Tag Archives: Detroit

Lee became the vice-president of the corporate car and truck group in January of 1965, making him responsible for planning, production and marketing of all cars and trucks for the Lincoln-Mercury and Ford Divisions. However, there was a big problem, … Continue reading →

The annual capacity for Ford Motor Company production in 1965 was 360,000 cars and soon they were converting a 2nd and 3rd plant to respond to demand. The options were where the Mustang would make major gains, over 80% ordered … Continue reading →

The deadline for this new car was April 1964 for the World’s Fair in New York, an audacious occasion to showcase a new car since this was not standard practice. Many designs were proposed but the model created by David … Continue reading →

In 1961, Iacocca resolved that instead of creating a car in search of a market like the Edsel, he would find a market in search of a car. The starting point was Iacocca’s pitch to Henry Ford II about the … Continue reading →

In 1956, Ford Motor Company went public and Iacocca wanted to compete directly with GM’s Cadillac. So, the Ford Edsel (named after Henry Ford’s son) was released with much fanfare. But it was remarkably unsuccessful. The production costs were set … Continue reading →

In the auto-industry, change is constant and for Detroit, the challenge is always figuring out what’s going to appeal to customers three years down the road. That is because production from design, research and fitting the plant for a production … Continue reading →

Iacocca was managing 11,000 workers in the Ford Division in 1962. The question is how did Iacocca motivate these workers? According to Iacocca, the truth is that the only way to motivate workers is to communicate with them, although you … Continue reading →

Iacocca supported management by Quarter Reviews at Ford Motor Company. Accountability to themselves as employees is more important than accountability to the boss. The employee will know whether they are doing well or not, and can effectively marshal, fire or … Continue reading →

Play dumb when you have to: In December of 1960, McNamara pressured Henry Ford to promote Iacocca to head of the Ford Division, Lee was told to play it cool when being taken to Henry Ford’s office and when offered … Continue reading →

For Lee, the dealers are the ONLY CUSTOMER of Ford, not the end user of the automobile. Ford’s business model relied heavily on key partners such as dealers who were franchised out. Sales representatives, such as Iacocca, would directly interact … Continue reading →