1930-1939 A Changing of the Guard
The 1930s were not kind to MMC. The Depression took its toll on sales, but because of their worldwide scope and coverage, MMC fared slightly better than their counterparts. The Corsair became the best selling vehicle in the world starting in 1930 on into 1935 as the Menard Ojibway Complex and the other factories churned out millions of cars, providing a living to hundreds of thousands of people.
In 1932, Moise Menard officially "retired" as Chairman and handed over the reigns to his son, John. Menard the younger was a much different man than his father. He was shrewd, calculating and he preferred spending time in London and Paris rather than Windsor, and only went to that city, what he called "that old smelly backwater" when he had to. Despite his often chilly personality he was a born businessman with an uncanny sense of what the public wanted and he inherited his father's love of innovation.
In the depths of the Depression, John Menard actually lowered the price of the Corsair - a move that caused other executives in the company to question his sanity. John loved motion pictures, and MMC Corsair roadsters were the preferred car used in that era's gangster films. John knew the power of cinema as a tool in setting the style of the time, and he paid movie production houses, namely MGM (which was ran by a fellow Canadian Louis B Mayer) handsomely and often provided them with free cars.
In order to save money on materials the company did not expand and actually closed the old Leamington plant, converting it into a warehouse and later selling it to Heinz, putting 2,400 men out of work. In 1934 The company laid off 45,000 workers company wide which caused several strikes and demonstrations, but these demonstrations were brutally broken up by local police and by gangs of hired men workers called "Johnny's Boys".
After these incidents and seeing the success of their contemporaries in the United States, many workers started openly talking about establishing a union - something unheard of in the days when Moise ran the company. From the company's inception in 1909, Menard offered workers profit sharing cheques and Christmas bonuses, but John Menard abolished these benefits as soon as he took office in 1932 in an effort to save money. In his mind, his father was running a ship with "a million leaks", and John had no generous bone in his body. When asked about this by a local newspaper, Menard was quoted as saying "If the workers don't like their jobs, they can seek work elsewhere". This quote only further infuriated the workers, but because this was at the height of the Depression, many felt they had no other choice, so work continued.
Moise Menard was troubled by his son's behaviour, but at the same time overjoyed with the profits. In a six year period from 1932 to 1938 the company made more money than it had in Moise's entire tenure as Chairman. Often in secret, Moise would visit homes of laid off workers and give them turkeys from one of the farms that he owned, and occasionally he would pay some of their late mortgages for them. Menard was raised in very humble circumstances so he empathized with many of his downtrodden workers. Menard was on the way to another laid off worker's home when on the evening of November 21st, 1938 he began to feel chest pains. His long time chauffeur was the last person to see him alive when Moise told him to go home early, as he felt like "driving over to the cottage" for a day of fishing. Approximately four hours later, his Corsair was found idling in the driveway of the home of a laid off MMC electrician who was away from home at the time. He was 67.
Moise Menard's funeral was attended by 20,000 people. Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King spoke, saying Menard was "a Canadian institution, and a man only his environment could create." Sitting in the gallery was his eldest son John, who then rose to speak. He called his father his "greatest inspiration" and then used the occasion to announce that the company would reinstate some of the benefits that his father had offered. Moise Menard was interred at the family plot, a simple farmer's cemetery just three miles from his massive 77 room mansion by the lake. His beloved cottage in Amherstburg would be donated to the Essex Golf and Country Club and serve as their new clubhouse.
Then, in September of 1939 everyone's world changed. John won several military contracts and he went about re hiring the now 25,000 laid off workers, along with over 150,000 additional people to replace the men who were drafted into the war effort. Menard Ojibway Complex, now totally completed was the heart of the British war arsenal. Far from German bombing runs it would produce Merlin engines, and eventually Lancaster bombers by the thousands. Other MMC factories would produce machine guns, Spitfires, Hurricanes and countless other weapons of war.
Menard Motor Company - Total Worldwide Sales by Year 1930-1939
1930 - 2,122,433
1931 - 2,210,394
1932 - 1,890,546
1933 - 1,794,008
1934 - 2,009,789
1935 - 2,199,657
1936 - 1,933,112
1937 - 2,390,855
1938 - 3,223,945
1939 - 3,534,320
Total Worldwide Unit Sales (1930-1939) -23,309,059