ClassicCar

In my opinion, Hudson "got it right" in terms of marketing in 1938 and 39. After a period of several years in which the senior and the less-expensive Hudsons looked similar to one another, in '38 and '39 there was at least some differentiation in the front end design. (Different grilles, different headlamp location.)

Consider how similar the '37 Terraplanes and Hudsons looked. Why would someone want to spend more money buying a Hudson in 1937 when he could buy a similar-looking Terraplane for hundreds less? This was unfortunate for Hudson, because they (and all car companies) made a greater profit per car on their more expensive models, not their cheap ones. But the aura of the Hudson nameplate was cheapened by the availability of the look-alike, budget priced Terraplane. In '38 and '39, the two series looked different from one another, to Hudson's advantage. Then, once again, all models began to look similar to one another.

Hudson had a good idea when they introduced the lower-priced Essex, which was a separate nameplate (so the Hudson name could be kept as a medium high-priced car). But this ended in 1939 when they dropped the lower-priced nameplate (Terraplane, by then) and simply referred to the cheaper car as a Hudson (112).

Packard cheapened its name in the late 1930's by introducing a less-expensive car under the Packard nameplate. It saved the company for the time being but undermined the nameplate. In the early 1950's the company introduced the "Clipper" nameplate in order to keep the Packard nameplate more upscale. But it was too late.