The New Quarterback

Young Henry Ford II, quietly signing up a new team to help run his empire, last week found the quarterback. He hired Ernest Robert Breech, 49, president of Bendix Aviation Corp., as executive vice president and director, at a salary guesstimated at over $200,000. Breech will furnish what the company has needed--an overall coordinator second in command to Young Henry. A man who can shrewdly keep tabs on the complexities of costs, production and marketing, Ernie Breech is regarded as one of the ablest men in the auto and aviation industries.

Like everything else he got, Ernie Breech earned his reputation. As a boy, he earned the right to play after-school baseball by rimming wagon wheels at his father's blacksmith shop in Lebanon, Mo. Later he earned his way through college.

In 1923, Breech began work for General Motors' subsidiary, Yellow Truck, as comptroller, moved up fast. In 1933, he became board chairman of North American Aviation, eventually landed in a G.M. vice presidential chair. In 1942, G.M.'s brown-haired boy was elected president of Bendix, controlled by G.M. By taking tough radar and radio contracts that other companies did not want, he pushed Bendix's annual gross up from $40,000,000 to nearly $1 billion. He still found time to play golf, fly his own plane, and pitch hay on his ten-acre farm near Detroit. With Ernie Breech calling signals, the auto industry may see plenty of power plays, with a little razzle-dazzle on the side.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.