Business: Studebaker’s New Boss

To improve its profits, Studebaker-Packard Corp. has long talked of diversifying out of car making. But in the last four years under President Harold Churchill, it has taken on only three smallish companies. The pace was so slow that much of the company’s huge accumulated tax losses of $121 million, which can be carried over for only five years to offset profits, seemed likely to expire before they could be used up. Last week. as it brought out its 1961 models, the corporation also picked a new top man to speed up its diversification program. In as chairman and chief executive officer went 71-year-old Clarence Francis, onetime president (1934-43) and chairman (1943-54) of giant General Foods Corp., and since 1954 a special consultant to President Eisenhower.

Lean, bespectacled Clarence Francis is an expert at diversifying: he vastly expanded General Foods’ product line, was one of the first movers of the revolution in the U.S. kitchen. He is also at home in Government circles and in the world of Wall Street finance, where Studebaker’s mergers may have to be worked out. Choosing a man whose experience is so remote from auto manufacturing marks a victory for S-P executives who have urged acquisitions in nonauto fields. Harold Churchill will henceforth take a back seat while Francis scurries around, looking for mergers.

To combat sagging auto sales, Stude-baker-Packard has given a new look to its 1961 line. The 1961 Lark will have a lower hood line, and the horsepower of its standard six-cylinder engine will be hiked from 90 to 112 (lack of power in the sixes was a major owner complaint). The company has also added the Lark Cruiser to the line. Designed to compete with the new luxury compacts, it has a iSo-h.p. V-8 engine, is 4 in. longer than the standard Lark, has a plush interior and dual headlights.