Lee Iacocca's Thoughts on Today's Auto Industry

[TrainTrac]

I picked up the premier issue of Motor Trend Classic this weekend, and it contained a fascinating interview with Lee Iacocca. In it, he shares his insight on the state of today's auto industry, specifically commenting on the Big Three domestic companies. Here are a few excerpts...



About GM:

How can they do nine product platforms, and all the derivatives, and make them all exciting? How can they support them? It's impossible! Toyota brings out a new car. What is it? It's a Toyota. GM brings out a new car. Does anybody know what it is? I think I'd bite the bullet and say, "We got rid of Olds. How about Buick or Pontiac? What do we do about Hummer? How the hell did we get into that business? Why should General Motors be fooling around with American General? Why did we just buy Saab? Well, Ford was buying Volvo, so we had to buy somebody." Now Saturn's a full line of cars. Shouldn't Saturn have been a part of Chevrolet? That's the kind of stuff you don't forsee.

And get this--Did you know that Ford could've been the first automaker to produce a minivan?

Hal Sperlich lured me to Chrylser. Hal was on the original Mustang team at Ford, and he had a nose, a genius for looking at the whole inventory of platforms and components, bringing combinations together, and getting them to market. He was just great at it. He used to drive me nuts. He pushed me harder on the Mustang than anybody, and he pushed me on the minivan. We called it the Minimax at Ford--the front-drive van that drives like a car and fits in a normal garage. All the research indicated it would be a winner. Sperlich pushed so hard that Henry Ford made me fire him, and he went to Chrysler--would up holding the door open for me there. I said, "Why? They're dead-ass broke." So he brought over a prototype with front drive and said, "There's your Minimax." So that was the opener. We'd just spent a ton of money on the mini-van idea at Ford, and I wanted approval to get our old files, all the research I got, in writing, and they let me take everything. The minivan was a cash cow, hitting the market at the right time, hitting it just right.

On saving Chrysler:

I guess that's one achievment I'm really proud of. Saving Chrysler was more than jobs, more than shareholder value. Saving Chrysler was a good idea for the whole country. The merger with Daimler-Benz was a good deal too, but it should've gone the other way--Chrysler should've bought Daimler-Benz. As it was, it took the Germans seven years to assimilate it.

The man is an icon in the auto industry. Unfortunately, most of the general populace today probably only knows him from his recent Chrysler commercials. Today's auto execs would greatly benefit from his sage advice and insight.

 

[Rodger Tellefson]

WOW! Thanks for posting.

 

[Tom Schindler]

Lee Iaococca was an absolute genious. Unfrtunatly, he caused Ford to fire him. It was a mistake on Ford's part, but Ford is still paying for his mistake.





Tom