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A $500,000,000
ALFRED P. SLOAN, JR., General Motors Board Chairman, appraises the opportunities and the dangers of the future.
IT APPEARS that the war is entering the last phase of what might be called its European stage. But it is by no means won. There is much yet to be done before Victory rewards the magnificent efforts of our armed forces.
The war production effort of General Motors continues at the moment with little aggregate change. All resources, generally speaking, are still being fully utilized. Revisions in production schedules on existing war products and the need of new and different types of war products brought about by changes in demand and the experiences of combat are logical reflections of the more advanced stage of the conflict. Engineering changes continue to absorb the efforts of the technical staffs. War demands both quantity and technical quality. Supremacy in both is essential to a successful conclusion. Both are now available to our armed forces — thanks to the capacity of American enterprise. But to maintain and improve that position until the very end will require continued effort.
THE PROBLEM OF RECONVERSION
Under such circumstances little time and effort are available for the consideration of what is to happen postwar and what is to be done about it. On the other hand, the time is rapidly approaching, and can not be
longer delayed without great danger to our peacetime objectives, when industry must meet the problem of reconverting its facilities in part and eventually in whole to peacetime needs.
In contemplating this problem General Motors is not unm.indful of its responsibility to its stockholders and to its organization, both executives and workers, as well as to the economy as a whole. It realizes that the manner in which the reconversion of industry is carried out is certain to have a profound effect on its future opportunities. It recognizes that the reorganization of its production facilities is a gigantic task. Likewise it recognizes the hazard of trying to appraise both the opportunities and the dangers of the future in the face of great uncertainties. Yet the problem exists. An answer must be found. The purpose of this message is to make clear, so far as is possible at this time, the concept of the management with respect to General Motors' postwar program and the underlying reasoning in support of that concept.
PATTERN OF POSTWAR BUSINESS ACTIVITY
First, we start with the premise that there is developing a broad po tential demand for all categories of consumer durable and semi-durable goods resulting from the suspension