Word: eatonized
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...seemed like deja vu all over again when Chrysler's beleaguered directors last week plucked Robert Eaton, 52, from his post as president of General Motors' profitable European business to become Iacocca's latest heir apparent. No sooner had Eaton arrived than insiders began to speculate privately about his departure. "Eaton's biggest problem is that he's probably a nice guy, and nice guys won't last long," predicted a senior executive. "Lee will kill...
...time for a smooth transition to the post-Iacocca era may finally have come. Chrysler directors chose Eaton during a 12-hour weekend showdown in which they apparently called the chairman on his two-year-old promise to step down. The compromise deal, which muscled aside Chrysler's respected president, Robert Lutz, brought Eaton into the company as vice chairman and chief operating officer. If all goes as planned, he will succeed Iacocca as chairman and chief executive when the latter retires Dec. 31. Iacocca, who had sought to stay on as chairman past that date, will take the lesser...
Despite plentiful skepticism within the company, Iacocca and Eaton downplayed any talk of possible friction. "I'm going to be the public-policy guy," says Iacocca. "He's coming back to the U.S. after a four-year absence when the culture has changed. I don't play elder statesman, but he needs my guidance for a while. He understands that. There's plenty of responsibility to go around." Concurs Eaton, who pulled into Chrysler headquarters in a new Jeep Grand Cherokee at 7:45 a.m. last Friday for his first full day on the job: "If there weren...
...Eaton, who had been suggested by Penske and had been talking with directors since late last year...
...Eaton, by contrast, is a rumpled, low-key executive who arrives free of entangling alliances and is willing to wait nearly a year to take Iacocca's job. While Eaton was not the architect of GM's European turnaround, he maintained the momentum of that business after becoming president in 1988. Last year he helped make GM-Europe the most profitable car firm on the Continent, offering its $1.96 billion in earnings as an offset to GM's staggering $8.7 billion loss in North America. "Bob was a very high-energy, direct and pragmatic manager," notes John Smith, vice-president...