Iacocca, (Lido Anthony) Lee (1924– )

US automobile executive. During his long career at Ford Motor Co., he introduced the best-selling Mustang and was the company's president from 1970. He then became president, chief executive, and chairman of Chrysler Corporation (1978–92), which he restored to profitability through layoffs, cutbacks, hard-selling advertising (including his personal ‘pitches’), and a government loan guarantee.

In 1991 Iacocca faced pressure from his board to appoint a successor; Chrysler's share price was depressed, although he had refocused its resources on the core automotive business, introducing ‘platform teams’ to increase productivity. He brought in new shareholders, including US investor Kirk Kerkorian, who made an abortive $13.7 billion takeover approach for Chrysler in 1995 with Iacocca's support (three years after Iacocca had retired from the company). In 1997 Iacocca founded EV Global Motors to develop and market electric motorcycles. His publications, Iacocca: An Autobiography (1984) and Talking Straight (1988), were both best-sellers. More recently, in 2007, he co-authored and published Where Have All the Leaders Gone.

Born in Allentown, Pennsylvania, the son of an Italian immigrant, Iacocca was educated at Lehigh University and at Princeton University, where he received an MA in industrial and mechanical engineering. He began working as an engineering trainee at the Ford Motor Co. in 1946, but soon moved into sales. Working his way up to assistant sales manager in Philadelphia in 1953 and sales manager in Washington, DC, in 1956, he became vice-president and general manager in 1960. His promotion to president was assured in 1970 by his previous successful marketing of the Ford Mustang in 1964, which broke all sales records. However, he left Ford in 1978 because of his deteriorating relationship with US automobile manufacturer Henry Ford II.

In 1978 he was appointed president, and in the following year chief executive, of Chrysler Corporation, which at that time was facing bankruptcy. High fuel prices in the 1970s and the consumer shift to smaller cars had seen the company's market share fall to less than 10%. Iacocca sought US government aid and negotiated federal loan guarantees worth $1.5 billion in 1980. The Chrysler Corporation Loan Guarantee Act, signed by former US president Jimmy Carter, provided that money if Chrysler could raise a further $2 billion. Iacocca responded by cutting inventories, closing plants, and cutting staff with union concessions.

Still facing losses in 1981, Chrysler introduced the popular K-cars, the Dodge Aries, and the Plymouth Reliant front-wheel drive cars with fuel-efficient engines. Iacocca led an aggressive advertising campaign and was one of the first CEOs to appear in television commercials. Chrysler returned to profitability in 1982 (for the first time since 1973), and the federal loan guarantees were repaid seven years early in 1983. In 1984, Iacocca introduced the minivans, Dodge Caravan and Plymouth Voyager, which replaced the station wagon as the standard family car and became one of the best-selling vehicles in the USA. That year he reorganized Chrysler into a holding company with four operating divisions: Chrysler Motors, Chrysler Financial, Gulfstream Aerospace, and Chrysler Technologies.

Under his leadership, Chrysler expanded overseas; it acquired a 15.6% stake in Italian luxury car manufacturer Maserati in 1984, and formed a joint venture company, Diamond-Star Motors, with Mitsubishi Motors in 1985. In 1987 it acquired Lamborghini, the Italian manufacturer of speciality sports cars and high performance racing engines, and also made its most significant acquisition, purchasing American Motors Corporation – the fourth largest US automotive company and manufacturer of the world-famous Jeep – for $800 million. It had joint agreements with Fiat to distribute Alfa Romeos in the USA in 1988 and with Steyr-Daimler-Puch to build minivans for the European market in 1989 (the company having recommenced exporting to Europe in 1987 after a nine year hiatus).