Alfred Pritchard Sloan Jr. ( SLOHN; May 23, 1875 – February 17, 1966) was an American business executive in the automotive industry. He was a longtime president, chairman and CEO of General Motors Corporation. First as a senior executive and later as the head of the organization, Sloan presided over the growth of General Motors (GM) into one of the largest corporations in the world. During this period, GM spearheaded the adoption of the annual model change, brand architecture, industrial engineering, automotive design (styling), and planned obsolescence within the automobile industry. Such developments forever changed lifestyles and the built environment within America and throughout the world.
Sloan wrote his memoir, My Years with General Motors, in the 1950s. Like Henry Ford, Sloan is remembered with a complex mixture of admiration for his accomplishments, appreciation for his philanthropy, and unease or reproach regarding his attitudes during the interwar period and World War II.
