Soldato
Decent enough innings at 94. He'd been dealing with Parkinson's, seems as though complications from that led to his passing.
Born to Italian immigrants in Allentown, Pennsylvania. He joined Ford Motor Company in 1946 as an engineer, before moving into sales and marketing. Iacocca rose through the ranks quickly - he was general manager and VP of the Ford division by 1960, ten years later he was president of the entire group. While at Ford he was credited with reviving the Mercury brand along with the creation of the Mustang and Pinto (hey, they can't all be winners
). He clashed with Henry Ford II though, and despite the group making fairly huge profits he was fired in July '78.
Iacocca took his ideas to Chrysler, who were going through what you might term a bit of a rough patch, becoming CEO of the firm. The minivan and the 'K-cars' (smaller FWD designs) had been rejected by Ford but helped save Chrysler from bankruptcy and led to them being able to pay back the government-backed loan that they'd had to take out some seven years early. He also led the purchase by Chrysler of AMC in 1987, which gave them the Jeep brand. Iacocca apparently really wanted the Jeep Grand Cherokee design that AMC were working on, it got delayed some due to the time the company was spending on updating the minivan design but it was finally ready for sale the year he retired from Chrysler (1992).
In addition to his motor industry work, Iacocca was an advocate for better diabetes treatments. His first wife Mary had struggled with the disease, eventually dying from it in '83. Iacocca founded Olivio Premium Products (they of the cooking oil and spread fame), donating all profits to diabetes research.
A giant of the automotive industry. His mark still remains today, most obviously in the Mustang but also in the popularisation of things like the minivan and more compact front-wheel drive designs over the larger rear-drive sedans and station wagons that had dominated the industry before.
Born to Italian immigrants in Allentown, Pennsylvania. He joined Ford Motor Company in 1946 as an engineer, before moving into sales and marketing. Iacocca rose through the ranks quickly - he was general manager and VP of the Ford division by 1960, ten years later he was president of the entire group. While at Ford he was credited with reviving the Mercury brand along with the creation of the Mustang and Pinto (hey, they can't all be winners
). He clashed with Henry Ford II though, and despite the group making fairly huge profits he was fired in July '78. Iacocca took his ideas to Chrysler, who were going through what you might term a bit of a rough patch, becoming CEO of the firm. The minivan and the 'K-cars' (smaller FWD designs) had been rejected by Ford but helped save Chrysler from bankruptcy and led to them being able to pay back the government-backed loan that they'd had to take out some seven years early. He also led the purchase by Chrysler of AMC in 1987, which gave them the Jeep brand. Iacocca apparently really wanted the Jeep Grand Cherokee design that AMC were working on, it got delayed some due to the time the company was spending on updating the minivan design but it was finally ready for sale the year he retired from Chrysler (1992).
In addition to his motor industry work, Iacocca was an advocate for better diabetes treatments. His first wife Mary had struggled with the disease, eventually dying from it in '83. Iacocca founded Olivio Premium Products (they of the cooking oil and spread fame), donating all profits to diabetes research.
A giant of the automotive industry. His mark still remains today, most obviously in the Mustang but also in the popularisation of things like the minivan and more compact front-wheel drive designs over the larger rear-drive sedans and station wagons that had dominated the industry before.
