25 Facts About Roy Abernethy

Roy Abernethy was an American automobile industry executive, and CEO of American Motors Corporation from February 1962 to January 1967.

Roy Abernethy moved to Pittsburgh to become an apprentice mechanic and he took night courses in engineering at the Carnegie Institute of Technology.

Roy Abernethy began his automotive industry career in 1926 as an apprentice mechanic at luxury automaker, Packard, earning 18 cents per hour.

Roy Abernethy then moved up establishing success in auto sales, reaching US$1,000,000 in Packard vehicles in a single year from his dealership in Hartford, Connecticut.

Roy Abernethy held the post of vice president of sales at Willys.

Roy Abernethy became vice president of sales and concentrated on building AMC's sales and distribution network.

Roy Abernethy recognized that promotion and advertising are useless without a strong dealer organization, so his first task was to convert every Hudson and Nash dealer into an AMC dealer.

Roy Abernethy then kept many of these dealers allied with AMC, thus helping to keep the corporation afloat, until AMC found its compact car niche under Romney's leadership.

Roy Abernethy was known to fly 50,000 miles a year to make AMC synonymous with the compact car.

Roy Abernethy achieved sales successes for the company and by 1962, Rambler was number three in sales rank among all the brands of cars sold in the United States.

On February 12,1962, the AMC board of directors selected the 56-year-old Roy Abernethy to replace Romney.

Roy Abernethy predicted a total of 450,000 Ramblers to be delivered for the 1962 year, despite increasing competition from the new domestic-made compact cars offered by the Big Three.

However, Roy Abernethy "was more or less given an anchor and told to swim" after taking over the automaker from Romney.

Roy Abernethy continued Romney's prohibition on automobile racing, which had been instituted by the Automobile Manufacturers Association in 1957.

Roy Abernethy made AMC observe both the letter and spirit of AMA's resolution, and was against a renewal of the auto industry's horsepower race by offering ever more powerful engines, as well as corporate sponsorship of activities that glamorize speed and performance.

However, Roy Abernethy is known for reversing Romney's plans for AMC that involved maximum parts compatibility for all lines of AMC vehicles.

Roy Abernethy even switched the automaker's advertising agency to promote "a better luxury and sports car image".

However, Roy Abernethy had his critics, who contended that AMC "had its great success when it was doing what the Big Three weren't doing".

The evidence suggests that Roy Abernethy was correct in making the Ambassadors more upscale with the new models that combined luxurious packaging and reasonable size; sales jumped from 18,647 in 1964 to over 64,000 in 1965.

Roy Abernethy was spending so much money that it was difficult for the company to turn a profit even with the jump in sales in 1965 and 1966.

However, Roy Abernethy presumed that customers needed more choices among those available from the Big Three with their new models in the compact car market.

Roy Abernethy was forced to "drop out of management team" by taking an "early retirement" from the company on January 9,1967.

Roy Abernethy remained for a time on the company's board after his resignation as president, stepping down at the same time as president of the Automobile Manufacturers Association.

Roy Abernethy died in Jupiter, Florida, where he had spent the decade after leaving AMC.

In 1971, Roy Abernethy received the "Distinguished Service" citation from the Automotive Hall of Fame.