Lynn Alfred Townsend (May 12, 1919 – August 17, 2000) was an American automobile executive widely known for serving as president, chairman, and chief executive of the

Chrysler Corporation FCA US, LLC, doing business as Stellantis North America and known historically as Chrysler ( ), is one of the " Big Three" automobile manufacturers in the United States, headquartered in Auburn Hills, Michigan. It is the American subsidiary of ...

Early life

Towsend was born to Lynn A. and Georgia E. (Crandall) Townsend on May 12, 1919, in

Flint, Michigan Flint is the largest city in Genesee County, Michigan, United States, and its county seat. Located along the Flint River (Michigan), Flint River northwest of Detroit, it is a principal city within the Central Michigan, Mid Michigan region. Flin ...

. The family moved to

Beverly Hills, California Beverly Hills is a city located in Los Angeles County, California, United States. A notable and historic suburb of Los Angeles, it is located just southwest of the Hollywood Hills, approximately northwest of downtown Los Angeles. Beverly Hills ...

in hopes the climate would improve his mother's asthma. Georgia Townsend died in 1929 and Lynn Sr. died five years later. Townsend moved to

Evansville, Indiana Evansville is a city in Vanderburgh County, Indiana, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 118,414 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is Indiana's List of cities in Indiana, third-most populous city after India ...

to live with an uncle, North I. Townsend, who was a comptroller. Townsend graduated from high school two years ahead of his class and worked as a teller at the National City Bank for a year after graduating to pay for college. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from the

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

in 1940 and a master's in business administration from the same school the following year. On September 14, 1940, Townsend married Ruth M. Laing. They had three sons.

Career

While in college, Townsend worked part time for the accounting firm Briggs & Icerman. From 1941 to 1944, Townsend worked for the accounting firm of

Ernst & Ernst EY, previously known as Ernst & Young, is a multinational professional services network based in London, United Kingdom. Along with Deloitte, KPMG and PwC, it is one of the Big Four accounting firms. The EY network is composed of member firms ...

. He then served in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

, where he was the disbursing officer on the USS ''Hornet''. Townsend returned to Ernst & Ernst in 1946, but left after a year to join George Bailey & Company (later known as Touche, Niven, Bailey & Smart and since merged into

Deloitte Deloitte is a multinational professional services network based in London, United Kingdom. It is the largest professional services network in the world by revenue and number of employees, and is one of the Big Four accounting firms, along wi ...

), as a supervising accountant. In 1948, he began working on Chrysler's account. He also did accounting for the

American Motors Corporation American Motors Corporation (AMC; commonly referred to as American Motors) was an American automobile manufacturing company formed by the mergers and acquisitions, merger of Nash-Kelvinator Corporation and Hudson Motor Car Company on May 1, 19 ...

. In 1952, he became a partner of the firm. In 1957, Townsend joined Chrysler as comptroller. In 1959, he became group vice president of international relations and joined the company's board of directors. In 1960, Townsend was promoted to vice president of administration – the number two position in the company. On July 27, 1961, Chrysler chairman and president Lester Lum Colbert resigned amid a conflict of interest scandal. He was succeeded as chairman by George H. Love and as president by Townsend. Love, who worked part-time due to his duties with Consolidation Coal, was the company's chief policy officer and Townsend served as the company's chief administrative officer. Under Townsend's leadership, Chrysler decreased expenses, overhauled its dealer system, and made improvements to its vehicles. Its U.S. market share grew from 7.3% in 1962 to 16.7% in 1966. Love stepped down as chairman in 1966 and Townsend succeeded him while remaining the company's chief executive. Virgil Boyd, Chrysler's group vice president, was promoted to president. The

bankruptcy of Penn Central American railroad company Penn Central Transportation Company declared bankruptcy on June 21, 1970, two and a half years after its formation by the merger of the New York Central Railroad and the Pennsylvania Railroad. At the time, this was the l ...

in 1970 led to a run on Chrysler Financial's

commercial paper Commercial paper, in the global financial market, is an Unsecured debt, unsecured promissory note with a fixed Maturity (finance), maturity of usually less than 270 days. In layperson terms, it is like an "IOU" but can be bought and sold becaus ...

. The company was bailed out by

Manufacturers Hanover Corporation Manufacturers Hanover Corporation was an American bank holding company that was formed as parent of Manufacturers Hanover Trust Company (MHT or, informally, Manny Hanny), a large New York City bank formed through a merger in 1961 with ancestor c ...

, who arranged for $410 million in loan credits. However, the

1973 oil crisis In October 1973, the Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OAPEC) announced that it was implementing a total oil embargo against countries that had supported Israel at any point during the 1973 Yom Kippur War, which began after Eg ...

and

1973–1975 recession The 1973–1975 recession or 1970s recession was a period of economic stagnation in much of the Western world (i.e. the United States, Canada, Western Europe, Australia, and New Zealand) during the 1970s, putting an end to the overall post–W ...

caused car sales to plummet, which compounded Chrysler's financial woes. In the fourth quarter of 1974, Chrysler Corporation posted a record loss of $170 million and

Moody's Investors Service Moody's Ratings, previously and still legally known as Moody's Investors Service and often referred to as Moody's, is the bond credit rating business of Moody's Corporation, representing the company's traditional line of business and its histo ...

had removed its rating from Chrysler Financial's commercial paper. On July 4, 1975, Townsend announced he would retire on October 1, 1975.

Death

Townsend died on August 17, 2000, in

Farmington Hills, Michigan Farmington Hills is a city in Oakland County, Michigan, Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan. A northwestern Metro Detroit, suburb of Detroit, Farmington Hills is located roughly from downtown Detroit. As of the 2020 United States censu ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Townsend, Lynn A. 1919 births 2000 deaths 20th-century American businesspeople American accountants American chief executives in the automobile industry Businesspeople from Beverly Hills, California Chrysler executives Ernst & Young people People from Flint, Michigan People from Evansville, Indiana University of Michigan alumni United States Navy personnel of World War II