History of Chrysler Canada - The Glory Years

Excerpted from James Mays' forthcoming book. We will review it and make it available for on-line ordering when it goes into print, around December 2001. Contents copyright © 2001 James Mays. Footer copyright notice applies to header and footer material.

Bill Watson contributed substantially to this chapter.

See also: Valiant.org's history of Chrysler Canada; Fargo Trucks; A Plymouth By Any Other Name

The Chrysler Canada Story, Chapter Eight: Glory Years

When E. C. Row retired as head of Chrysler Canada in 1957 the entire auto industry was abuzz with rumours about his possible replacement. Who would run the Canadian subsidiary? Would it be another American? Would head office finally appoint a Canadian? Finally the news was announced that the new head of the corporation would be a native son, Ronald (Ron) Walter Todgham.

Born in Toronto in 1910, Todgham's family moved from Ontario's capital city to Windsor when he was small. While attending high school he applied for a job at Chrysler and landed a job in the mailroom. One of his part-time responsibilities was to act as chauffeur for John Mansfield, Chrysler Canada's very first president. The two got to know each other. One day Mansfield asked his young driver what he was intended to do when he completed Grade Twelve. Todgham replied that he would work for Chrysler. Mansfield objected strongly. He admonished his driver to go to university and made the young man promise to do so. That conversation inspired Todgham to enrol in the University of Michigan. He completed his studies in 1931 with a degree in Business Administration. Two years later he graduated again, this time from the Chrysler Institute of Engineering. Todgham had honoured his promise to Mansfield and in the depths of the Great Depression the young man was hired as a full-time employee at Chrysler Canada.

He worked for the company in various capacities until 1938 when he moved to nearby Chatham, Ontario—the New World home of Walter Chrysler's great grandparents. During the next fifteen years Todgham built up an immensely successful dealership. Accepting a new challenge in 1953, Todgham sold his dealership and moved to the United States. He spent two years rebuilding a down-and-out Dodge and Plymouth dealership in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Canada was calling and Todgham returned to Windsor and Chrysler in May of 1955 to take up his duties as a Vice-President.

Row was reigning over some of Chrysler Canada's best years. The new cars introduced for the 1957 season were an absolute styling delight but right across the corporate lineup Chryco products were dogged with serious quality control problems. Production for the 1957 calendar year was 69,421 units down sharply from 92,119 vehicles in 1956.

A seasoned Todgham handled a number of different assignments for a little more than a year, all the while spiraling up the corporate ladder. He was elected president of Chrysler Canada in 1957, just fourteen months after his return.

He had his work cut out for him from the first day he sat at the president's desk in Chrysler Centre. Production was in deep trouble. Output fell by almost a third from 1957 to a low of 44,131 units for 1958 as consumers shied away from the beautiful but trouble-prone cars. Advertising promoted quality but production slid to a dismal 42, 618 units. Sales were somewhat higher than production during these years, as convertibles, some station wagons and the luxurious Imperial line was imported from the States.

The sharp business recession in 1959 didn't help. Chrysler Canada economized as always by sharing instrument panels, upholstery and trim between lines. This was the last year that the junior Dodge line would wear the Plymouth body shell. A confident Todgham looked beyond the storm and bet the proverbial farm. He ordered production lines refitted for the new Unibody cars and readied the engine plant for manufacture of the modern Slant-six engine. Despite massive capital expenditures, Chrysler Canada made a modest pre-tax profit of $394,000 in 1959.

DeSoto was almost always at the bottom of the automotive barrel in the post-war Canadian manufacturing game. The mid-price market in Canada was tiny and buyers were few and far between. Canadians tended to buy full-sized strippers or go all the way with the purchase of a fully loaded, top-of-the-line vehicle. Todgham pulled the plug on DeSoto at the end of the 1960 selling season. While Americans would have DeSoto for one more year, Canadians would do without quite nicely.

Rambler had invented a whole new ballgame with its popular compact car concept and now Chrysler was ready to play, too. Out went the DeSoto lines from the factory floor. Windsor now geared up for an all new brand of car--the timely and compact Valiant. Production was up to 50,336 units for 1960 but dipped to 46,726 vehicles the following year.

The dealer body was reorganized to reflect the new reality. Dodge-DeSoto dealers became Dodge-Chrysler dealers. Both they and Plymouth-Chrysler dealers got the new compact brand, the Valiant to sell. Reorganizing distribution was important. Regional zone offices were established along with regional parts depots to better supply the dealers. No longer adequately able to serve all ten provinces, the national parts depot was moved from Windsor to new, more centrally located headquarters in Rexdale, a Toronto suburb.

The main auto plant grew by another 200,000 square feet. Reflecting the growing nature of Chrysler the company name was changed to Chrysler Corporation of Canada in 1963 and the pentastar logo, representing Chryco's five automobile divisions (Imperial, Chrysler, Plymouth, Dodge and Valiant) was introduced. Windsor began building ragtops for the domestic market. Chrysler Canada pioneered the Five-Year/50,000 mile warranty in 1963 but didn't promote it nearly as effectively as Rambler (who immediately copied the plan—most Canadians surveyed thought that Chrysler had stolen the comprehensive warranty idea from American Motors Canada Limited). Still, Chrysler Canada's production figures improved greatly for 1963: 86,805 units, up nearly a third from the 1962 calendar year 50,560 vehicle tally.

Todgham began to shop for parts suppliers. He wanted to guarantee a steady source of the parts required in auto manufacture. When Todgham shopped, he shopped big. In 1964 the company acquired four important suppliers: L. A. Young Spring & Wire Limited and the Walker Metal Products foundry—both located in Windsor. Canadian Automotive Trim in Ajax, Ontario and the onetime Alcan Aluminum foundry in Etobicoke, Ontario were purchased, too. Canadians regained confidence in Chrysler and sent production soaring to new heights as 104, 734 sets of taillights scooted out the factory doors.

In 1965 Auto Pact took effect. The wide-sweeping bilateral trade agreement allowed Canadian and American automakers to ship vehicles across each other's respective borders free of tax and duties. All was not well in the kingdom, Chrysler Canada employees went on strike in January. The strike dragged on through February. Importing American-built cars during the strike turned out to be a publicity nightmare for company officials.

Having helped to negotiate the Auto Pact deal, Todgham understood its implications for the economy and the corporation. Chrysler Canada responded quickly to the new arrangement. Once the strike was over, it was a banner year for Chrysler Canada and the Canadian industry as a whole; a milestone was reached in 1965 as the 12-millionth Canadian vehicle rolled off the lines.

No longer independently serving the tiny domestic market, the factories in Windsor quickly integrated into the North American industrial strategy. The mix of models running down the assembly lines in Windsor was significantly cut. Valiant (not Plymouth) Barracudas, Plymouth Belvederes, Dodge Coronet and Charger models and Imperials were imported while Dodge Darts (not built or sold in Canada previously) were now assembled and exported Stateside. That ability to concentrate on building fewer models translated into a 35% higher rate of productivity. In the first two years of Auto Pact, Chrysler Canada exported nearly 60% of all the Canadian vehicles delivered to the US market.

Chrysler brands continued to grow in popularity at home. In 1966 the Windsor plant underwent another major expansion, this time 500,000 square feet of space was added to the car and truck plants. Pentastar production rose a dramatic 10% that year to total 134,680 sales. Chryco's products took a full 21.8% of the domestic market. Two years later an environmentally friendly $3 million waste treatment plant was dedicated.

Full sized Plymouth and Dodge production was phased out at Windsor in 1969 and sent to the plant in Newark, Delaware. Chrysler Canada would build compact Plymouth Valiants and Dodge Darts. When it was time to add to the mix in 1971, Windsor was assigned the intermediate Plymouth Satellite.

The company's products fell out of favour with consumers in the United States in the mid-Seventies. Product line was out of step with trends. Chryslers were big and fuelish. Many were poorly made. Buyers wanted smaller, lighter, more economical, trouble-free vehicles. Japanese automakers were building and selling them but Chrysler's senior management in the US paid little attention. Chrysler began to sell British and Japanese cars as captive imports but many dealers were indifferent when it came to service. Sales began to slip right across the board. Fewer sales meant less money in the corporate coffers to design new products and update older ones. Stale products on showroom floors translated into larger losses at the end of the fiscal year. The slide was not pretty.

The downward trend south of the border was not evident here at home. In 1972 Chrysler Canada garnered a respectable 24.7% of domestic sales and added a total of $41 million to the corporation's earnings. It would be the company's best year ever. Windsor went on to break a manufacturing record when employees built nearly 300,000 vehicles in 1973.

Still, product was large and thirsty. The OPEC oil embargo during the winter of 1973-'74 sent the company reeling on both sides of the border. Double-digit inflation (dubbed 'stagflation' by economists) only worsened the situation. Few consumers were buying Chryslers of any kind. Literally thousands of unsold—and seemingly unsaleable--vehicles sat in fields around the Windsor plants rusting away and costing the company millions of dollars.

Officials finally sat up and took notice. There would be a smaller Chrysler. Windsor was chosen to be home to the new, downsized luxury Chrysler Cordoba and the upscale Dodge Charge SE. Canada got the nod specifically because head office knew full well that Canadian-built cars were of higher quality than those built in American plants. It was no secret that folks working in upper management positions in the US routinely ordered Canadian-made vehicles for personal use. Introduced in the fall of 1974 as a '75 model. Cordoba was absolutely the right car at the right time. The sumptuously appointed intermediate saved Chrysler's corporate bacon. Without Cordoba, there would have been no Chrysler Corporation for Lee Iacocca to salvage.

Todgham was widely praised by the press as being a superb manager. Acquiring the Cordoba meant a healthy economy for Windsor, Essex County, southern Ontario and indeed, the entire country. Todgham was most modest in response to the medias' accolades. His skills lay in his ability to grasp situations quickly. He had worked his way to the top from the mailroom, with a fifteen-year time out as a highly successful dealer. The many people he met along the way gave him a solid understanding of human nature and a positively uncanny knack for good timing within the automobile industry.

One of Todgham's last official acts as head of Chrysler Canada was to break ground for the light-truck assembly plant. While many of Chrysler factories lay dark and idle in the US, the Canadian subsidiary was running round the clock and the immediate future looked secure. He stepped down from office on September 30, 1975, having reached retirement age. A month later he underwent cardiac surgery. Todgham never recovered from the operation and died on Boxing Day.

His legacy was a ledger always written in the very best of black ink. Year after fiscal year the financial statements for Chrysler Canada were on the plus side. Nineteen years of wise expansion and profit told the story best. Ron Todgham, one of our nation's great manufacturing heroes, was laid to rest. Sadly, the Chrysler Corporation was on the brink of slipping away into automotive history, too.

See also: Valiant.org's history of Chrysler Canada; Fargo Trucks