voltage built up and 276 00:16:15,840 --> 00:16:19,880 Speaker 1: the engine primed, the spark plugs could spark and get 277 00:16:19,920 --> 00:16:24,520 Speaker 1: things going. Later vehicles replaced the crank wheel with a 278 00:16:24,560 --> 00:16:28,000 Speaker 1: hand crank that one would insert into the vehicle, typically 279 00:16:28,000 --> 00:16:30,600 Speaker 1: near the front of the automobile. It engaged with the 280 00:16:30,600 --> 00:16:34,240 Speaker 1: crankshaft and served the same purpose as the older crank wheels. 281 00:16:34,280 --> 00:16:38,000 Speaker 1: Both types of manual starters had major drawbacks. For one, 282 00:16:38,160 --> 00:16:41,200 Speaker 1: they required a good deal work and could be pretty 283 00:16:41,240 --> 00:16:45,120 Speaker 1: exhausting for those who weren't, you know, all musk lely 284 00:16:45,240 --> 00:16:48,520 Speaker 1: and stuff. If you've ever tried to start a stubborn 285 00:16:48,680 --> 00:16:51,960 Speaker 1: poll start lawnmower, you kind of know the feeling of 286 00:16:52,000 --> 00:16:54,880 Speaker 1: trying to get one of those to turn over and engage. 287 00:16:55,280 --> 00:16:59,520 Speaker 1: For another, Sometimes engines kick back, and that kind of 288 00:16:59,520 --> 00:17:02,160 Speaker 1: means that the rank shaft immediately turns in the opposite 289 00:17:02,160 --> 00:17:05,800 Speaker 1: direction with a very sudden and powerful motion. This could 290 00:17:05,800 --> 00:17:08,440 Speaker 1: happen if the fuel mixture in the cylinder ignited before 291 00:17:08,440 --> 00:17:11,080 Speaker 1: the piston had reached the top of its stroke, which 292 00:17:11,119 --> 00:17:14,439 Speaker 1: is a classic backfire situation. The piston goes down and 293 00:17:14,480 --> 00:17:18,760 Speaker 1: reverses the rotational direction of the crank shaft. It's like 294 00:17:19,160 --> 00:17:22,480 Speaker 1: it suddenly got thrown into reverse. And that would mean 295 00:17:22,920 --> 00:17:26,160 Speaker 1: that suddenly that very heavy hand crank that someone had 296 00:17:26,200 --> 00:17:30,840 Speaker 1: been turning a particular direction changes direction and could potentially 297 00:17:30,880 --> 00:17:33,800 Speaker 1: injure the person doing the cranking, like you could break 298 00:17:33,800 --> 00:17:37,960 Speaker 1: a risk that way. Another drawback was that until engineers 299 00:17:38,000 --> 00:17:40,960 Speaker 1: started building in systems that would disconnect the crank from 300 00:17:41,000 --> 00:17:44,719 Speaker 1: the crank shaft upon ignition, started engine might start spinning 301 00:17:44,720 --> 00:17:48,240 Speaker 1: that hand crank pretty darn quickly once things got going. 302 00:17:48,880 --> 00:17:52,120 Speaker 1: Engineers did develop safety systems to disengage the handle from 303 00:17:52,160 --> 00:17:55,159 Speaker 1: the crank shaft upon starting an engine. But the development 304 00:17:55,160 --> 00:17:58,640 Speaker 1: of an electric starter, where all this work shifted over 305 00:17:58,680 --> 00:18:02,240 Speaker 1: to an electric mode her made the hand crank stuff 306 00:18:02,480 --> 00:18:05,320 Speaker 1: moot over time, but did take a while. A lot 307 00:18:05,320 --> 00:18:08,320 Speaker 1: of early cars actually had both an electric starter and 308 00:18:08,440 --> 00:18:11,240 Speaker 1: a backup hand crank system in case the electric starter 309 00:18:11,520 --> 00:18:14,560 Speaker 1: wasn't working. Also, I should mention that while GM began 310 00:18:14,640 --> 00:18:18,680 Speaker 1: introducing cars with electric starters in nineteen twelve, the invention 311 00:18:18,720 --> 00:18:22,440 Speaker 1: of the electric starter predated GM's use of it. Still, 312 00:18:22,640 --> 00:18:25,560 Speaker 1: the design GM created would lead to a second Dwar 313 00:18:25,720 --> 00:18:29,040 Speaker 1: trophy for pushing the automotive industry forward. If you listen 314 00:18:29,080 --> 00:18:31,960 Speaker 1: to my first episode, you know the company had previously 315 00:18:32,040 --> 00:18:36,280 Speaker 1: earned one for having interchangeable parts. Now, that's a lot 316 00:18:36,280 --> 00:18:39,520 Speaker 1: about starters, and we've only just begun. When we come back, 317 00:18:39,560 --> 00:18:41,800 Speaker 1: we'll talk a bit more about what happened as William 318 00:18:41,840 --> 00:18:45,440 Speaker 1: Durant made his return to General Motors. But first let's 319 00:18:45,480 --> 00:18:56,080 Speaker 1: take a quick break. All right, we're back, So, as 320 00:18:56,080 --> 00:18:59,920 Speaker 1: I mentioned in the previous GM episode, William Durant's investor 321 00:19:00,240 --> 00:19:03,320 Speaker 1: didn't like how Durant was spending truckloads of cash buying 322 00:19:03,400 --> 00:19:06,439 Speaker 1: up various car companies to become part of GM, and 323 00:19:06,520 --> 00:19:09,919 Speaker 1: thus amassing a huge amount of debt in the process. 324 00:19:10,320 --> 00:19:13,960 Speaker 1: Depending on the source. GMS holding company ended up bringing 325 00:19:14,000 --> 00:19:17,400 Speaker 1: in between twenty and thirty companies in just those first 326 00:19:17,440 --> 00:19:21,080 Speaker 1: two years. But buying stuff costs money, and Durant was 327 00:19:21,119 --> 00:19:23,840 Speaker 1: spending cash he didn't actually have then, not for the 328 00:19:23,880 --> 00:19:27,080 Speaker 1: first time. His pre automobile carriage business kind of started 329 00:19:27,119 --> 00:19:30,800 Speaker 1: out the same way, so he had a method, is 330 00:19:30,840 --> 00:19:33,840 Speaker 1: what I'm saying. The company had accrued somewhere around a 331 00:19:33,880 --> 00:19:36,479 Speaker 1: million dollars of debt in nineteen ten, which would be 332 00:19:36,480 --> 00:19:39,359 Speaker 1: closer to about twenty eight million dollars of debt in 333 00:19:39,400 --> 00:19:43,040 Speaker 1: today's money once we had just for inflation. So he 334 00:19:43,080 --> 00:19:45,919 Speaker 1: gets the boot. The banks essentially take over GM for 335 00:19:45,920 --> 00:19:48,480 Speaker 1: the time being. And I talked about last time about 336 00:19:48,480 --> 00:19:51,720 Speaker 1: how Durant co founded the Chevrolet car company. He used 337 00:19:51,720 --> 00:19:53,879 Speaker 1: that wealth that he built up to buy shares of 338 00:19:53,920 --> 00:19:57,440 Speaker 1: General Motors, and he essentially bought his way back into 339 00:19:57,440 --> 00:20:01,000 Speaker 1: the company around nineteen fifteen or nineteen six exteen. Now 340 00:20:01,000 --> 00:20:03,600 Speaker 1: I get wishy washy with the dates, because different sources 341 00:20:03,600 --> 00:20:06,399 Speaker 1: have slightly different accounts of this, and I have no 342 00:20:06,480 --> 00:20:09,800 Speaker 1: magical way of deciding which one is the most accurate, 343 00:20:09,880 --> 00:20:13,399 Speaker 1: so I like to give ranges. In that case, the 344 00:20:13,440 --> 00:20:17,760 Speaker 1: company reorganized and reincorporated. It became General Motors Corporation. At 345 00:20:17,800 --> 00:20:21,919 Speaker 1: that point. Durant oversaw the acquisition of Chevrolet into General 346 00:20:21,920 --> 00:20:24,919 Speaker 1: Motors a couple of years later, and sure enough it 347 00:20:25,080 --> 00:20:29,359 Speaker 1: was right back into acquisitions for Durant, which meant accruing 348 00:20:29,640 --> 00:20:34,160 Speaker 1: more debt again. See William C. Durant was a man 349 00:20:34,240 --> 00:20:37,000 Speaker 1: who could really learn from his mistakes because he could 350 00:20:37,000 --> 00:20:41,440 Speaker 1: repeat them almost exactly. I stole that joke, by the way, 351 00:20:41,560 --> 00:20:46,000 Speaker 1: from Peter Cook. In nineteen seventeen, the United States entered 352 00:20:46,080 --> 00:20:49,400 Speaker 1: World War One. Of course, back then people didn't call 353 00:20:49,440 --> 00:20:51,400 Speaker 1: it World War One. They called it the Great War, 354 00:20:51,480 --> 00:20:54,120 Speaker 1: because to name something part one before there's a part 355 00:20:54,119 --> 00:20:58,680 Speaker 1: two is a bit fatalistic, though accurate. In this case, GM, 356 00:20:58,720 --> 00:21:02,080 Speaker 1: like many companies in the States, began to produce material 357 00:21:02,359 --> 00:21:05,760 Speaker 1: for war efforts, so they were supporting the war effort 358 00:21:05,800 --> 00:21:09,080 Speaker 1: for the United States. Now, according to the Encyclopedia of Detroit, 359 00:21:09,480 --> 00:21:13,560 Speaker 1: around of all of GM's truck production was dedicated to 360 00:21:13,560 --> 00:21:18,800 Speaker 1: wartime production. Despite this guaranteed revenue, things weren't going so 361 00:21:18,920 --> 00:21:22,640 Speaker 1: great over at General Motors. Durant, as I had mentioned, 362 00:21:22,640 --> 00:21:25,199 Speaker 1: received support from the DuPont family and his efforts to 363 00:21:25,200 --> 00:21:28,600 Speaker 1: regain control of General Motors. The DuPonts made their fortune 364 00:21:28,640 --> 00:21:32,920 Speaker 1: a century earlier in the gunpowder business, which was really booming, 365 00:21:33,040 --> 00:21:36,920 Speaker 1: had explosive growth thanks to the Civil War. Yeah, those 366 00:21:37,119 --> 00:21:42,760 Speaker 1: those were gunpowder punts. But by nine this support from 367 00:21:42,800 --> 00:21:45,720 Speaker 1: the DuPonts had waned, and I assumed they had come 368 00:21:45,760 --> 00:21:49,600 Speaker 1: to the same conclusion as Durant's previous investors, that Durant 369 00:21:49,640 --> 00:21:54,560 Speaker 1: was overreaching his capabilities and the capabilities of the company 370 00:21:54,840 --> 00:21:58,600 Speaker 1: with these various acquisitions, and that maybe he was not 371 00:21:58,720 --> 00:22:03,520 Speaker 1: the responsible type that should oversee the operations of a company. 372 00:22:03,600 --> 00:22:06,919 Speaker 1: And so in nineteen twenty Durant was kicked out of 373 00:22:06,960 --> 00:22:12,000 Speaker 1: General Motors again. So the guy who founded the company 374 00:22:12,200 --> 00:22:15,840 Speaker 1: got removed from it twice. Now we'll stick with Durant 375 00:22:15,880 --> 00:22:18,600 Speaker 1: just a bit longer. His story is an interesting one. 376 00:22:19,000 --> 00:22:21,840 Speaker 1: He went on to found a new company. Some sources 377 00:22:21,880 --> 00:22:23,919 Speaker 1: say he did it the day after he got the 378 00:22:23,920 --> 00:22:26,800 Speaker 1: boot from GM, but others give a little bit more 379 00:22:26,880 --> 00:22:30,400 Speaker 1: time between his getting sacked and him picking himself back 380 00:22:30,480 --> 00:22:34,760 Speaker 1: up again. The new company was called Durant Motors. While 381 00:22:34,840 --> 00:22:37,520 Speaker 1: he was able to clause way back with the success 382 00:22:37,520 --> 00:22:40,879 Speaker 1: of Chevrolet earlier, the same could not be said of 383 00:22:40,960 --> 00:22:45,080 Speaker 1: Durant Motors. He had some initial interest because he had 384 00:22:45,119 --> 00:22:48,040 Speaker 1: really built a name for himself in the automotive industry. 385 00:22:48,080 --> 00:22:51,480 Speaker 1: But while Durant Motors produced several cars, I don't think 386 00:22:51,520 --> 00:22:54,800 Speaker 1: you would call any of them a household name today. 387 00:22:55,040 --> 00:22:58,120 Speaker 1: There was the Flint, the Star, which was also known 388 00:22:58,160 --> 00:23:01,119 Speaker 1: as the Rugby, and the Durant, as well as a 389 00:23:01,160 --> 00:23:05,080 Speaker 1: couple of others that Durant's engineers kind of design but 390 00:23:05,240 --> 00:23:08,840 Speaker 1: never actually put into production. The company did manufacture cars, 391 00:23:08,880 --> 00:23:12,120 Speaker 1: it wasn't just a company on paper, and there are 392 00:23:12,119 --> 00:23:15,560 Speaker 1: collectors out there who owned some of these very rare vehicles. 393 00:23:15,560 --> 00:23:18,320 Speaker 1: But it wasn't to last. The market at this point 394 00:23:18,440 --> 00:23:22,320 Speaker 1: was already too competitive, anchored by Ford, and of course 395 00:23:22,440 --> 00:23:28,680 Speaker 1: Durant's old company, General Motors by n Durant Motors was insolvent. 396 00:23:29,440 --> 00:23:34,240 Speaker 1: Durant himself was pretty much bankrupt by that time because 397 00:23:34,280 --> 00:23:36,679 Speaker 1: he lost all of his fortune in the fallout of 398 00:23:36,720 --> 00:23:40,000 Speaker 1: the stock market crash in nineteen nine, one of the 399 00:23:40,040 --> 00:23:43,520 Speaker 1: events that precipitated the Great Depression. The story goes that 400 00:23:43,640 --> 00:23:46,359 Speaker 1: after the stock market crashed, he poured even more money 401 00:23:46,400 --> 00:23:48,920 Speaker 1: into the stock market in an effort to try and 402 00:23:49,480 --> 00:23:54,320 Speaker 1: bolster Americans confidence in the stock market, but such a 403 00:23:54,359 --> 00:23:58,840 Speaker 1: move proved to be unwise. He declared bankruptcy in nineteen 404 00:23:58,880 --> 00:24:01,639 Speaker 1: thirty six. New York Times said that his fortune was 405 00:24:01,760 --> 00:24:05,760 Speaker 1: estimated at one twenty million dollars at its height before 406 00:24:05,760 --> 00:24:08,280 Speaker 1: the crash. That would be close to two billion dollars 407 00:24:08,280 --> 00:24:11,400 Speaker 1: in today's money, and he was left with around two 408 00:24:11,600 --> 00:24:16,960 Speaker 1: d and fifty dollars afterward. Yikes. Durant's former colleagues at 409 00:24:17,000 --> 00:24:20,920 Speaker 1: General Motors, including his replacement, Alfred P. Sloan, whom will 410 00:24:20,960 --> 00:24:24,280 Speaker 1: talk about a lot later in this episode, arranged for 411 00:24:24,400 --> 00:24:28,160 Speaker 1: Durant to receive a pension from General Motors, which helped 412 00:24:28,200 --> 00:24:31,840 Speaker 1: support him and his wife. In nineteen forty, Durant opened 413 00:24:31,920 --> 00:24:34,879 Speaker 1: up a bowling alley in Flint in Michigan. He envisioned 414 00:24:34,920 --> 00:24:37,840 Speaker 1: a world in which people would be enjoying prosperity and 415 00:24:37,920 --> 00:24:41,680 Speaker 1: looking for diversions, and he was right. It would take 416 00:24:41,720 --> 00:24:44,000 Speaker 1: a few more years after World War Two was over, 417 00:24:44,080 --> 00:24:47,520 Speaker 1: but the nineteen fifties and sixties proved him right, but 418 00:24:47,600 --> 00:24:50,399 Speaker 1: just a few years after he opened the Bowling Alley, 419 00:24:50,480 --> 00:24:53,800 Speaker 1: he had a debilitating stroke that left him partially paralyzed 420 00:24:53,840 --> 00:24:56,720 Speaker 1: and his health declined. He passed away in nineteen forty 421 00:24:56,800 --> 00:24:59,760 Speaker 1: seven at the age of eighty five. But let's get 422 00:24:59,800 --> 00:25:02,199 Speaker 1: back to General Motors. I figured we can finish up 423 00:25:02,200 --> 00:25:04,280 Speaker 1: the section of the episode with the major things that 424 00:25:04,280 --> 00:25:06,680 Speaker 1: happened to GM once it settled down after Durance Era 425 00:25:07,400 --> 00:25:10,640 Speaker 1: I mentioned Alfred P. Sloan became Durant's replacement, so it's 426 00:25:10,640 --> 00:25:15,600 Speaker 1: a good time to learn more about him a let's 427 00:25:15,600 --> 00:25:20,720 Speaker 1: be generous. A complicated figure in General Motors history, as 428 00:25:20,760 --> 00:25:24,159 Speaker 1: will become clear in this episode. Sloan was born in 429 00:25:24,320 --> 00:25:27,399 Speaker 1: eighteen seventy five. He was the son of a businessman 430 00:25:27,400 --> 00:25:30,919 Speaker 1: who imported coffee and tea to the United States. He 431 00:25:30,960 --> 00:25:33,840 Speaker 1: grew up in Brooklyn, New York. He attended m I 432 00:25:33,960 --> 00:25:37,320 Speaker 1: T and he earned a degree in electrical engineering. He 433 00:25:37,400 --> 00:25:41,320 Speaker 1: ran his first company, called Hyatt Roller Bearing Company, when 434 00:25:41,400 --> 00:25:43,520 Speaker 1: he was twenty six years old, so not that long 435 00:25:43,560 --> 00:25:46,960 Speaker 1: after graduating. It did help that his father had purchased 436 00:25:47,000 --> 00:25:51,359 Speaker 1: a major stake in Hyatt Roller Bearing company. The automotive 437 00:25:51,359 --> 00:25:53,840 Speaker 1: industry was a really big source of revenue for hyatt 438 00:25:53,880 --> 00:25:57,879 Speaker 1: roller bearing cars need bearings. After all, Oldsmobile was a 439 00:25:57,880 --> 00:26:02,040 Speaker 1: big early customer, and during one of Durant's acquisition runs 440 00:26:02,080 --> 00:26:05,399 Speaker 1: when he was head of General Motors, GM would actually 441 00:26:05,400 --> 00:26:08,679 Speaker 1: scoop up the hyatt roller bearing companies. Not all the 442 00:26:08,680 --> 00:26:11,840 Speaker 1: companies that GM bought were car companies, some of them 443 00:26:11,960 --> 00:26:16,120 Speaker 1: were manufacturing parts that cars used. Durant wanted to kind 444 00:26:16,119 --> 00:26:20,639 Speaker 1: of holistic approach to owning all the different parts to 445 00:26:20,960 --> 00:26:24,080 Speaker 1: have it be, you know, one big company, and that 446 00:26:24,200 --> 00:26:27,960 Speaker 1: is how Sloan transitioned over to working for General Motors. 447 00:26:28,440 --> 00:26:31,520 Speaker 1: In nineteen eighteen, Sloan became part of the executive committee. 448 00:26:31,760 --> 00:26:35,280 Speaker 1: He was a vice president at General Motors by nineteen twenty, 449 00:26:35,359 --> 00:26:38,439 Speaker 1: and when Durant was shown the door, Sloan would end 450 00:26:38,520 --> 00:26:41,439 Speaker 1: up becoming the operating vice president for the entire company, 451 00:26:41,640 --> 00:26:44,640 Speaker 1: and by n three he was the president and CEO 452 00:26:44,920 --> 00:26:48,520 Speaker 1: of General Motors. Now Durant had spent most of his 453 00:26:48,600 --> 00:26:52,040 Speaker 1: time acquiring companies to be part of General Motors, the 454 00:26:52,119 --> 00:26:55,800 Speaker 1: early era of Sloan's leadership focused on shaping these various 455 00:26:55,840 --> 00:27:05,040 Speaker 1: pieces into an organized business. He made five distinct automobile divisions, Cadillac, Buick, Oakland, Oldsmobile, 456 00:27:05,200 --> 00:27:08,640 Speaker 1: and Chevrolet. Now, the idea was that each division would 457 00:27:08,680 --> 00:27:12,320 Speaker 1: cater to a different subsection of the automotive market, with 458 00:27:12,520 --> 00:27:17,600 Speaker 1: various car lines offering a variety of features and price points. 459 00:27:17,600 --> 00:27:21,200 Speaker 1: So the goal was to target every potential car customer, 460 00:27:21,640 --> 00:27:25,320 Speaker 1: from those who had more modest means to purchase a vehicle, 461 00:27:25,800 --> 00:27:27,719 Speaker 1: all the way up to the upper crust who are 462 00:27:27,760 --> 00:27:32,520 Speaker 1: interested in a luxurious car experience. So from the least 463 00:27:32,640 --> 00:27:36,919 Speaker 1: to the most expensive those car brands would go Chevrolet 464 00:27:37,119 --> 00:27:42,280 Speaker 1: at the bottom end, Oakland, Oldsmobile, Buick, and then Cadillac, 465 00:27:42,600 --> 00:27:45,720 Speaker 1: so the Caddy was the most luxurious of the bunch, 466 00:27:46,240 --> 00:27:49,000 Speaker 1: and Sloan granted each division a lot of autonomy to 467 00:27:49,119 --> 00:27:52,200 Speaker 1: produce and sell cars in a way that made competitive sense. 468 00:27:52,840 --> 00:27:56,000 Speaker 1: So it was in some ways a decentralized approach to 469 00:27:56,040 --> 00:27:59,800 Speaker 1: production and marketing, which helped GM get a firmer foothold 470 00:28:00,000 --> 00:28:02,760 Speaker 1: in the market in general, But it also meant that 471 00:28:02,840 --> 00:28:05,520 Speaker 1: the car lines began to drift apart from each other 472 00:28:05,600 --> 00:28:09,639 Speaker 1: over time. There were bigger price gaps between say, the 473 00:28:09,800 --> 00:28:13,320 Speaker 1: entry model Chevrolets and then the Oakland line, like there 474 00:28:13,359 --> 00:28:16,679 Speaker 1: was a bigger jump between Chevrolet and Oakland than was intended, 475 00:28:17,320 --> 00:28:21,800 Speaker 1: and uh that gap represented lost customers. So GM then 476 00:28:21,840 --> 00:28:26,040 Speaker 1: introduced some new car brands or car lines to occupy 477 00:28:26,119 --> 00:28:30,879 Speaker 1: the gaps. These were called companion makes. So one of 478 00:28:30,920 --> 00:28:35,280 Speaker 1: these was the make Pontiac. This occupied a price point 479 00:28:35,320 --> 00:28:39,520 Speaker 1: between Chevrolet and Oakland. It was technically a companion to 480 00:28:39,640 --> 00:28:44,240 Speaker 1: the Oakland brand. The companion to Oldsmobile was called Viking, 481 00:28:44,840 --> 00:28:50,760 Speaker 1: Buick's companion was the Marquette, and Cadillac got the LaSalle line. Now, 482 00:28:50,800 --> 00:28:53,520 Speaker 1: out of all of those, the Pontiac line was the 483 00:28:53,600 --> 00:28:58,440 Speaker 1: only companion make that lasted beyond the nineteen forties. It 484 00:28:58,520 --> 00:29:01,880 Speaker 1: was distinct from all the other lines of cars. All 485 00:29:01,920 --> 00:29:06,640 Speaker 1: the rest got phased out, and Pontiac actually was selling 486 00:29:06,720 --> 00:29:11,520 Speaker 1: better than Oakland's the other companion like the the original 487 00:29:11,720 --> 00:29:16,600 Speaker 1: line of cars, so GM eventually decided that Pontiac would 488 00:29:16,600 --> 00:29:21,120 Speaker 1: replace the Oakland line of vehicles. So then your five 489 00:29:21,400 --> 00:29:26,360 Speaker 1: major brands under General Motors where Chevrolet, Pontiac, Oldsmobile, Buick, 490 00:29:26,520 --> 00:29:31,360 Speaker 1: and Cadillac. But let's backtrack just to touch Sloan's reorganization 491 00:29:31,400 --> 00:29:34,920 Speaker 1: efforts paid off big time. General Motors itself had some 492 00:29:35,000 --> 00:29:38,080 Speaker 1: guiding principles that applied to all five of the main 493 00:29:38,160 --> 00:29:42,200 Speaker 1: automotive divisions, and there was a substantial corporate office at 494 00:29:42,280 --> 00:29:45,680 Speaker 1: GM that oversaw the whole thing, but each branch still 495 00:29:45,720 --> 00:29:48,880 Speaker 1: had a decent amount of autonomy to respond nimbly to 496 00:29:48,960 --> 00:29:52,719 Speaker 1: changes in the market. Sloan also did not shy away 497 00:29:52,760 --> 00:29:56,400 Speaker 1: from acquisitions entirely either, though he didn't show the same 498 00:29:56,400 --> 00:30:00,400 Speaker 1: sort of relentless pursuit as Durant did. Sloan was head 499 00:30:00,400 --> 00:30:03,280 Speaker 1: of GM when the company acquired an English company called 500 00:30:03,400 --> 00:30:07,479 Speaker 1: Vauxhall in nineteen twenty five. That's spelled v a u 501 00:30:07,880 --> 00:30:11,880 Speaker 1: x h a l L. Originally I thought it was 502 00:30:11,880 --> 00:30:13,960 Speaker 1: gonna be vox Hall, but then I remembered, hey, wait, 503 00:30:14,000 --> 00:30:17,360 Speaker 1: we're talking English here. It's gotta be Vauxhall, And sure enough, 504 00:30:17,400 --> 00:30:19,920 Speaker 1: that's what it is. Out of all the companies that 505 00:30:19,960 --> 00:30:23,240 Speaker 1: were part of GM at that time, Vauxhall had the 506 00:30:23,320 --> 00:30:27,120 Speaker 1: longest history. It was older than any other part of 507 00:30:27,200 --> 00:30:30,320 Speaker 1: General Motors. It started out as a steam engine and 508 00:30:30,400 --> 00:30:34,760 Speaker 1: pump company founded by a guy named Alexander Wilson way 509 00:30:34,840 --> 00:30:38,760 Speaker 1: back in eighteen fifty seven. Their main business at the 510 00:30:38,760 --> 00:30:43,040 Speaker 1: time had been in producing engines for small boats and pumps. 511 00:30:43,760 --> 00:30:46,160 Speaker 1: Wilson found that it was hard to make a real 512 00:30:46,240 --> 00:30:49,320 Speaker 1: profit in this business, and his company, then called the 513 00:30:49,400 --> 00:30:54,200 Speaker 1: Alexander Wilson and Company, went bankrupt in eighteen ninety five. 514 00:30:54,520 --> 00:30:57,920 Speaker 1: Wilson had actually left the company the previous year, but 515 00:30:58,160 --> 00:31:02,120 Speaker 1: the business emerged from bankrupts. It was restructured into Vauxhall 516 00:31:02,240 --> 00:31:06,160 Speaker 1: iron Works Company, and the new leader, Fred Hodges, was 517 00:31:06,200 --> 00:31:10,160 Speaker 1: an automobile enthusiast, and he began to move the company 518 00:31:10,200 --> 00:31:13,160 Speaker 1: away from producing steam engines, which was what they had 519 00:31:13,200 --> 00:31:18,840 Speaker 1: been doing, and toward producing internal combustion engines, and eventually 520 00:31:19,120 --> 00:31:22,120 Speaker 1: he led the company to making its first automobiles in 521 00:31:22,160 --> 00:31:25,760 Speaker 1: the early twentieth century. In nineteen o seven, the company 522 00:31:25,840 --> 00:31:30,400 Speaker 1: changed names again and officially became Vauxhall Motors. At first, 523 00:31:30,560 --> 00:31:34,600 Speaker 1: Vauxhall mostly made luxury cars that only the wealthy among 524 00:31:35,000 --> 00:31:38,720 Speaker 1: the UK could could afford, and after World War One 525 00:31:39,000 --> 00:31:43,040 Speaker 1: the UK economy was in a pretty sad state. Vauxhall 526 00:31:43,280 --> 00:31:46,840 Speaker 1: consequently found itself in a tough financial situation and when 527 00:31:46,880 --> 00:31:49,640 Speaker 1: GM came along in nineteen twenty five with an offer 528 00:31:50,080 --> 00:31:54,400 Speaker 1: Vauxhall couldn't really refuse. In return, GM got a stronger 529 00:31:54,440 --> 00:31:57,280 Speaker 1: presence in the UK, where the Ford motor company had 530 00:31:57,320 --> 00:32:01,200 Speaker 1: been establishing a presence for around a deck eight. Vauxhall 531 00:32:01,320 --> 00:32:05,840 Speaker 1: changed strategies and began making economy priced cars priced at 532 00:32:05,920 --> 00:32:10,280 Speaker 1: levels that made the Vauxell brand more than competitive against Ford. 533 00:32:10,520 --> 00:32:14,040 Speaker 1: The story of Vauxhall itself is really darn interesting all 534 00:32:14,040 --> 00:32:16,400 Speaker 1: in its own right, but I'll have to save that 535 00:32:16,480 --> 00:32:19,800 Speaker 1: for another episode. Instead, I'm going to do the almost 536 00:32:19,960 --> 00:32:23,640 Speaker 1: criminal thing by jumping ahead and saying that Vauxhall and 537 00:32:23,680 --> 00:32:25,840 Speaker 1: another car company that I'm going to talk about after 538 00:32:25,880 --> 00:32:29,240 Speaker 1: the break called Opal would be part of General Motors 539 00:32:29,320 --> 00:32:32,960 Speaker 1: until twenty seventeen, at which point GM sold the divisions 540 00:32:33,000 --> 00:32:36,600 Speaker 1: off to another company called p S, a group formerly 541 00:32:36,640 --> 00:32:40,920 Speaker 1: known as Peugeot Citron. But for decades Vauxhall would be 542 00:32:41,080 --> 00:32:44,640 Speaker 1: part of GM's European division. The UK company would have 543 00:32:44,840 --> 00:32:47,920 Speaker 1: many of its own ups and downs, including a really 544 00:32:47,960 --> 00:32:52,880 Speaker 1: long period in which Vauxell wasn't really manufacturing passenger cars 545 00:32:52,880 --> 00:32:55,640 Speaker 1: at all. Rather, they were importing cars that have been 546 00:32:55,640 --> 00:32:59,920 Speaker 1: manufactured in other countries like Germany or Australia and then 547 00:33:00,000 --> 00:33:03,760 Speaker 1: effectively slapping a Vauxhall badge on them to make them 548 00:33:03,840 --> 00:33:06,840 Speaker 1: Vauxhall vehicles. But as I said, that's a story that 549 00:33:06,920 --> 00:33:09,960 Speaker 1: should have its own podcast. Now, when we come back, 550 00:33:10,000 --> 00:33:13,400 Speaker 1: i'll talk about the other European company that joined GM 551 00:33:13,440 --> 00:33:17,520 Speaker 1: and a big milestone for General Motors, as well as 552 00:33:17,520 --> 00:33:21,000 Speaker 1: some pretty major controversies. But before I get to that, 553 00:33:21,120 --> 00:33:33,240 Speaker 1: let's take a quick break. By all standards, ninety nine 554 00:33:33,280 --> 00:33:35,960 Speaker 1: was a big year. That was the year that the 555 00:33:36,000 --> 00:33:39,840 Speaker 1: stock market crashed and many companies around the world would 556 00:33:39,880 --> 00:33:43,920 Speaker 1: not survive the turmoil that followed. General Motors was in 557 00:33:44,000 --> 00:33:46,960 Speaker 1: better shape than a lot of other companies, though some 558 00:33:47,160 --> 00:33:51,360 Speaker 1: divisions within GM were struggling more than others. Vauxhall, for example, 559 00:33:51,560 --> 00:33:54,120 Speaker 1: might have gone under entirely if it had not been 560 00:33:54,160 --> 00:33:56,440 Speaker 1: for the fact that GM had acquired the company just 561 00:33:56,480 --> 00:34:00,760 Speaker 1: a few years earlier. But was also when two other 562 00:34:00,800 --> 00:34:04,080 Speaker 1: big things happened for GM. One was that for the 563 00:34:04,160 --> 00:34:07,800 Speaker 1: first time, General Motors took over the number one American 564 00:34:07,920 --> 00:34:12,719 Speaker 1: auto manufacturer spot from the Ford Motor Company and then 565 00:34:12,719 --> 00:34:16,400 Speaker 1: would hold onto it for decades. But let's illustrate the 566 00:34:16,400 --> 00:34:20,279 Speaker 1: difference between Ford and GM. At the time, GM was 567 00:34:20,320 --> 00:34:23,760 Speaker 1: a company that owned and operated five different major makes, 568 00:34:23,960 --> 00:34:26,319 Speaker 1: and each vehicle was aimed at different slices of the 569 00:34:26,360 --> 00:34:30,400 Speaker 1: overall market. Forward, by contrast, was making the model T 570 00:34:30,920 --> 00:34:35,479 Speaker 1: from nineteen o eight until nineteen twenty seven. Ford also 571 00:34:35,600 --> 00:34:39,200 Speaker 1: made trucks starting in nineteen seventeen, and it had also 572 00:34:39,200 --> 00:34:42,480 Speaker 1: acquired the Lincoln car brand in nineteen twenty two, which 573 00:34:42,520 --> 00:34:45,600 Speaker 1: was purchased from Henry Leland, who if you listen to 574 00:34:45,640 --> 00:34:48,760 Speaker 1: the last episode, you know had previously worked with GM, 575 00:34:48,800 --> 00:34:51,759 Speaker 1: but under the Ford brand. If it was a passenger 576 00:34:51,840 --> 00:34:54,879 Speaker 1: car from Ford, it was a Model T at least 577 00:34:54,960 --> 00:34:58,840 Speaker 1: until nineteen seven, that's when the company introduced the Model A. 578 00:34:59,600 --> 00:35:03,440 Speaker 1: The company actually shut down all the manufacturing facilities of 579 00:35:03,560 --> 00:35:07,839 Speaker 1: Ford for six months to retool the manufacturing process in 580 00:35:07,960 --> 00:35:11,440 Speaker 1: order to start churning out model as instead of Model TS. 581 00:35:11,440 --> 00:35:14,520 Speaker 1: So Ford was focused on mass production of a single 582 00:35:14,600 --> 00:35:18,600 Speaker 1: model of car to appeal to a broad market, whereas 583 00:35:18,680 --> 00:35:22,760 Speaker 1: GM was taking a more segmented approach to the market. Anyway, 584 00:35:22,760 --> 00:35:27,520 Speaker 1: in ninety nine, GM surpassed the Ford Motor Company, And 585 00:35:27,560 --> 00:35:30,719 Speaker 1: the other big thing that happened in nineteen nine was 586 00:35:30,800 --> 00:35:34,880 Speaker 1: that GM acquired a German automotive company called Opal o 587 00:35:35,160 --> 00:35:39,600 Speaker 1: pe L. Opal and Vauxhall would become almost like sister 588 00:35:39,760 --> 00:35:42,960 Speaker 1: companies over time, and the Opal story is also a 589 00:35:43,000 --> 00:35:46,880 Speaker 1: really interesting one. Maybe maybe I'll make a podcast about Vauxhall, 590 00:35:47,280 --> 00:35:50,360 Speaker 1: and I'll pair it with OPAL in the future because 591 00:35:50,360 --> 00:35:54,920 Speaker 1: those two companies have a very intertwined history together. But 592 00:35:55,040 --> 00:35:57,960 Speaker 1: one major departure for OPAL comes to us courtesy of 593 00:35:58,000 --> 00:36:01,719 Speaker 1: a conflict called World War Two. I'll cover that more 594 00:36:01,760 --> 00:36:05,040 Speaker 1: extensively in just a bit, because, as it turns out, 595 00:36:05,160 --> 00:36:09,520 Speaker 1: that story and GM's part in it, is really complicated. 596 00:36:10,000 --> 00:36:12,759 Speaker 1: But after the devastation of World War Two, I mean, 597 00:36:12,760 --> 00:36:18,680 Speaker 1: opal's manufacturing facilities were pretty much wiped out through the 598 00:36:19,080 --> 00:36:23,960 Speaker 1: bombing of Germany, and then subsequently some of those manufacturing 599 00:36:24,000 --> 00:36:27,600 Speaker 1: facilities were located in regions that became East Germany and 600 00:36:27,680 --> 00:36:33,320 Speaker 1: thus outside the administration of General Motors. But GM would 601 00:36:33,400 --> 00:36:36,200 Speaker 1: rebuild OPAL and over time it returned to being an 602 00:36:36,200 --> 00:36:39,880 Speaker 1: important component in GM's European strategy. But as I mentioned 603 00:36:39,920 --> 00:36:43,120 Speaker 1: with Vauxhall, Opel would also ultimately change hands to the 604 00:36:43,120 --> 00:36:45,919 Speaker 1: p s A Group in two thousands seventeen. And I'll 605 00:36:45,920 --> 00:36:48,960 Speaker 1: save all the details for that other podcast sometime in 606 00:36:49,000 --> 00:36:54,480 Speaker 1: the future. Let's get back to General Motors history. Alfred Sloan, 607 00:36:54,480 --> 00:36:59,400 Speaker 1: while excellent at streamlining processes and increasing efficiency and lowering 608 00:36:59,480 --> 00:37:05,600 Speaker 1: costs and maximizing profits, wasn't nearly so attentive towards the 609 00:37:05,680 --> 00:37:09,719 Speaker 1: more people oriented parts of running a business. In fact, 610 00:37:09,800 --> 00:37:13,839 Speaker 1: the outright opposed workers organizing and forming unions. He saw 611 00:37:13,960 --> 00:37:16,160 Speaker 1: unions as kind of a hit on profits and that 612 00:37:16,280 --> 00:37:20,640 Speaker 1: just didn't sit well with the extremely profit oriented capitalist. 613 00:37:21,280 --> 00:37:25,520 Speaker 1: He also opposed movements like FDR's New Deal program, and 614 00:37:25,600 --> 00:37:28,920 Speaker 1: he campaigned against it, at least by providing a significant 615 00:37:28,960 --> 00:37:32,400 Speaker 1: amount of money to organizations that opposed the New Deal. 616 00:37:33,160 --> 00:37:37,960 Speaker 1: And that's putting this in very mild terms. Some of 617 00:37:37,960 --> 00:37:43,040 Speaker 1: the organizations that Sloan helped fund in some cases, uh, 618 00:37:43,360 --> 00:37:46,240 Speaker 1: he even helped found a couple. Some of these were 619 00:37:46,640 --> 00:37:52,400 Speaker 1: anti Roosevelt and embraced some truly despicable philosophies, all in 620 00:37:52,440 --> 00:37:55,680 Speaker 1: an effort to undermine Roosevelt's authority and to try to 621 00:37:55,800 --> 00:37:59,960 Speaker 1: defeat him in the nineteen six election. So we're talking 622 00:38:00,200 --> 00:38:05,120 Speaker 1: about some organizations that championed racism, corded the ku Klux Klan, 623 00:38:05,920 --> 00:38:11,040 Speaker 1: they had some really anti Semitic messaging and more like 624 00:38:11,880 --> 00:38:16,919 Speaker 1: really awful stuff. Now, whether Sloan himself subscribed to these 625 00:38:16,960 --> 00:38:19,680 Speaker 1: same philosophies or he just thought of them as means 626 00:38:19,719 --> 00:38:23,120 Speaker 1: to an end is unclear to me. I'm not sure 627 00:38:23,160 --> 00:38:27,480 Speaker 1: it really makes that much difference, because just supporting those 628 00:38:27,560 --> 00:38:33,040 Speaker 1: kinds of organizations, particularly by providing significant funds, can lead 629 00:38:33,080 --> 00:38:37,880 Speaker 1: to immeasurable harm. The group's failed in their main purpose 630 00:38:37,920 --> 00:38:41,040 Speaker 1: because Roosevelt won re election in nineteen thirty six by 631 00:38:41,040 --> 00:38:44,880 Speaker 1: a landslide BacT. Some historians suggest that it was in 632 00:38:45,000 --> 00:38:48,359 Speaker 1: part thanks to groups like the American Liberty League, which 633 00:38:48,400 --> 00:38:52,400 Speaker 1: was funded by elite members of American society, including Sloan. 634 00:38:53,000 --> 00:38:56,080 Speaker 1: That was partly their impact that helped Roosevelt win. By 635 00:38:56,160 --> 00:39:00,680 Speaker 1: standing in as a sort of you know, antagonist, Roosevelt 636 00:39:00,719 --> 00:39:03,920 Speaker 1: could point at them and say, two citizens, this is 637 00:39:03,960 --> 00:39:08,200 Speaker 1: what I'm fighting against. Are these elite, wealthy people who 638 00:39:08,320 --> 00:39:11,920 Speaker 1: don't have the same problems that you have. In nineteen 639 00:39:11,960 --> 00:39:16,080 Speaker 1: thirty six, the brand new United Automobile Workers Union played 640 00:39:16,120 --> 00:39:19,560 Speaker 1: a major part in some historic workers strikes at several 641 00:39:19,600 --> 00:39:23,320 Speaker 1: GM manufacturing facilities in the United States, many of which 642 00:39:23,360 --> 00:39:26,400 Speaker 1: were in Flint, Michigan. In fact, the most famous of 643 00:39:26,440 --> 00:39:31,600 Speaker 1: the strikes occurred in Flint. Now, just the organizing process alone, 644 00:39:32,160 --> 00:39:35,799 Speaker 1: way before any strikes happened, just that was difficult. He 645 00:39:35,920 --> 00:39:40,000 Speaker 1: was reportedly employing lots of folks to act as as 646 00:39:40,080 --> 00:39:44,000 Speaker 1: essentially spies to find out what was going on. But 647 00:39:44,160 --> 00:39:47,640 Speaker 1: ultimately the organizers were able to actually meet with enough 648 00:39:47,680 --> 00:39:52,160 Speaker 1: workers to form an alliance and they carried out labor 649 00:39:52,200 --> 00:39:55,759 Speaker 1: strikes in late nineteen thirty six that stretched into February 650 00:39:55,800 --> 00:39:59,640 Speaker 1: of nineteen thirty seven, and these were sit down strikes. 651 00:39:59,640 --> 00:40:04,160 Speaker 1: So with to sit down strike employees occupied the manufacturing plans. 652 00:40:04,200 --> 00:40:09,320 Speaker 1: They didn't pick it outside the facility. Instead, they essentially 653 00:40:09,360 --> 00:40:13,919 Speaker 1: took control of the factories and kept management and thus 654 00:40:14,040 --> 00:40:17,000 Speaker 1: strike breakers out of the buildings. It was kind of 655 00:40:17,040 --> 00:40:22,160 Speaker 1: like being sieged by an army. The strikes were met 656 00:40:22,200 --> 00:40:26,200 Speaker 1: with force from Flint police officers. At least initially, that 657 00:40:26,360 --> 00:40:29,799 Speaker 1: was not a big surprise because General Motors was was 658 00:40:29,880 --> 00:40:34,000 Speaker 1: in pretty deep with local politics in Flint, Michigan. But 659 00:40:34,160 --> 00:40:37,680 Speaker 1: the strikers persevered and the governor of Michigan stepped in 660 00:40:37,800 --> 00:40:41,600 Speaker 1: and mediated the dispute, and that ended with General Motors 661 00:40:41,640 --> 00:40:45,680 Speaker 1: recognizing the U a W as the representative union for 662 00:40:45,760 --> 00:40:50,600 Speaker 1: General Motors employees. In subsequent strikes, the union was able 663 00:40:50,680 --> 00:40:54,440 Speaker 1: to negotiate better conditions for General Motors employees, including a 664 00:40:54,480 --> 00:40:57,239 Speaker 1: wage hike, though the deal reached was below what the 665 00:40:57,320 --> 00:41:01,960 Speaker 1: union originally was aiming for and Sloan must have hated 666 00:41:02,239 --> 00:41:06,640 Speaker 1: every second of it. Sloan also became chairman of General 667 00:41:06,680 --> 00:41:10,360 Speaker 1: Motors in nineteen thirty seven. He stayed on as CEO, 668 00:41:10,560 --> 00:41:13,560 Speaker 1: but replacing him as president of the company was a 669 00:41:13,560 --> 00:41:17,560 Speaker 1: man named William Knudsen, who was originally from Holland. As 670 00:41:17,600 --> 00:41:22,120 Speaker 1: I recalled, Knudson was only president of GM for three years. 671 00:41:22,400 --> 00:41:25,440 Speaker 1: He stepped down in nineteen forty. I'll talk about more 672 00:41:25,480 --> 00:41:29,200 Speaker 1: of that in a second. He was replaced by Charles E. Wilson. 673 00:41:29,560 --> 00:41:32,640 Speaker 1: And then there's the matter of World War Two, which 674 00:41:32,680 --> 00:41:37,600 Speaker 1: gets super duper complicated. For one thing, there are a 675 00:41:37,600 --> 00:41:40,320 Speaker 1: lot of different accounts as to what was actually going 676 00:41:40,400 --> 00:41:44,240 Speaker 1: on leading into World War Two regarding GMS various interests. 677 00:41:45,080 --> 00:41:48,880 Speaker 1: Remember they owned Opal in Germany, and just for the 678 00:41:48,880 --> 00:41:53,080 Speaker 1: sake of full disclosure, I don't really know where the 679 00:41:53,120 --> 00:41:57,279 Speaker 1: truth of the matter actually rests. But one way to 680 00:41:57,320 --> 00:42:00,839 Speaker 1: look at this is that General Motors would effectively manufacture 681 00:42:00,960 --> 00:42:04,640 Speaker 1: material for both sides of World War Two, the Allies 682 00:42:04,680 --> 00:42:08,080 Speaker 1: and the Access Powers. Though the company has repeatedly denied 683 00:42:08,520 --> 00:42:10,640 Speaker 1: that it really had any say in the matter as 684 00:42:10,640 --> 00:42:13,560 Speaker 1: far as the Access Powers are concerned, how true that 685 00:42:13,719 --> 00:42:16,759 Speaker 1: is is a serious matter of debate. Based on what 686 00:42:16,840 --> 00:42:20,480 Speaker 1: I've seen, it definitely appears as though Sloan was happy 687 00:42:20,520 --> 00:42:24,319 Speaker 1: to profit off of GM's interests in Germany until it 688 00:42:24,400 --> 00:42:28,640 Speaker 1: became politically impossible or at least impractical for the company 689 00:42:28,680 --> 00:42:32,560 Speaker 1: to keep doing it. Here are some facts about the matter. 690 00:42:32,840 --> 00:42:39,680 Speaker 1: Around ninety nine, General Motors senior executive James Mooney received 691 00:42:39,800 --> 00:42:43,920 Speaker 1: a medal from the German government ak the Nazis for 692 00:42:44,520 --> 00:42:49,120 Speaker 1: distinguished service to the Reich. That distinguished service was the 693 00:42:49,120 --> 00:42:52,840 Speaker 1: production of stuff like military vehicles and engines for planes, 694 00:42:53,360 --> 00:42:56,879 Speaker 1: many of which were being made in OPAL factories. While 695 00:42:57,000 --> 00:43:00,400 Speaker 1: Sloan would write in his memoirs that GMS for stilities 696 00:43:00,400 --> 00:43:04,760 Speaker 1: in Germany were nationalized, that is, the German government took 697 00:43:04,960 --> 00:43:10,040 Speaker 1: over those facilities and General Motors leadership was removed. There's 698 00:43:10,080 --> 00:43:13,000 Speaker 1: a distinct lack of paperwork that shows that this was 699 00:43:13,160 --> 00:43:15,040 Speaker 1: in fact the case, and there are a lot of 700 00:43:15,120 --> 00:43:19,440 Speaker 1: historians who argue that GM was much more involved, at 701 00:43:19,480 --> 00:43:23,920 Speaker 1: least in a managerial capacity, Like they were aware of 702 00:43:23,960 --> 00:43:27,040 Speaker 1: what was happening and we're still profiting from it to 703 00:43:27,160 --> 00:43:32,680 Speaker 1: some extent, but they took great strides to hide their involvement. 704 00:43:33,640 --> 00:43:36,040 Speaker 1: I don't know what the truth is I can tell 705 00:43:36,080 --> 00:43:38,880 Speaker 1: you that there are people on both sides of the 706 00:43:38,920 --> 00:43:45,120 Speaker 1: issue who argue passionately for their side. GM did build 707 00:43:45,120 --> 00:43:47,560 Speaker 1: plants in Germany leading up to World War Two, but 708 00:43:47,719 --> 00:43:50,480 Speaker 1: after the rise of Hitler, I mean that did happen. 709 00:43:50,600 --> 00:43:53,799 Speaker 1: There was one that was built in Brandenburg that ended 710 00:43:53,840 --> 00:43:56,480 Speaker 1: up producing trucks that were used by German forces in 711 00:43:56,480 --> 00:44:00,120 Speaker 1: the invasions of both Poland and France. It leads some 712 00:44:00,200 --> 00:44:04,560 Speaker 1: investigators to suggest that without General Motors businesses in Germany, 713 00:44:04,800 --> 00:44:07,160 Speaker 1: Hitler would have been unable to carry out the rapid 714 00:44:07,239 --> 00:44:10,319 Speaker 1: Blitz style warfare that gave him an early advantage in 715 00:44:10,360 --> 00:44:13,879 Speaker 1: World War Two. GM did business in Germany rather than 716 00:44:13,960 --> 00:44:18,080 Speaker 1: divest itself of its German interests, which really, when you 717 00:44:18,080 --> 00:44:20,920 Speaker 1: get down to it, does mean the General Motors efforts 718 00:44:21,080 --> 00:44:23,960 Speaker 1: helped Germany during those early days of World War Two. 719 00:44:24,600 --> 00:44:28,680 Speaker 1: Now again, General Motors maintains that all executives stepped down 720 00:44:28,960 --> 00:44:31,799 Speaker 1: once war broke out in nineteen thirty nine, but The 721 00:44:31,840 --> 00:44:36,080 Speaker 1: Washington Post published a lengthy article in nineteen that disputes this, 722 00:44:36,280 --> 00:44:39,160 Speaker 1: at least to a point. As late as nineteen forty one, 723 00:44:39,200 --> 00:44:43,920 Speaker 1: an American lawyer was overseeing General Motors interests in Germany, 724 00:44:44,000 --> 00:44:47,920 Speaker 1: and the bad stuff doesn't stop there. The manufacturing facilities 725 00:44:47,960 --> 00:44:51,520 Speaker 1: in Germany benefited from forced labor. If you listen to 726 00:44:51,600 --> 00:44:55,080 Speaker 1: my episodes about Volkswagen, you heard me talk about the 727 00:44:55,200 --> 00:44:58,560 Speaker 1: use of forced labor with that company, while the American 728 00:44:58,640 --> 00:45:03,720 Speaker 1: owned companies in Germany, like Ford and GM subsidiaries, also 729 00:45:03,800 --> 00:45:08,080 Speaker 1: made use of forced labor. Meanwhile, back in America, both 730 00:45:08,200 --> 00:45:12,280 Speaker 1: GM and Ford initially resisted calls from the US government 731 00:45:12,320 --> 00:45:16,760 Speaker 1: to produce war material for the Allied powers. GM told 732 00:45:16,800 --> 00:45:21,040 Speaker 1: shareholders that its assembly lines weren't adaptable to manufacturing stuff 733 00:45:21,080 --> 00:45:25,440 Speaker 1: like tanks and airplanes. Now, eventually the policies that these 734 00:45:25,440 --> 00:45:29,360 Speaker 1: companies changed. Knudsen, for example, when he was president of GM, 735 00:45:29,520 --> 00:45:32,400 Speaker 1: really wanted to support the American effort. They felt a 736 00:45:32,440 --> 00:45:35,000 Speaker 1: great sense of duty to the country where he had 737 00:45:35,040 --> 00:45:40,319 Speaker 1: found opportunity to succeed. So he defied Sloan's wishes and 738 00:45:40,360 --> 00:45:43,839 Speaker 1: committed General Motors towards the war effort, and GM would 739 00:45:43,920 --> 00:45:48,080 Speaker 1: end up producing tons of stuff for the American military. 740 00:45:48,120 --> 00:45:51,359 Speaker 1: But looking back on the history, it's definitely a dark 741 00:45:51,480 --> 00:45:55,520 Speaker 1: stain on corporate identity. Right. An American company that was 742 00:45:55,560 --> 00:45:58,719 Speaker 1: making equipment for Nazis leading up to World War Two, 743 00:45:58,800 --> 00:46:02,440 Speaker 1: and depending on some accounts, continuing to do so until 744 00:46:02,480 --> 00:46:05,520 Speaker 1: at least nineteen forty one, when the United States entered 745 00:46:05,560 --> 00:46:09,560 Speaker 1: the war. Was also the company that was resisting demands 746 00:46:09,600 --> 00:46:13,360 Speaker 1: to do the same thing back home in the United States. 747 00:46:14,000 --> 00:46:17,360 Speaker 1: As for Knudson, he left General Motors in nineteen forty 748 00:46:17,400 --> 00:46:20,320 Speaker 1: to join the US government as chairman of the Office 749 00:46:20,360 --> 00:46:23,839 Speaker 1: of Production Management. That job, by the way, paid one 750 00:46:24,040 --> 00:46:27,000 Speaker 1: dollar per year, so you could literally see where his 751 00:46:27,080 --> 00:46:31,880 Speaker 1: loyalties lie. By mid nineteen forty, General Motors was in 752 00:46:32,000 --> 00:46:35,880 Speaker 1: full production mode, and by nineteen forty two all of 753 00:46:35,880 --> 00:46:39,400 Speaker 1: the company's manufacturing facilities were geared towards producing for the 754 00:46:39,440 --> 00:46:43,799 Speaker 1: war effort. They were no longer producing vehicles for civilians 755 00:46:44,640 --> 00:46:47,120 Speaker 1: for the Allies. That is, that's what they were doing 756 00:46:47,120 --> 00:46:50,320 Speaker 1: for the Allies. According to The Guardian, General Motors ultimately 757 00:46:50,320 --> 00:46:54,440 Speaker 1: supplied around twelve billion dollars worth of materials for Allies, 758 00:46:54,840 --> 00:46:58,680 Speaker 1: which included tanks, trucks and airplanes. On a side note, 759 00:46:58,719 --> 00:47:01,200 Speaker 1: I just want to say it's very odd to do 760 00:47:01,320 --> 00:47:04,640 Speaker 1: research about all this because when you look at like 761 00:47:04,680 --> 00:47:09,040 Speaker 1: the first round of websites that give history about General Motors, 762 00:47:09,880 --> 00:47:13,000 Speaker 1: most of them kind of skip over World War Two entirely, 763 00:47:13,200 --> 00:47:16,480 Speaker 1: or maybe devote a sentence to what the company did. 764 00:47:17,040 --> 00:47:20,880 Speaker 1: It's like they say nine GM becomes the number one 765 00:47:20,920 --> 00:47:23,400 Speaker 1: automaker in the US, and then they jump to the 766 00:47:23,480 --> 00:47:27,160 Speaker 1: nineteen fifties and say that General Motors thrives in a 767 00:47:27,239 --> 00:47:30,800 Speaker 1: booming American economy. So I guess the complicated stuff in 768 00:47:30,840 --> 00:47:34,440 Speaker 1: the middle is pretty hard to summarize while also remaining, 769 00:47:34,640 --> 00:47:38,320 Speaker 1: you know, intellectually honest. And as I mentioned, I'm certain 770 00:47:38,360 --> 00:47:40,960 Speaker 1: I don't have access to the full story, and it's 771 00:47:40,960 --> 00:47:44,200 Speaker 1: impossible for me to judge how complicit General Motors may 772 00:47:44,280 --> 00:47:46,640 Speaker 1: or may not have been regarding the rise of the 773 00:47:46,680 --> 00:47:49,839 Speaker 1: Nazi powers in Germany. But it looks like they were 774 00:47:49,920 --> 00:47:55,280 Speaker 1: at least somewhat complicit in the early days, which is heavy, 775 00:47:55,600 --> 00:47:59,920 Speaker 1: heavy stuff. But that wraps up this chapter of General 776 00:48:00,000 --> 00:48:03,200 Speaker 1: Motors history. I didn't plan on doing this many episodes 777 00:48:03,200 --> 00:48:06,279 Speaker 1: about GM, but as I said, the company's history is 778 00:48:06,360 --> 00:48:11,160 Speaker 1: really fascinating, not just from a technological standpoint, but also political, social, 779 00:48:11,280 --> 00:48:14,600 Speaker 1: cultural standpoints and more. And many of the things we 780 00:48:14,640 --> 00:48:17,239 Speaker 1: saw around this era of GM's history would end up 781 00:48:17,280 --> 00:48:21,080 Speaker 1: shaping the automotive industry in the world in general. Forever. 782 00:48:21,560 --> 00:48:25,560 Speaker 1: For example, one thing that happened under Sloan's leadership was 783 00:48:25,600 --> 00:48:30,560 Speaker 1: the approach to restyling brands of cars every year. Because 784 00:48:30,840 --> 00:48:33,719 Speaker 1: in the old old days, you know, companies would just 785 00:48:33,760 --> 00:48:37,399 Speaker 1: design a car and stick with that design year after year, 786 00:48:37,680 --> 00:48:40,719 Speaker 1: which was easy enough to do. Factories had been optimized 787 00:48:40,719 --> 00:48:43,719 Speaker 1: to mass produce a specific style of vehicle. That's why 788 00:48:43,800 --> 00:48:47,360 Speaker 1: Ford made the Model T for nearly two decades. But 789 00:48:47,560 --> 00:48:51,400 Speaker 1: under Sloan's leadership, General Motors began to not just offer 790 00:48:51,520 --> 00:48:55,080 Speaker 1: different makes of cars for different types of customers, they 791 00:48:55,120 --> 00:48:59,040 Speaker 1: also changed the styling of each line of cars year 792 00:48:59,160 --> 00:49:03,759 Speaker 1: after year. This created another way to attract customers. New 793 00:49:03,840 --> 00:49:07,480 Speaker 1: cars looked new, not just because they were shiny and clean, 794 00:49:07,960 --> 00:49:10,759 Speaker 1: but because the style of the car was different from 795 00:49:10,800 --> 00:49:13,520 Speaker 1: the cars that had come out the year before. And 796 00:49:13,600 --> 00:49:16,600 Speaker 1: now this is standard in the automotive world. We take 797 00:49:16,640 --> 00:49:18,680 Speaker 1: it for granted. Every year we get treated to the 798 00:49:18,719 --> 00:49:22,360 Speaker 1: next year's models. I'll keep going down the path of 799 00:49:22,400 --> 00:49:25,600 Speaker 1: General Motors history in our next full episode. My plan 800 00:49:25,760 --> 00:49:29,600 Speaker 1: is really sincerely to close it out at that point, 801 00:49:29,640 --> 00:49:33,000 Speaker 1: to make Part three the end of General Motors story 802 00:49:33,160 --> 00:49:35,640 Speaker 1: so far. But there are a lot of big things 803 00:49:35,680 --> 00:49:39,600 Speaker 1: we'll need to talk about from controversial decisions to bankruptcy 804 00:49:39,760 --> 00:49:42,960 Speaker 1: to bail out and beyond, but we're gonna save that 805 00:49:43,040 --> 00:49:45,400 Speaker 1: for the next time. In the meantime, if you have 806 00:49:45,440 --> 00:49:48,520 Speaker 1: any suggestions for topics I should cover in future episodes 807 00:49:48,560 --> 00:49:51,000 Speaker 1: of tech Stuff. Maybe there's another big company you would 808 00:49:51,040 --> 00:49:54,360 Speaker 1: like to know the history about and how they became influential, 809 00:49:54,920 --> 00:49:57,440 Speaker 1: Or maybe there's just a technology you've always wanted to know. 810 00:49:57,719 --> 00:50:00,239 Speaker 1: How does this work? And does it mean let me no? 811 00:50:00,520 --> 00:50:03,080 Speaker 1: Reach out to me on Twitter. The handle is text 812 00:50:03,080 --> 00:50:06,040 Speaker 1: stuff h s W and I'll talk to you again 813 00:50:06,920 --> 00:50:15,000 Speaker 1: really soon. Yeah. Text Stuff is an I Heart Radio production. 814 00:50:15,239 --> 00:50:18,080 Speaker 1: For more podcasts from my Heart Radio, visit the i 815 00:50:18,200 --> 00:50:21,400 Speaker 1: Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to 816 00:50:21,480 --> 00:50:22,360 Speaker 1: your favorite shows.