Auto industry / Business & brands
Alfred P. Sloan
1875–1966 · president, CEO and chairman of General Motors
The management architect of General Motors, who led it from its Detroit headquarters past Ford to become the world's largest automaker.
- Born
New Haven, Connecticut- Died
New York City, New York
aged 90- Birth name
- Alfred Pritchard Sloan Jr.
- Also known as
- Alfred Pritchard Sloan Jr.
- Detroit years
- 1918–1956
01 / The Detroit story
The Detroit story
Sloan, an MIT-trained engineer, ran the Hyatt Roller Bearing Company, which supplied Ford and other Detroit carmakers, before selling it to Durant's United Motors in 1916 and joining General Motors. After Durant's fall he became GM president in 1923, the year the company moved into its new General Motors Building in Detroit's New Center. He reorganized GM into divisions with central financial controls and set up a price ladder from Chevrolet through Pontiac, Oldsmobile and Buick to Cadillac, 'a car for every purse and purpose'. Annual model changes and GMAC car loans helped GM overtake Ford by the early 1930s. He led GM as president, CEO and chairman until 1956. His record includes resistance to the UAW during the 1936–1937 sit-down strikes and GM's business in Nazi Germany through Opel. His foundation funded MIT's management school and Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.
Highlights
- President of GM 1923–1937, chairman 1937–1956
- Built GM's divisional structure and brand price ladder
- Under him GM passed Ford in the early 1930s
- Author of the management classic My Years with General Motors (1963)
02 / Their Detroit places
Their Detroit places 1
Where they lived, worked, performed and liked to hang out. Closed and demolished places stay here too, because they are part of the city's history.
Worked here · 1923–1956
Cadillac Place (former General Motors Building)
GM's world headquarters throughout his leadership; now State of Michigan offices.