Lee Iacocca, 1924-2019

Lee Iacocca, the Italian-american automotive executive credited with creating the Ford Mustang and rescuing Chrysler, has died aged 94.

Iacocca was appointed Ford vice-president in 1960 after boosting sales by helping to formulate payment plans for new cars. He then dreamed up the idea of a compact sports coupé based on the Falcon saloon – the result being the 1964 Mustang. Iacocca forged links with Carroll Shelby and Alejandro de Tomaso too – both notoriously difficult men to work with – resulting in the Shelby GT350 Mustang, the De Tomaso Pantera and the Ghia styling house working in longterm partnership with Ford. Ascending to Ford presidency in 1970, Iacocca’s radical ideas – including platform-sharing and MPVS – saw his management style clash with the more conservative Henry Ford II. Ford fired Iacocca, who took his ideas and contacts to loss-making Chrysler. After selling the European division to PSA – inadvertently creating Peugeot as we know it – he secured a US Government-backed loan to reinvigorate Chrysler. Front-wheel-drive platform-shared cars, the MPV as we know it – the Voyager – and new collaborations with Carroll Shelby followed, as did the acquisition of Jeep in 1987 and the launch of the Wrangler.

Iacocca thought about entering politics in the late Eighties and early Nineties, even considering the Democratic nomination for President in 1988, later retracting his bid even though polls were in his favour. In 2007, he published a book, Where Have All The Leaders Gone, and launched an associated online platform to discuss issues including clean energy sources and affordable healthcare.