9 ms·

Lee Iacocca Has Died

146 points by uptown 7y ago

braythwayt 7y ago
“We at Chrysler borrow money the old-fashioned way. We pay it back.”—Lee Iacocca A refreshing alternative to this generation’s public bailouts of private businesses.
- abtinf 7y ago
  “He was widely credited with saving the company from bankruptcy by persuading Congress in 1980 to approve federal loan guarantees of up to $1.5 billion.”
  - braythwayt 7y ago
    Loans that were repaid. Compare and contrast to the bank bailouts, which were used to give bonuses to the very execs who ruined the banks in the first place.
    - addicted 7y ago
      TARP, i.e. the bank bailouts, was profitable for the government, to the tune of over $100Bn. https://projects.propublica.org/bailout/ https://projects.propublica.org/bailout/ Of course, the government should have gotten a much better return for the risk they took, but for a program that has been reviled as $600bn giveaway, and is remembered that way, a $100bn profit is an incredible gain.
      - deleted 7y ago
        [deleted]
      - hermitdev 7y ago
        Yes, but this is an uncomfortable truth for those that want to blame banks for the 2008 collapse (especially ignoring the federal mandates that they make a lot of the loans behid the 2008 collapse).
    - savanaly 7y ago
      In the case of the bank bailouts of 2008, didn't they all get repaid, with interest, and the government made money on it?
    - basementcat 7y ago
      Bank bailouts were mostly repaid, turning a profit for taxpayers. https://www.politifact.com/new-hampshire/statements/2012/oct/25/barack-obama/barack-obama-says-banks-paid-back-all-federal-bail/ https://www.politifact.com/new-hampshire/statements/2012/oct...
- throw20102010 7y ago
  I think we're looking at Mr. Iacocca with some rose-tinted glasses. He sought government bailouts, fought against requiring seatbelts in cars (because a few dollars worth of nylon would "ruin" his margins), and also fought against environmental standards, particularly requiring catalytic converters (to be fair, catalytic converters probably did ruin his margins). He is definitely an icon, but do not forget that he was a cutthroat businessman that would do anything to make sure his businessed thrived. https://nader.org/1979/10/25/iacoccas-gw-commencement-speech-on-auto-safety/ https://nader.org/1979/10/25/iacoccas-gw-commencement-speech...
  - braythwayt 7y ago
    I’m actually not very pro-Iacocca in the least, but I must give credit where credit is due. At the time I questioned the loans, and still do. But in comparison to bank bailouts, Those arrangements were far less costly for taxpayers.
    - throw20102010 7y ago
      In your original comment you never mention bank bailouts. A far more appropriate comparison would be the more recent bailouts of US automakers in which the TARP loans were all repaid. Granted, the partial ownership of the companies that the government took on during the bailout resulted in a loss- but I'm not sure if it would have been more appropriate for the government to hold the stock until it recovered. https://www.thebalance.com/auto-industry-bailout-gm-ford-chrysler-3305670 https://www.thebalance.com/auto-industry-bailout-gm-ford-chr...
      - addicted 7y ago
        TARP was primarily about the banks, but the money authorized was expanded to cover automakers as well. The government made a profit on it overall, and both the bank and auto parts were profitable. The problem with TARP was the government should have got a lot more equity in return for what it provided (for example, Goldman Sachs and Warren Buffett also invested, and got better terms, but the government's impact was even greater, and should have gotten as good terms, if not even better ones than Buffett and Goldman).
RcouF1uZ4gsC 7y ago
The part about Lee Iacocco introducing the Mustang reminded me about this passage from In Search of Stupidity: Over 20 Years of High-Tech Marketing Disasters by Merrill R. Chapman > In the auto industry, a classic example is the Ford Falcon. The brainchild of "whiz kid" Robert McNamara, the Falcon was designed from the get-go as a "people's car." In other words, it couldn't go very fast, it got good gas mileage, and it was economical to run. Extolling these virtues was the car's deliberately plug-ugly design, one that proclaimed the vehicle was in the service of the lumpen proletariat, those who only drive and serve. The lumpen proletariat didn't appreciate the sentiments the Falcon reflected, and although people who couldn't afford anything more bought the Falcon, they drove the car without joy and bought few of the optional accessories that made selling the car profitable. > On the other hand, the Ford Mustang when it was released in 1964 was a phenomenon, and Ford couldn't make enough of them to meet demand. Mustangs were fun, sexy, and desirable. Mustang owners were intelligent and cool people with a great sense of value, the type of folks you wished would invite you to a barbecue at their place. Of course, the Mustang also wouldn't go very fast (though it looked like it could), got good gas mileage, and was very economical to run. This is because it was, underneath its alluring sheet metal, nothing more than a reskinned Ford Falcon. But by dint of good design and the addition of key features that proclaimed the car wasn't for old farts (such as a snazzy steering wheel and bucket seats) and sporty options (such as high-profit, high-performance engines), the Mustang became a car you could aspire to whereas the Falcon was just a cheap set of wheels.
- plink 7y ago
  “whereas the Falcon was just a cheap set of wheels.” A cheap set of wheels that notoriously disappeared Argentinian activists.
  - mulmen 7y ago
    I don’t understand the reference, can you elaborate?
    - ahi 7y ago
      They were the vehicle of choice for Argentinian death squads: https://www.reuters.com/article/argentina-dictatorship-falcon/suspected-death-squad-cars-found-at-argentine-base-idUSL2E8QR0OQ20120327?rpc=401&feedType=RSS&feedName=rbssConsumerGoodsAndRetailNews&rpc=401 https://www.reuters.com/article/argentina-dictatorship-falco...
RickJWagner 7y ago
One of the great business marketers of the 80s. Rest in Peace, Mr. Iacocca. I really enjoyed some of your works.
EvanAnderson 7y ago
My wife and I identify thrift stores, in part, by the number of copies of "Iacocca" (his autobiography) that are on the shelf. ("This one has a high Iacocca coefficient...") I suppose I should actually read it at some point. Maybe this is a good occasion to do so. (I tried reading "Future Shock", our other perennial thrift store classic, and couldn't make it thru.)
- Aloha 7y ago
  It's a pretty good book, a little boostery, but good.
- mulmen 7y ago
  I read it many years ago but I recall it being a good story. Certainly worth checking out for a few bucks.
- cpeterso 7y ago
  > My wife and I identify thrift stores, in part, by the number of copies of "Iacocca" (his autobiography) that are on the shelf. Another thrift store metric is the number of copies of "Jerry Maguire" VHS tapes. A video performance group called Everything Is Terrible has collected over 15,000 Jerry Maguire tapes. They've hosted pop-up video stores that only rent Jerry Maguire. Their new project is raising $500,000 to build a Jerry Maguire pyramid in the desert. http://www.jerrymaguirepyramid.com/ http://www.jerrymaguirepyramid.com/ > (I tried reading "Future Shock", our other perennial thrift store classic, and couldn't make it thru.) Orson Welles narrated a 40-minute 1972 film version of Future Shock. It's available on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fkUwXenBokU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fkUwXenBokU
vadym909 7y ago
Most Americans may not realize it, but Iacocca was a hero to many international younger generation kids -especially engineers, mainly because his book Iacocca was the first inside glimpse of a top american car company with a story of a hero operator vs owner. The book can still be found on the streets of any developing country. RIP!
- hermitdev 7y ago
  Many Americans won't, but some do. I certainly remember my dad discussing him in the 80s and 90s.
- sharadov 7y ago
  Right on! It was the first business book I read, was probably 15. And yeah am from India, where you bought it from the footpath book sellers.
  - gepiti 7y ago
    Me too (same age Greece)
- lolptdr 7y ago
  My dad had coverless version after moving to America, had no idea how important Iacocca was!
mulmen 7y ago
A titan of the automotive industry. His autobiography was influential in my formative years. As the son of an immigrant his is an inspirational tale of what is possible when we open our arms. RIP Lee.
Shivetya 7y ago
Henry Ford II really did Chrysler a favor by firing Lee Iacocca but also in firing Hal Sperlich who came up with the minivan concept while at Ford that Henry Ford did not like at all. Needless to say he was hired by Chrysler and given the green light to produce it on the K car platform that was the platform to save Chrysler Now I cannot find backing for this story, I seem to recall at the introduction of one of the new models, perhaps the minivan, the door handle either did not work or detached.
WalterBright 7y ago
Thank you for the Mustang, Lee! I had a '67, and adored that car. It looked great, was easy to work on, and I had to have one after a high school buddy offered me a ride in his, and he promptly floored it. Wow! I burned up a lot of tires on mine. All the fellows had a muscle car, or was trying to get one. What a great time to be in high school! None of these silly "boom cars" or whatever.
mzs 7y ago
This was a particularly good obit: https://www.latimes.com/local/la-me-lee-iacocca-20190702-story.html https://www.latimes.com/local/la-me-lee-iacocca-20190702-sto...
ddebernardy 7y ago
Passage from an ebook by Charlie Cook (The New Profit Rules): > Lee Iacocca became president of the near-bankrupt Chrysler Corporation in 1978 with an ambitious recovery plan. Had he approached Chrysler’s problems sequentially – making cuts in operations, then making changes in marketing, next making improvements in product lines - the company would have been belly up long before his full plan went into effect. > Instead, Iacocca took on every problem at once; firing inept management and replacing with his own trusted team, putting two new untested products on the road at once, offering a new, better warranty without possibly knowing what the future cost could be to the company, even placing himself in the company’s commercials as pitchman. > Iacocca’s understanding of the critical need for speed is exemplified in one classic story. In 1981, no major American car manufacturer had built a convertible car for five years. Sensing an opportunity, Iacocca asked his lead engineer how long it would take to make a convertible for him to test a new convertible. The answer? Three years. > Iacocca didn’t understand why it should take so long. It would take him 4 hours to take a chainsaw to a sedan and end up with a convertible, he said. Within a few days, Iacocca had a freshly-topless car to drive around to see if women would stare at him (his key indicator). They did, and the LeBaron convertible was born. It was a huge success, selling 21,000 units over projection in the first year.
cntlzw 7y ago
paywall
wjp3 7y ago
The first car I drove was a 1964.5 white fast-back mustang that my dad refurb'ed in the late 80's, with me being his "shop gopher". I remember to this day the sound of that engine firing up when I was behind the wheel. Even though it sounded the same as every other time it started, it still felt other-worldly. The gas pedal had that slight resistance to it, so when I pressed harder and the raw power pushed me back into that seat, the exhilaration felt has rarely been matched all these years later.
linksnapzz 7y ago
One of the other things that Iacocca did, which I don't see mentioned as often, was the acquisition of AMC from Renault. Lee wanted the Jeep brand; IIRC Hal Sperlich and others didn't think it was worth it, but Lee got his way. Along with the Cherokee, Wrangler & Wagoneer, they also got the highly-underrated AMC design and engineering teams. What I found fascinating about that was how well the corporate integration was handled-AMC/Jeep wasn't run as a separate subsidiary for very long, and AMC people were integrated into roles of responsibility in the new organization, and products gradually began to incorporate components from both prior companies. Compare that with GM, which owned Adam Opel for almost ninety years without fully integrating its operations, or the way Daimler handled its merger with Chrysler....

146 points by uptown 7y ago

“We at Chrysler borrow money the old-fashioned way. We pay it back.”—Lee Iacocca A refreshing alternative to this generation’s public bailouts of private businesses.

abtinf 7y ago
“He was widely credited with saving the company from bankruptcy by persuading Congress in 1980 to approve federal loan guarantees of up to $1.5 billion.”
- braythwayt 7y ago
  Loans that were repaid. Compare and contrast to the bank bailouts, which were used to give bonuses to the very execs who ruined the banks in the first place.
  - addicted 7y ago
    TARP, i.e. the bank bailouts, was profitable for the government, to the tune of over $100Bn. https://projects.propublica.org/bailout/ https://projects.propublica.org/bailout/ Of course, the government should have gotten a much better return for the risk they took, but for a program that has been reviled as $600bn giveaway, and is remembered that way, a $100bn profit is an incredible gain.
    - deleted 7y ago
      [deleted]
    - hermitdev 7y ago
      Yes, but this is an uncomfortable truth for those that want to blame banks for the 2008 collapse (especially ignoring the federal mandates that they make a lot of the loans behid the 2008 collapse).
  - savanaly 7y ago
    In the case of the bank bailouts of 2008, didn't they all get repaid, with interest, and the government made money on it?
  - basementcat 7y ago
    Bank bailouts were mostly repaid, turning a profit for taxpayers. https://www.politifact.com/new-hampshire/statements/2012/oct/25/barack-obama/barack-obama-says-banks-paid-back-all-federal-bail/ https://www.politifact.com/new-hampshire/statements/2012/oct...
throw20102010 7y ago
I think we're looking at Mr. Iacocca with some rose-tinted glasses. He sought government bailouts, fought against requiring seatbelts in cars (because a few dollars worth of nylon would "ruin" his margins), and also fought against environmental standards, particularly requiring catalytic converters (to be fair, catalytic converters probably did ruin his margins). He is definitely an icon, but do not forget that he was a cutthroat businessman that would do anything to make sure his businessed thrived. https://nader.org/1979/10/25/iacoccas-gw-commencement-speech-on-auto-safety/ https://nader.org/1979/10/25/iacoccas-gw-commencement-speech...
- braythwayt 7y ago
  I’m actually not very pro-Iacocca in the least, but I must give credit where credit is due. At the time I questioned the loans, and still do. But in comparison to bank bailouts, Those arrangements were far less costly for taxpayers.
  - throw20102010 7y ago
    In your original comment you never mention bank bailouts. A far more appropriate comparison would be the more recent bailouts of US automakers in which the TARP loans were all repaid. Granted, the partial ownership of the companies that the government took on during the bailout resulted in a loss- but I'm not sure if it would have been more appropriate for the government to hold the stock until it recovered. https://www.thebalance.com/auto-industry-bailout-gm-ford-chrysler-3305670 https://www.thebalance.com/auto-industry-bailout-gm-ford-chr...
    - addicted 7y ago
      TARP was primarily about the banks, but the money authorized was expanded to cover automakers as well. The government made a profit on it overall, and both the bank and auto parts were profitable. The problem with TARP was the government should have got a lot more equity in return for what it provided (for example, Goldman Sachs and Warren Buffett also invested, and got better terms, but the government's impact was even greater, and should have gotten as good terms, if not even better ones than Buffett and Goldman).

RcouF1uZ4gsC 7y ago

The part about Lee Iacocco introducing the Mustang reminded me about this passage from In Search of Stupidity: Over 20 Years of High-Tech Marketing Disasters by Merrill R. Chapman > In the auto industry, a classic example is the Ford Falcon. The brainchild of "whiz kid" Robert McNamara, the Falcon was designed from the get-go as a "people's car." In other words, it couldn't go very fast, it got good gas mileage, and it was economical to run. Extolling these virtues was the car's deliberately plug-ugly design, one that proclaimed the vehicle was in the service of the lumpen proletariat, those who only drive and serve. The lumpen proletariat didn't appreciate the sentiments the Falcon reflected, and although people who couldn't afford anything more bought the Falcon, they drove the car without joy and bought few of the optional accessories that made selling the car profitable. > On the other hand, the Ford Mustang when it was released in 1964 was a phenomenon, and Ford couldn't make enough of them to meet demand. Mustangs were fun, sexy, and desirable. Mustang owners were intelligent and cool people with a great sense of value, the type of folks you wished would invite you to a barbecue at their place. Of course, the Mustang also wouldn't go very fast (though it looked like it could), got good gas mileage, and was very economical to run. This is because it was, underneath its alluring sheet metal, nothing more than a reskinned Ford Falcon. But by dint of good design and the addition of key features that proclaimed the car wasn't for old farts (such as a snazzy steering wheel and bucket seats) and sporty options (such as high-profit, high-performance engines), the Mustang became a car you could aspire to whereas the Falcon was just a cheap set of wheels.

plink 7y ago
“whereas the Falcon was just a cheap set of wheels.” A cheap set of wheels that notoriously disappeared Argentinian activists.
- mulmen 7y ago
  I don’t understand the reference, can you elaborate?
  - ahi 7y ago
    They were the vehicle of choice for Argentinian death squads: https://www.reuters.com/article/argentina-dictatorship-falcon/suspected-death-squad-cars-found-at-argentine-base-idUSL2E8QR0OQ20120327?rpc=401&feedType=RSS&feedName=rbssConsumerGoodsAndRetailNews&rpc=401 https://www.reuters.com/article/argentina-dictatorship-falco...

RickJWagner 7y ago

One of the great business marketers of the 80s. Rest in Peace, Mr. Iacocca. I really enjoyed some of your works.

EvanAnderson 7y ago

My wife and I identify thrift stores, in part, by the number of copies of "Iacocca" (his autobiography) that are on the shelf. ("This one has a high Iacocca coefficient...") I suppose I should actually read it at some point. Maybe this is a good occasion to do so. (I tried reading "Future Shock", our other perennial thrift store classic, and couldn't make it thru.)

Aloha 7y ago
It's a pretty good book, a little boostery, but good.
mulmen 7y ago
I read it many years ago but I recall it being a good story. Certainly worth checking out for a few bucks.
cpeterso 7y ago
> My wife and I identify thrift stores, in part, by the number of copies of "Iacocca" (his autobiography) that are on the shelf. Another thrift store metric is the number of copies of "Jerry Maguire" VHS tapes. A video performance group called Everything Is Terrible has collected over 15,000 Jerry Maguire tapes. They've hosted pop-up video stores that only rent Jerry Maguire. Their new project is raising $500,000 to build a Jerry Maguire pyramid in the desert. http://www.jerrymaguirepyramid.com/ http://www.jerrymaguirepyramid.com/ > (I tried reading "Future Shock", our other perennial thrift store classic, and couldn't make it thru.) Orson Welles narrated a 40-minute 1972 film version of Future Shock. It's available on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fkUwXenBokU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fkUwXenBokU

vadym909 7y ago

Most Americans may not realize it, but Iacocca was a hero to many international younger generation kids -especially engineers, mainly because his book Iacocca was the first inside glimpse of a top american car company with a story of a hero operator vs owner. The book can still be found on the streets of any developing country. RIP!

hermitdev 7y ago
Many Americans won't, but some do. I certainly remember my dad discussing him in the 80s and 90s.
sharadov 7y ago
Right on! It was the first business book I read, was probably 15. And yeah am from India, where you bought it from the footpath book sellers.
- gepiti 7y ago
  Me too (same age Greece)
lolptdr 7y ago
My dad had coverless version after moving to America, had no idea how important Iacocca was!

mulmen 7y ago

A titan of the automotive industry. His autobiography was influential in my formative years. As the son of an immigrant his is an inspirational tale of what is possible when we open our arms. RIP Lee.

Shivetya 7y ago

Henry Ford II really did Chrysler a favor by firing Lee Iacocca but also in firing Hal Sperlich who came up with the minivan concept while at Ford that Henry Ford did not like at all. Needless to say he was hired by Chrysler and given the green light to produce it on the K car platform that was the platform to save Chrysler Now I cannot find backing for this story, I seem to recall at the introduction of one of the new models, perhaps the minivan, the door handle either did not work or detached.

WalterBright 7y ago

Thank you for the Mustang, Lee! I had a '67, and adored that car. It looked great, was easy to work on, and I had to have one after a high school buddy offered me a ride in his, and he promptly floored it. Wow! I burned up a lot of tires on mine. All the fellows had a muscle car, or was trying to get one. What a great time to be in high school! None of these silly "boom cars" or whatever.

mzs 7y ago

This was a particularly good obit: https://www.latimes.com/local/la-me-lee-iacocca-20190702-story.html https://www.latimes.com/local/la-me-lee-iacocca-20190702-sto...

ddebernardy 7y ago

Passage from an ebook by Charlie Cook (The New Profit Rules): > Lee Iacocca became president of the near-bankrupt Chrysler Corporation in 1978 with an ambitious recovery plan. Had he approached Chrysler’s problems sequentially – making cuts in operations, then making changes in marketing, next making improvements in product lines - the company would have been belly up long before his full plan went into effect. > Instead, Iacocca took on every problem at once; firing inept management and replacing with his own trusted team, putting two new untested products on the road at once, offering a new, better warranty without possibly knowing what the future cost could be to the company, even placing himself in the company’s commercials as pitchman. > Iacocca’s understanding of the critical need for speed is exemplified in one classic story. In 1981, no major American car manufacturer had built a convertible car for five years. Sensing an opportunity, Iacocca asked his lead engineer how long it would take to make a convertible for him to test a new convertible. The answer? Three years. > Iacocca didn’t understand why it should take so long. It would take him 4 hours to take a chainsaw to a sedan and end up with a convertible, he said. Within a few days, Iacocca had a freshly-topless car to drive around to see if women would stare at him (his key indicator). They did, and the LeBaron convertible was born. It was a huge success, selling 21,000 units over projection in the first year.

cntlzw 7y ago

paywall

wjp3 7y ago

The first car I drove was a 1964.5 white fast-back mustang that my dad refurb'ed in the late 80's, with me being his "shop gopher". I remember to this day the sound of that engine firing up when I was behind the wheel. Even though it sounded the same as every other time it started, it still felt other-worldly. The gas pedal had that slight resistance to it, so when I pressed harder and the raw power pushed me back into that seat, the exhilaration felt has rarely been matched all these years later.

linksnapzz 7y ago

One of the other things that Iacocca did, which I don't see mentioned as often, was the acquisition of AMC from Renault. Lee wanted the Jeep brand; IIRC Hal Sperlich and others didn't think it was worth it, but Lee got his way. Along with the Cherokee, Wrangler & Wagoneer, they also got the highly-underrated AMC design and engineering teams. What I found fascinating about that was how well the corporate integration was handled-AMC/Jeep wasn't run as a separate subsidiary for very long, and AMC people were integrated into roles of responsibility in the new organization, and products gradually began to incorporate components from both prior companies. Compare that with GM, which owned Adam Opel for almost ninety years without fully integrating its operations, or the way Daimler handled its merger with Chrysler....