George Walter Mason

George Walter Mason , (born March 12, 1891 in Valley City , North Dakota , † October 9, 1954 in Detroit , Michigan ) was an American industrialist. He was chairman and president of Kelvinator (1928-1937), Nash-Kelvinator Corporation (1937-1954) and American Motors Corporation (1954).

The first years

George W. Mason was born in Valley City, North Dakota . He studied at the University of Michigan , where he also set up a special course for engineering students that combined three years of engineering training with a final year of business administration.

Mason had worked in local auto repair shops when he was young, and when he got his degree from the University of Michigan, he went to Studebaker . Before joining the army in World War I , he changed jobs a number of times. In 1921 Mason got a job at Maxwell-Chalmers through Walter P. Chrysler , which Chrysler had reorganized and used to develop his own car brand.

Mason moved from Maxwell-Chalmers to Copeland Products in Detroit in 1926 before becoming President of Kelvinator Corporation , a leading manufacturer of electric refrigerators. Under Mason, Kelvinator quadrupled its income and, despite the global economic crisis, came second in the household refrigerator market behind the market leader Frigidaire , which was then part of GM .

Nash Motors

When Charles W. Nash , the founder of Nash Motors , was looking for a successor, Walter Chrysler recommended him to Mason. Mason initially turned down Nash's offer, but when Nash asked him what might move him to move to Nash Motors, he requested that Kelvinator be included in the deal. Nash saw an opportunity in this idea; General Motors had Frigidaire , BorgWarner had Norge Appliance and Chrysler built its own air conditioners. Nash and Mason became a merchant and in November 1936 the merger was announced. The two companies merged and Mason became President of the new Nash-Kelvinator Corporation . By 1940 Mason had managed to increase Kelvinator's market share and to redevelop Nash Motors.

After World War II , Mason and Nash's chief engineer, Nils Eric Wahlberg , began researching the possibilities of streamlined bodies for large cars. The two developed a new, aerodynamic style for the 1949 model year Nash automobiles by extending the body to the front wheels. This new design was introduced as the Nash Airflyte and the covered front wheels remained a Nash trademark until 1957.

Mason was also passionate about small cars, especially the concept of a small, cheap car to be added to the future Nash model range. The result were three new model series of "compact cars":

• The Nash Rambler - Mason's vision of a small, inexpensive compact car changed under the influence of raw material shortages: Mason did not bring out a slimmed-down economy model, but a well-equipped convertible sedan .
• The Nash-Healey - the first American sports car after the Great Depression , developed together with partners in Great Britain and Italy.
• The Nash Metropolitan - a small car that was built in collaboration with the British Austin Motor Company .

But General Motors and the Ford Motor Company fought a battle for supremacy in the automotive market that began in 1945 when Ford's new President, Henry Ford II , felt a burning desire to make his company number one again. From 1953 onwards, independent automakers also felt the effects of Ford's plan to launch tens of thousands of bargain-priced cars in an attempt to win the title of largest automaker against GM. General Motors and Chrysler responded by the same means. Now the market was flooded with cars that dealers could only sell at huge discounts. This especially weakened independent manufacturers such as Studebaker, Packard , Willys-Overland , Hudson , Kaiser Motors and Nash, who had to sell their cars at a great loss in order to keep up with the lower production costs of GM, Ford and Chrysler.

American Motors Corporation

Mason joined Nash Motors and Hudson Motor Car Co. to leverage common strengths. Nash's merger talks with various other independent automobile manufacturers took place, but in the first few months of 1954 it only came to a merger between Nash and Hudson, from which American Motors Corporation emerged . At the same time, Willys and Kaiser as well as Studebaker and Packard merged in 1953 and 1954.

A few months after the conclusion of the merger negotiations, Mason died of acute pancreatitis and pneumonia at the age of 63 . Mason's protégé, AMC Vice President George W. Romney , succeeded him. One of Romney's first acts was to dispel rumors of further merger talks with Studebaker-Packard or other manufacturers. According to Mason's information in Time Magazine , a merger of AMC and Studebaker-Packard would have resulted in the world's second largest automobile manufacturer after GM.

legacy

Mason had previously served as president of Ducks Unlimited (a wetland conservation organization). From his estate he left 6.1 km² of land with 23 km of shoreline along the Au Sable River to the Michigan Environmental Protection Agency . The condition of the legacy was that the state of Michigan had to designate the property as a conservation area , none of it would be sold and camping would be banned for the next 25 years. The state of Michigan has upheld the camping ban to this day. In accordance with Mason's wishes, the land remains free of development or remodeling with the exception of a simple chapel built by Mason's family in 1960.

swell

• Who Was Who in America. A component of Who's Who in American History. Volume 3, 1951-1960. Chicago.
• Biography and Genealogy Master Index. Farmington Hills, Mich .: Thomson Gale, 1980-2006.
• George Mason, Newsweek October 18, 1954
• George Mason, Milestones , Time Magazine , October 18, 1954
• Changes of the Week: George Romney Succeeds Mason. Time Magazine , October 25, 1954
• George W. Mason, American National Biography Online , February 2000 issue.