Charles Williams Nash (28 January 1864 – 6 June 1948) was an American automobile entrepreneur who served as an executive in the automotive industry. He played a significant role in building up General Motors as its fifth president. In 1916, he bought the Thomas B. Jeffery Company, makers of the popular Rambler automobile, and renamed it Nash Motors. The resulting firm played an independent role in an automobile industry increasingly dominated by the Big Three: General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler.
Nash's profits came from focusing on one well-designed car in the upper-medium price range. He bought several distressed companies in Wisconsin, merging them and installing advanced managerial accounting procedures while cutting costs and focusing on long-term growth. He retired as president in 1932, but remained chairman of the board. He facilitated the merger in 1937 with Kelvinator, a refrigerator, home appliance, and commercial refrigeration manufacturer.
Nash was born to a poor farming family in Cortland, Illinois, on what is now Route 38 — Lincoln Highway. His mother was Anna E. "Annie" Cadwell (1829–1909), who married David L. Nash. Other Nash siblings included Mazovia (b. 1862), George C. (b. 1866), and Laura W. (b. 1868).
Charles' parents separated when he was six years old and abandoned him. As a result of a court order, he worked as a farmhand in Michigan as an indentured servant under an agreement that was to last until he was 21. Nash had only three months of schooling per year while he was "bound out" to perform farm chores.
At age 12, Nash ran away and became a farmhand, first in Grand Blanc, Michigan, for $8 per month, then for Alexander McFarland in Mount Morris, Michigan, for $12 per month. On McFarland's farm, he learned the carpentry trade from John Shelben and formed the "Adams & Nash" concern to press hay.
While pressing hay on the Halleck farm, he met his future wife, Jessie Halleck, and married her on April 23, 1884. They moved to Flint, Michigan, due to Jessie's poor health. In 1890, Nash was hired by William C. Durant of the Flint Road Cart Company, which later became the Durant-Dort Carriage Company.
Durant hired Nash in 1890 for $1 per day as an upholstery stuffer in the Flint Road Cart Company (renamed to Durant-Dort Factory One). Within six months, he was promoted to superintendent of the factory.
Within ten years, Nash became vice president and general manager of the Durant-Dort Carriage Company. Nash introduced the straight-line belt conveyor into the assembly of carriages. In 1897, Nash had a chance to drive an early automobile and immediately became interested in its commercial possibilities.
By 1910, the chief business of Durant-Dort Carriage Company was building automobile bodies for the Buick unit of General Motors, which was founded in 1908 by Durant, who had bought Buick in 1904. Durant found himself short of both capital and skilled management.
Durant brought in Nash to Buick to oversee production. Durant was not concerned that Nash did not have any automotive industry experience; his expertise was in dealing with people and also how to organize an efficient production line. James J. Storrow followed the recommendation and appointed Nash as vice-president of Buick on 13 December 1910.
Nash was searching for an expert in day-to-day manufacturing operations so he could focus more on sales, supplier relations, and logistics. In 1912, Nash hired Walter P. Chrysler from the American Locomotive Company to be Buick's works manager.
In late 1912, Durant was fired by the General Motors board, and on 19 November, Nash was elected as the fifth president of the company because he had earned the trust of the bankers who controlled the board of directors. Durant had acquired numerous automakers without analyzing their contribution to the product mix and some like Elmore, Cartercar, Reliance Motor Truck, Welch Motor Car, were money-losing operations that left the company financially overextended; thus, there was concern if it could even survive another five years.
Under Nash's leadership, General Motors made immense gains in profits earned and in the number of vehicles produced. Nash focused on making GM more efficient by eliminating unprofitable products and streamlining manufacturing. He arranged for GM to purchase 51% of axle maker Weston-Mott. Cost-cutting and higher sales were his top priorities. There was tight control of inventories and cash at the corporate level, as well as changes designed to maximize production at each factory.
Nash had restored GM to organizational stability and financial health. This was reflected in 1914 profits at $7.2 million and doubling for 1915 as well as again doubling for 1916, with the automaker taking in nearly $29 million.
His strategy of consolidating into large units paid off: he combined three different truck operations into one and merged several parts-making operations. Keen to build up international markets, Nash set up the General Motors Export Company to handle global sales. He also moved GM's general offices from New York to Detroit, created a new purchasing office, and set up a new accounting office with standardized accounting procedures. However, Nash was reluctant to pay dividends to shareholders.
By late 1915 and early 1916, Billy Durant attempted to reassert his control over the company, and Nash was caught in the power struggle between Durant and bankers. By May 1916, Durant regained control of the majority of voting stock. He offered Nash a $1 million annual salary to remain with the automaker. Nash described the salary as "more than a man’s worth" and resigned on 1 June.
After Nash clashed with Durant, he resolved never to work for someone else again. Along with former GM executives, James J. Storrow and Walter P. Chrysler, Nash attempted to take over Packard, but the luxury car maker's board of directors demurred.
Nash learned that the heirs of the Jeffery Motor Company of Kenosha, Wisconsin, were anxious to retire. The company was best known for its Rambler brand of cars and numerous innovations. Nash bought out the pioneering automaker in August 1916 with a down payment check of half a million dollars and the total deal worth $5 million (some reports indicate the price was $9 million). One of the first major investors was Alfred P. Sloan. While Jeffery Motors had total stock of $3 million, the newly incorporated Nash Motors became a substantial force with capital stock value of almost $24 million on 29 July 1916.