His so-called Ladder of Success gave each car brand a price point that wouldn’t conflict with any others.

It was said that you could tell who lived in which house by which car was parked out front — a Cadillac suggested a CEO, the Buick was the factory foreman. Sloan's range architecture made the question “which car is right for me?” a simple one, not a stressful one, and so General Motors thrived.