Word: forded
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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lacocca's next task was to convince car buyers that Chrysler was indeed alive, even if it was not exactly well. Again he turned to his old employer and wooed away Kenyon & Eckhardt, the New York City advertising agency that had represented Ford for 34 years. lacocca's carrot was a $140 million account, the second largest (after Chevrolet) in the auto industry. The agency decided the most sensible way to spend the money was to market the chairman himself...
...existing model. Bigger and better-heeled automakers can still afford to crank up entirely new designs when they are needed. Admits lacocca: "We have to say, 'Do you want vanilla or chocolate?' GM says, 'Do you want vanilla, chocolate or strawberry?' " Later this year, for example, Ford will roll out its replacement for the rear-wheel-drive Ford Fairmont/Mercury Zephyr, known as the Tempo/Topaz. The totally new designs will have front-wheel drive and aerodynamic styling for greater fuel economy, advances that would have been impossible with Ford's old models...
...Ford, lacocca dazzled buyers with the elan of a three-card monte dealer by spinning off the Mustang and Continental Mark series from existing chassis combinations. Now he is trying to do the same thing with virtually an entire line of cars. The $5,900 Dodge and Plymouth 1981-model K-cars begat the $8,100 1982 Chrysler LeBaron and Dodge 400, the $12,300 Chrysler LeBaron convertible (see box) and the 1983 Chrysler E Class and Dodge 600, which sell for $9,000 to $12,000. By stretching the K-car, he produced the luxury Chrysler New Yorker...
...gasoline tax. Most proponents of the idea see it as a way to discourage consumption, but lacocca knows it would help Chrysler sell its new cars, which have been designed to go farther on less gas than their U.S. competitors. Chrysler's fleet averages 27.5 m.p.g., vs. 24.3 for Ford and 24.1 for GM. If falling oil prices spur a demand for old-fashioned big cars, Chrysler will hurt the worst. Says lacocca: "What's happening with gasoline is wacko. It's crazy. We needed to slap at least a quarter on the pump so that people didn...
...outspoken rhetoric, lacocca is basically a shy, even awkward man. Says J. Paul Bergmoser, a friend from Ford days who served as Chrysler's president for 20 months: "Believe it or not, he doesn't like to walk into a room alone. At parties, he is not for giving all the women a kiss, the way some people do." While lacocca is often seen in public with the likes of Sinatra, Singer Vic Damone and Yankees Owner George Steinbrenner, he seems most comfortable in the company of his own family...