Walter Chrysler of German extraction was born on a farm in 1875
in America, where he showed a strong interest in technology. He
trained as a railroad mechanic. Walter Chrysler was also a motor
car enthusiast, so in 1911 he joined Buick as works manager.
In 1916 Buick was incorporated in General Motors under William
Durant, who was the founder of General Motors and a leading
figure in the automotive industry. William Durant gave Chrysler full
control of the Buick Company. After three years and a argument
with Durant, Chrysler left the company to take management control
of the ailing Willys-Overland Company.
With his reputation to get things done he was offered a salary of
$1’000’000 a year. He soon managed to make the company
profitable and after a few years he was offered the same position
at the Maxwell company. This company was struggling along at
that time, but with Chryslers intervention made a profit of $4 million
in 1924. In 1925 Chrysler succeeded in acquiring a controlling
interest in the company and promptly renamed it Chrysler
Corporation.
His first Chrysler branded car had a six-cylinder engine, air and oil
filter, aluminium pistons and seven bearing crankshaft plus
hydraulic breaks. The car was an immediate success and Chrysler
managed to sell 32’000 cars the first year, with a remarkable
162’000 cars in 1926.
In 1928 Chrysler was named Time Magazine Man of the Year.
The same year he acquired Dodge brother and diversified with the
additional Plymouth and De Soto brands. All his companies were
very successful with record sales in 1929 and again in 1933.
In 1934 Chrysler launched the Airflow, a revolutionary new design
to streamline the shape of sedan cars. It was streets ahead of the
rest of the car industry, but was just too advanced for the car
buying public, which did not understand the need to streamline
car designs. Airflows were built from 1934 to 1937.
As he did not have a successor, he decided to sell his shares
on the Stock Market. He then used some of his money to build
the largest Sky Scraper in the world in Manhattan with 77 storeys.
Leave a reply