VALE Lee Iacocca
Images: Courtesy Ford and FCA
Lee Iacocca, one of the most significant figures in the post-War American auto industry, has died. Aged 94, Iacocca passed on 2 July following complications from Parkinson’s Disease.
Born in Allentown, Pennsylvania on 15 October, 1924, Lido Anthony ‘Lee’ Iacocca declared as a youngster that that he wanted to work for Ford, so studied as an engineer, achieving a master’s degree in engineering in 1946.
Sidestep at Ford
After joining Ford Motor Company’s engineering department at Dearborn in August, 1946, and completing the standard in-house training course in half the usual 18-month period, the 22-year-old requested a move from engineering to sales. When this was denied, Iacocca left Michigan and returned to Pennsylvania, but remained with Ford as a regional sales manager.
Iacocca came to Dearborn’s attention again in 1956, when he implemented a regional sales promotion that was so successful it was rolled out nationwide. Called back to Ford HQ, Iacocca’s star rose rapidly – by 1961, he was the general manager of the Ford Division.
With other like-minded young executives, Iacocca brought “younger” thinking to Ford and a push to be bolder in bringing new vehicles to market. Understanding this growing youth market – and that Ford had nothing to cater to it – Iacocca proposed a car that was sporty, fun and had youth appeal. That car, of course, was the Mustang. After the disaster of the Edsel, Ford management was gun-shy about anything completely new, rejecting the proposal four times, but Iacocca persisted.
While Iacocca gets much of the credit for the Mustang, he wasn’t alone. Don Frey played just an important a role, with Don Peterson, Bob Eggert, Walter Murphy and Hal Sperlich also pivotal to the Mustang’s creation.
The Mustang’s success – more than a million sales in under two years – gave Iacocca the green light to introduce future products, including the Shelby Mustangs, Mercury’s Cougar and the Lincoln Continental MkIII.
These successes also moved Iacocca further up the corporate ladder. Already the Ford Division boss, Iacocca was promoted to Vice President of Ford Motor Company by 1964, Executive Vice President in 1967 and President in 1970. Henry Ford II was still Chairman, though, and clashed with Iacocca regularly. Following less-than-successful receptions to cars like the Maverick, Mustang II and litigation-plagued Pinto, Ford ultimately fired Iacocca in July, 1978.
Ford’s loss, Chrysler’s gain
Four months after being ousted from Ford, Iacocca was hired by Chrysler, which was on the brink of bankruptcy after years of uninspiring products, failed overseas operations and falling sales.
Iacocca’s first great idea wasn’t a car, but going cap in hand to the US Congress, requesting loan guarantees of US$1.5 billion to keep the company afloat.
Once these had been secured, new product could be developed and the first of these was the ‘K Car’ platform Dodge and Plymouth, released in 1980. Another case of Iacocca’s correct reading of the needs of the US market, these compact, efficient, front-wheel drive vehicles broke the Chrysler mould, but proved to be exactly what consumers were looking for. Iacocca himself would serve as the ‘pitch man’ for the new products, too; appearing in dozens of TV commercials extolling their merits.
Success with the K-Car led to a minivan being developed off the same platform and released in 1983. By this stage, Chrysler was returning to profitability, so much so that they were able to pay off their loan debt seven years ahead of schedule.
In 1987, Iacocca’s next move was purchasing American Motors (AMC), mainly to get the Jeep brand. This would also prove to be successful, while the Dodge Viper of 1990 brought excitement to Chrysler akin to what the Mustang had done for Ford.
Iacocca retired in 1992, but that only lasted a few years. In 1997, he founded electric bicycle company EV Global Motors.
Philanthropist and Author
Away from the auto business, Iacocca established the Iacocca Family Foundation in 1983 to fund diabetes research after his first wife died from the disease. He also wrote three books: an autobiography in 1984; and two management-style titles, released in 1988 and 2006, respectively.
While not connected to either Ford or Chrysler in the new millennium, Iacocca was nonetheless respected by both, with the former honouring him with an ‘Iacocca Edition’ 45th Anniversary Mustang in 2009. Both carmakers also released statements honouring his contribution to their respective companies following his death.
Lee Iacocca is survived by two former wives and two children.
