Bob Lutz should have taken over CEO after Lee Iacocca versus Bob Eaton. Chrysler had an incredible product portfolio. Lutz was a car guy and had the leadership, design and engineering skills which set Chrysler to success in the 90s. As far as Mary Barra and GM, I question the decision to discontinue the Volt and the Voltec platform in 2019. The Bolt BEV had high profile battery defects, while the Volt was fairly reliable and it seems the market prefers plug in hybrids versus full EVs. That was a huge market misstep.
The Volt was really an engineering marvel and way ahead of everyone else. Sadly dealers were never properly trained on how to sell them and pass that on to the customer. Later when Volts began to be traded in they were finding that many of them had never once been plugged in after leaving the dealer lot, folks were just relying on the ICE to provide propulsion.
And now it appears that the market is moving heavily to the type of hybrids that the volt was 20 years ago. Just too far ahead of the curve with mgmt that couldn't ride out the changes until people got used to it.
@@kenon6968 While not at Toyota levels of quality, they certainly had some innovative designs. and look at it this way 1992 - First Gen Grand Cherokee. 1993 - LH Sedans 1994 - Dodge Ram Pickup redesign 1995 - Neon and the Cirrus Stratus Cloud Cars 1996 - Third Gen Minivans 1997 - 2nd gen Dodge Dakota, Plymouth Prowler 2nd Gen Jeep Wrangler, Jeep Cherokee refresh 1998 - Second Gen LH Cars and Dodge Durango 1999 - Second Gen Grand Cherokee Considering everything in the 80s was K-Car based and they had an aging pickup platform and the rear drive M body cars, I would at least think their development work in the 90s was fairly impressive, prior to the merger with Daimler.
Taken for a Ride: How Daimler Drove Off with Chrysler is a great book detailing how Eaton planned to sell Chrysler as soon as he became CEO. Great choice for #1!
Eaton was a traitor. I’m surprised when I meet people who stick up for him thinking he made just a small misstep, but he was planning it all along. What an evil guy.
Iacocca's ego kept him from promoting Lutz. By putting Eaton in charge he doomed Chrysler. So the same man who saved Chrysler destroyed it due to a pissing contest. He was always jealous of Lutz's success
@@MichaelRoy-hc3lz lee's a ford insider aka hit man that didn't want to get holding the baggage/blame 💼 i like townson/1945~to-1972~ leadership held so much promise's, not deploying the turbine as for regular sales was a mistake ( on top of tax's/import/crushing the 50 are so vin's etc, and letting the DOD/army/navy getting more say in the R&D department's and or what could be published/public knowledge etc, that stunted growth etc for short term cash and politics/access to other members/resources-etc ) in my opinion, as the 5X12in/RB platform ( yes i own a BBM/hemi charger, but im trying to be honest with you/myself, as industrial/&-marine etc users and hemi's/540"ci are $$$ and diesels fuel at the time was basically free/wast-product etc and ranki-cycling can make more power and more reliable etc ) could have been fazed out, so 4X10"in/SBM and turbine as the 2 only options ( and eventually fazing out SBM for hybrid-turbine and or fuel cells and or BEV, for lower&middle cost models ) or the mainstream pick's, love my ( gm owner's that buy a mopar then customise it to SBC and coil-over's etc 🤦🏻♂, why just get/build a 1st-G* Camaro ) T-bar's but missed opportunities for getting/buying/leasing packards system that automatically-T-bar leaved and or french-method's/helper-shocks or active-air-back-axle, etc of little thing's like this lee also missed not having ( my parents had a K-car 🤦🏻♂, compared with my uncles 1971 charger SE 440 etc that was sorted worth considering/something, there's/K-car was always in the shop/fixing-etc, and my grandparents are ford and gm people's, kinda hard to convince them to be different if the 1st or 2d handed experience sucks etc ) RWD or 4x4 car's/wagon's, as taxi's and cop 🚓car's/fleet made up a good amount of sales and not having these departments switched to ford or gm, for 1970~ my platform-combo/2-hardtop ( surprised me on redustratesion's-vin's/production total's as a % , wagon's 120in~wheelbase for the late 60s was the lowest % as was striper-models aka stripper-wagon's are rare but in 2024 not worth much $$/time ) also was a sales leader so k-car's turned off people like me as i don't buy 4cly FWD car's !. last FWD car i owned RIP=ditches upside down and it was a v6 le cross
Wait what's he done so far? At least when he was just head of PSA they were able to turn Opel into a profitable brand among other thigns like make Peugeot interesting again and Citroën quirky again. Or I guess, if one is a fan of Chrysler/Dodge yet another "merger of equals" (acquisition) isn't fun.
I hired into EDS right after GM purchased them. They did bring huge efficiencies to GM's data processing and IT functions. Pretty much everything Ross stated about GM's problems were spot on. I've always thought that he should have been picked to succeed Roger Smith. With Ross it was all about the customer.
It would crash and burn. I think you underestimate how much weight Musk's name still holds, for better or worse. If it was any other EV company with these panel gaps and reliability issues, or how the Cybertruck is literally a rolling deathtrap (for both people inside and out) with a 150 mile range, etc, it would be one of the other hundreds of EV companies you've never heard of that died early.
Ghosn also ruined Mitsubishi by canceling all Mitsubishi’s EV projects and new products as soon as he became Mitsubishi Motors chairman. This led Mitsubishi to almost fall into bankruptcy a couple years ago when their current product line dried up. New Pajero/Montero, Triton, EV pickup, EV, hatchback, EV Outlander, etc are some of the Mitsubishi products that were killed by Ghosn. Also Nissan made a huge issue out of Mitsubishi’s mistake in fuel mileage measurements, which Nissan was also part of, and Nissan had the TV unnecessarily televise the so called scandal just to drag down Mitsubishi’s stock prices for a hostile takeover later on. I just feel bad for Mitsubishi Motors and Osamu Masuko who worked so hard to get Mitsubishi Motors ahead of the competition.
@@watchman1872Nope. He then gave all the tech to Nissan and Renault for their use. That has to be one of his stupidest decisions ever. Mitsubishi could’ve been Tesla in its zenith while riding high in the EV hype but instead they’re just barely making it through each year while being the laughing stock of the automotive world.
@@mrgurulittle7000 If the Nissan and Renault EV products are any indication of the quality of that tech, I doubt Mitsubishi would have produced anything on par with Tesla. 15 years after Musk took over Tesla, companies like Rivian are just now giving Tesla a run for their money, and the major ICE manufacturers are still playing catch-up. Nissan only managed to produce the Leaf, which was mediocre at best. You're right in that Ghosn screwed Mitsubishi, but other than the 3000GT and the EVO, what other innovative products has Mitsubishi produced? And as for Renault, for all of their innovation over the last 50 years, their cars are still too crappy to sell here in the US, despite repeated attempts. Nissan isn't the company it was 30 years ago, and has been in decline, quality-wise, since the Pathfinder came out. Ghosn seems to me to be a mediocre CEO running mediocre car companies. Any company pouring money into EVs at this point is going to lose its collective ass. Most everyone who wanted an EV already has one, and people are learning they are all basically just over-hyped, unreliable, unrepairable throw-away vehicles, at this point, something which will likely change in the future. But disastrous current sales and unsold inventories figures, industry-wide, tell the real story. While true that ICE sales are bad right now, all EV sales are far worse.
@@watchman1872I agree that the EV boom was a bad investment in the short term, but Mitsubishi could’ve ridden the hype for awhile. That was all lost sales. The technology was taken to Nissan, but they didn’t even implement the technology till recently which is the ok-ish CFM EV platform that the Ariya and Megane sits on. Nissan should’ve used Mitsubishi’s technology earlier or just left Mitsubishi alone after they took over. The alliance is playing catch-up with Renault developing a separate EV division called Ampere, when Mitsubishi could and should’ve been one from the first place. Again, I agree EVs were a bad investment for those who rushed billions into it, but for Mitsubishi who was thinking long term development and implementation of that technology in different ways such as PHEVs, Nissan canceling all of Mitsubishi’s new cars development was a shot in their own foot as much as it was to Mitsubishi.
I'm really glad that most people will remain absurdly ignorant about him. One thing all JDM fanboys should know first is that: producing automobiles don't make money. All asian brands are very conservative about resources - way more than americans or europeans. Nissan already in early 1990s was pretty much lame, watching their sales going down year by year. Excellent Fairlady Z32, but... with less people buying each year. And that is due to north-america economic stability and europe-asia opening after the fall of USSR. As the JDM was pretty much over and the european and american brands focused on themselves, the asians were left pretty much to take the market elsewhere, in south-america, africa and oceania. When he stepped in, he held the company together coming from the destruction long after the japanese bubble burst, he was the first guy to see the disaster. I can only point to his mess with Renault and Mitsubishi as the problem; juggling with three was not exactly a good move. In businesses you need to learn how to make decisions to either keep the operations going on or bankrupt everything. And, surely, he was less than a monster than DeLorean being a drug dealer or idiots imploding Chevrolet (GM). After all, when you escape in a box is the best ending possible. Not even cinema does it so properly. At least he's not going to the grave in one knowing that you fucked up so many people. That reminds me of the never ending pollution of many "rolling coal Volkswagen F-150/S-10/Ram" still being used today.
Love your channel! This was WAY more interesting then I thought it would be thanks. Side note :was at a EV show in melbourne,Fl. Mr. Bricklin was there with his ev prototype! Super cool
It’s weird seeing premium luxury brands with “entry-level” budget models. It’s like they took away something that would be otherwise special and said “anyone can have one of our cars…” and somehow that cheapens the experience and brand reputation. It’s like “Oooh you have a Mercedes….ohhhhh it’s an A class.” A Mazda 3 can easily put that little car to shame.
@@GSPirosaki the use to design the car and all its components first, and then build a budget around the design. After 1995, they started creating a budget and then building the car around the budget given.
I was an MBA student at the University of Michigan from 1982 to 1984. Each year the school would name an "Executive of the Year." One of those years--can't remember which--the winner was none other than Roger Smith! As wet-behind-the-ears that I and my buddies were, we just couldn't believe it. Roger Smith of all people. His reputation preceded him even way back when.
It's a tragedy to lose those. Currently working on a 2003 402k km on the motor and tranny and still running like new they are cars that last your lifetime.
Don't bother. The MK4's are the best ones they made. Better fuel mileage, plenty enough power for the car. Just keep up on your timing belt service and it will last forever.
Yes, the cars were efficient. However, they required AdBlue to work cleanly. That either required frequent refills OR a large reservoir that would have taken up space where Audi would have installed high margin options: a typical conflict that would have required a sensible management decision. Winterkorn, however, was an awful choleric who had the habit of browbeating anyone reporting difficulties or delays. A consultant with VW at the time told me that project progress meetings headed by him were dreaded as "Wiko's Origami meetings", alluding to his habit of proverbially "folding up" anyone contracting his ire with any delay whatsoever. So when the "clean Diesel conflict" emerged, his subordinates preferred covering up the problem with a fraudulent defeat device to telling him about the underlying problem and asking him for a management decision. He may not have cheated himself - but he was damn well responsible for that outcome.
Nah. the previous generation were amazing. The MK4 Jetta getting an easy 50 MPH, built rock solid and easily put 500,000 miles with out any major mechanical issues. The MK5 and mk6 both got worse mileage, in the name of performance, on a car that absolutely no one cared about the performance of. For what it's worth, the little 1.9L, 90HP TDI had no trouble at all pushing you in your seat in a 3000lb. car. It was fun as hell to drive and didn't need the less efficient, more powerful, engines of the later models that needed to cheat the regulations.
Carlos Ghosn undoubtedly saved Nissan, however after 2010 there were noticeable changes going on with the company, and that was aggressive sales and more cost-cutting. Some journalists have said that Nissan and Infiniti are in the spots where Hyundai and Kia were in the late 90's and 2000's. That is not a good sign. It was true and still is true today. Here in North America, Nissan and Infiniti dealership try to sell as many vehicles as possible, they were trying to push sales in order to meet Ghosn's goal to beat records and be on top, it's rather obsessive when you look at it. The dealerships probably felt the pressure to move cars, so much so that they approved car loans to people with terrible credit, sort of mirroring what happened with the housing crisis. Because Nissan and Infiniti vehicles ended up in the hands of so many people with bad credit, these people were more likely to be reckless drivers and irresponsible, the two brands have gotten a bad reputation throughout the 2010's. Specifically the Nissan Altima is known to the public and the people of the Internet as the car for people who have bad credit and drive recklessly. And if you notice on the street and roads that a lot of Altimas and other Nissans and Infinitis are in bad shape, because there's no point in maintaining them if it's going to be repossessed anyway. Nissan has bad P.R., declining quality, and aging vehicles. Their dealership partners have also closed, especially after the pandemic. What used to be synonymous for Japanese quality, reliability, and sportiness is now a cheap car that's parked in the ghetto associated with terrible credit and reckless drivers. That is the harsh reality Nissan and Infiniti is in right now. They need to go after responsible customers.
Perhaps a too recent example but Herbert Diess is a good mention at VAG too, given how he completely messed up software/infotainment development so badly that cars that were supposed to come out years ago are only coming out now among other less obvious issues he's responsible for
Great video nice to see someone talking not only about the cars but the people behind the companies. Don’t know if Henry Ford should have been on this list since you did really only talk about his personal feelings or thoughts
Ghosn's escape in a box reminds me of that 90s MC 900 Ft Jesus music video, "If I Only Had A Brain", showing the artist mailing himself in a box. And that video reminds me of the Beavis & Butthead episode where Beavis hums the tune while watching that video on MTV.
Good work 👍 long video. Many memories as former Detroiter Came back to watch this one.. Uncle's both sides,grandpa at hydromatics. Father skilled trades at Ford.. Appreciate your channel. One day a member., a Detroit Union carpenter, which means sht. It's Feast or famine. Generally the latter. God bless.
There's an apocryphal story from 2002 about how Bill Ford apparently asked the heads of Ford's factory F1 team at the time, Jaguar, "who the hell is this Edmund Irvine we're paying $16M/year to?" Eddie Irvine was the star driver they had lured away from Ferrari for 2000, the year Ferrari won the first of their 5 consecutive double world championships with Irvine's former teammate, some guy name Michael Schumacher.
It is a great video, thank you 🙏 When you make another video about the best CEOs of the auto industry, remember Dr. Andy Palmer who was CEO of Aston Martin, maybe the only CEO to bring AML to profit. A true var guy and a petrol head.
Ridiculous how they laid off such an obviously incredible employee. Proud of you for recognizing the bullshit system we've all been thrown into. Wishing you the best and look forward to following along!
2:56 they actually have a very opposite affect! If you manage to roll the SV-1 you become unable to leave the car through the doors as they cannot open anymore. This is why the SV-1 in Lemons Racing has been modified with normal doors
That's another reason that I left Ford. The bastards sent out a letter to the dealers in the 1990's, stating that since their competition was open on Saturday, Ford will now too. If someone won't come into your stores during the week, they're certainly not make the trip in on a weekend. Produce a better product, and you might turn things around.
I know that a lot of people will probably disagree with me but Lee Iacocca could probably be on both lists. Yes, he is famous for saving Chrysler, however he also got fired from Ford. He was fired because he kept butting heads with Hank Ford and he was also responsible for the Pinto fiasco. When the engineers pointed out the problem before hand and a fox for it he was quoted as saying "safety doesn't sell).
Henry Ford being both one of best and one of the worst is true. He built Ford and almost destroyed it too. Notice how most of the worst are in modern history. Many of the best are from a bygone era. Quality leadership is in short supply these days. Greed is prevalent. Barra will join this list soon. Eaton also deserves his place here.
Carlos Ghosn was a legendary CEO. Saved Renault, Nissan, Mitsubishi from financial crisis and possible bankruptcies. Saved and created tens maybe hundreds of thousands of jobs. He was framed by fascist Japanese businessmen because he wanted to merge Nissan and Renault, then he was replaced by one of his conspirators. Guess what? That guy who replaced him was in a lot bigger misconduct but he was handled in secrecy by Japanese authorities. People who worked with Japanese firms would confirm their fascism. You’d just be a “Gaijin” and you’d be sacked as soon as you are bigger/better than them.
Re the VW diesel scandal, how "clean" are the tests if the system runs MORE fuel efficient AND MORE powerful when not saddled by the requirements of the tests?
„Roger and me“ is a typical Moore production - opionated, convoluted propaganda, missing the point and proving another with anecdotal evidence. There is a lot to say and criticize about Roger Smith, and Moore has covered nothing. However, it is a funny entertainment product.
Rick Wagoner is actually a distant cousin in my wife’s family tree. I just wish they would have stood behind my Saturn Aura instead of saying “screw you.” It’s part of why I’ll never buy a GM car again.
Ghosn was a visionary and was treated incredibly badly by the bizarre Japanese legal system. The reputation of Japan was done incredible harm by this ridiculous episode.
Chrysler went from real 60 engineering with things like the turbine car to the cab forward designs of lutz to the worst design flaws of the 2.7 and materials quality if the big 3. Now it’s pure crap.
Henry Ford is one of the best and worst for sure, but what makes him the absolute worst for me is essentially he killed his own son Edsel by constantly refusing to go from the T into newer models. But beyond this, Edsel made plans for a new factory at River Rouge to make a new car. When Henry found out, he stopped the plant, but left the footers in place as a reminder to his son to never try something like that again. He also would call Edsel into his office and yell at him for hours on end. He was truly an awful person to his son.
I don’t think Moore twisted or tilted the facts he let the pieces all fall naturally in B place Moore did a great job of navigating that dabacle back in the 80s he did it respectfully & gracefully
Carlos Goshn..guy saved Renault, Nissan, Mitshu...well, he just fuck up later and escaped like a champ..but the guy knows about leader chip and what car markets wants..
Bob Lutz should have taken over CEO after Lee Iacocca versus Bob Eaton. Chrysler had an incredible product portfolio. Lutz was a car guy and had the leadership, design and engineering skills which set Chrysler to success in the 90s.
As far as Mary Barra and GM, I question the decision to discontinue the Volt and the Voltec platform in 2019. The Bolt BEV had high profile battery defects, while the Volt was fairly reliable and it seems the market prefers plug in hybrids versus full EVs. That was a huge market misstep.
The Volt was really an engineering marvel and way ahead of everyone else. Sadly dealers were never properly trained on how to sell them and pass that on to the customer. Later when Volts began to be traded in they were finding that many of them had never once been plugged in after leaving the dealer lot, folks were just relying on the ICE to provide propulsion.
And now it appears that the market is moving heavily to the type of hybrids that the volt was 20 years ago. Just too far ahead of the curve with mgmt that couldn't ride out the changes until people got used to it.
I think that's the first time that anyone has ever used Chrysler and incredible product portfolio together in a sentence.
@@kenon6968 While not at Toyota levels of quality, they certainly had some innovative designs. and look at it this way
1992 - First Gen Grand Cherokee.
1993 - LH Sedans
1994 - Dodge Ram Pickup redesign
1995 - Neon and the Cirrus Stratus Cloud Cars
1996 - Third Gen Minivans
1997 - 2nd gen Dodge Dakota, Plymouth Prowler 2nd Gen Jeep Wrangler, Jeep Cherokee refresh
1998 - Second Gen LH Cars and Dodge Durango
1999 - Second Gen Grand Cherokee
Considering everything in the 80s was K-Car based and they had an aging pickup platform and the rear drive M body cars, I would at least think their development work in the 90s was fairly impressive, prior to the merger with Daimler.
Taken for a Ride: How Daimler Drove Off with Chrysler is a great book detailing how Eaton planned to sell Chrysler as soon as he became CEO. Great choice for #1!
Eaton was a traitor. I’m surprised when I meet people who stick up for him thinking he made just a small misstep, but he was planning it all along. What an evil guy.
By the way, I have that book. Excellent book for those who are interested in reading automotive news.
I agree. Eaton was a walking turd. Never knew that book existed, as a huge Chrysler Corp fan, I'm definitely going to check it out!
AMGMeister made a video about the Daimler-Chrysler alliance as well
Salary employee at Ford 32 years now retired. Mark Fields was the worst CEO. I could go on for days listing his incompetences. What a human turd.
Have often wondered what happened to that guy. That Mark feldstein guy or whatever he changed his name to. He must have really screwed up bad.
Feldman was an arrogant ass. He was whining when Ford took away his private jet to go back and forth between his Florida home and Michigan work.
Mark Fields seems to be that typical Harvard MBA boywonder who looks good, but has no talent
"The Bricklin affair was a learning experience" ...
John DeLorean has entered the chat
Special place in hell for Bob Eaton. Iacocca should’ve promoted Lutz, he was the natural choice, and a real car guy.
Bob Lutz was the man!👍
Iacocca's ego kept him from promoting Lutz. By putting Eaton in charge he doomed Chrysler. So the same man who saved Chrysler destroyed it due to a pissing contest. He was always jealous of Lutz's success
@@MichaelRoy-hc3lz lee's a ford insider aka hit man that didn't want to get holding the baggage/blame 💼
i like townson/1945~to-1972~ leadership held so much promise's, not deploying the turbine as for regular sales was a mistake ( on top of tax's/import/crushing the 50 are so vin's etc, and letting the DOD/army/navy getting more say in the R&D department's and or what could be published/public knowledge etc, that stunted growth etc for short term cash and politics/access to other members/resources-etc ) in my opinion, as the 5X12in/RB platform ( yes i own a BBM/hemi charger, but im trying to be honest with you/myself, as industrial/&-marine etc users and hemi's/540"ci are $$$ and diesels fuel at the time was basically free/wast-product etc and ranki-cycling can make more power and more reliable etc ) could have been fazed out, so 4X10"in/SBM and turbine as the 2 only options ( and eventually fazing out SBM for hybrid-turbine and or fuel cells and or BEV, for lower&middle cost models ) or the mainstream pick's, love my ( gm owner's that buy a mopar then customise it to SBC and coil-over's etc 🤦🏻♂, why just get/build a 1st-G* Camaro ) T-bar's but missed opportunities for getting/buying/leasing packards system that automatically-T-bar leaved and or french-method's/helper-shocks or active-air-back-axle, etc of little thing's like this
lee also missed not having ( my parents had a K-car 🤦🏻♂, compared with my uncles 1971 charger SE 440 etc that was sorted worth considering/something, there's/K-car was always in the shop/fixing-etc, and my grandparents are ford and gm people's, kinda hard to convince them to be different if the 1st or 2d handed experience sucks etc ) RWD or 4x4 car's/wagon's, as taxi's and cop 🚓car's/fleet made up a good amount of sales and not having these departments switched to ford or gm, for 1970~ my platform-combo/2-hardtop ( surprised me on redustratesion's-vin's/production total's as a % , wagon's 120in~wheelbase for the late 60s was the lowest % as was striper-models aka stripper-wagon's are rare but in 2024 not worth much $$/time ) also was a sales leader so k-car's turned off people like me as i don't buy 4cly FWD car's !. last FWD car i owned RIP=ditches upside down and it was a v6 le cross
Yes. Lutz was far better. Iacocca was stupid.
Iacocca himself admitted that choosing Eaton over Lutz was a major blunder he made. I think that was in Lee's book.
Glad you put Wagoner on this list. GM still seems to be struggling after him. It’s like a black cloud that won’t fade.
I think we should at Carlos Tavares from stellantis to the list too!! At least the honorable mentions Agree with all the others!!
Wait what's he done so far? At least when he was just head of PSA they were able to turn Opel into a profitable brand among other thigns like make Peugeot interesting again and Citroën quirky again.
Or I guess, if one is a fan of Chrysler/Dodge yet another "merger of equals" (acquisition) isn't fun.
Stellantis is in deep trouble. The only thing that keeps that dumpster fire afloat is Jeep and ram trucks
Gonna see alot of CEOs from gm
What?! 🤨
I hired into EDS right after GM purchased them. They did bring huge efficiencies to GM's data processing and IT functions. Pretty much everything Ross stated about GM's problems were spot on. I've always thought that he should have been picked to succeed Roger Smith. With Ross it was all about the customer.
Just think about this: How much would Tesla rapidly increase in value if musk wasn't attached to the company any more?
negative 10 bazillion. piech could take over and it's value would drop like a stone. carwash jokes aside it really is the supreme brick of automotiva
Musk's horrible leadership is why I won't buy another until he's gone
It would crash and burn. I think you underestimate how much weight Musk's name still holds, for better or worse.
If it was any other EV company with these panel gaps and reliability issues, or how the Cybertruck is literally a rolling deathtrap (for both people inside and out) with a 150 mile range, etc, it would be one of the other hundreds of EV companies you've never heard of that died early.
@@DeadBaron So you assume all the stuff that results from elon being a greedy, ignorant douche would continue without him.
@@DeadBaron *So you assume all the stuff that is the direct result of him being a greedy, ignorant, egotistical douche would continue without him.*
Damn good episode. I know you put a lot of work into it. We all appreciate it.
Cadillac is name after the man that founded Detroit. Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac
Fellow who created Cadillac also made Lincoln.
I’d like to see a best automotive CEOs. I know that Henry Ford, his grandson Hank the Deuce and Lee Iacocca would be on that list.
Ford senior nearly bankrupted the company because of his intransigence
Will you do top ten best automotive CEOs
I already have some: Akio Toyoda or namesake Toyota, Osamu Masuko of Mitsubishi Motors, Nobuhito Kawamoto of Honda, and Sergio Marchionne of FCA.
Ghosn also ruined Mitsubishi by canceling all Mitsubishi’s EV projects and new products as soon as he became Mitsubishi Motors chairman. This led Mitsubishi to almost fall into bankruptcy a couple years ago when their current product line dried up. New Pajero/Montero, Triton, EV pickup, EV, hatchback, EV Outlander, etc are some of the Mitsubishi products that were killed by Ghosn. Also Nissan made a huge issue out of Mitsubishi’s mistake in fuel mileage measurements, which Nissan was also part of, and Nissan had the TV unnecessarily televise the so called scandal just to drag down Mitsubishi’s stock prices for a hostile takeover later on. I just feel bad for Mitsubishi Motors and Osamu Masuko who worked so hard to get Mitsubishi Motors ahead of the competition.
Judging how the EV market is imploding, Ghosn's cancelling Mitsubishi's EV program may have been his best decision.
@@watchman1872Nope. He then gave all the tech to Nissan and Renault for their use. That has to be one of his stupidest decisions ever. Mitsubishi could’ve been Tesla in its zenith while riding high in the EV hype but instead they’re just barely making it through each year while being the laughing stock of the automotive world.
@@mrgurulittle7000
If the Nissan and Renault EV products are any indication of the quality of that tech, I doubt Mitsubishi would have produced anything on par with Tesla. 15 years after Musk took over Tesla, companies like Rivian are just now giving Tesla a run for their money, and the major ICE manufacturers are still playing catch-up. Nissan only managed to produce the Leaf, which was mediocre at best.
You're right in that Ghosn screwed Mitsubishi, but other than the 3000GT and the EVO, what other innovative products has Mitsubishi produced? And as for Renault, for all of their innovation over the last 50 years, their cars are still too crappy to sell here in the US, despite repeated attempts. Nissan isn't the company it was 30 years ago, and has been in decline, quality-wise, since the Pathfinder came out. Ghosn seems to me to be a mediocre CEO running mediocre car companies.
Any company pouring money into EVs at this point is going to lose its collective ass. Most everyone who wanted an EV already has one, and people are learning they are all basically just over-hyped, unreliable, unrepairable throw-away vehicles, at this point, something which will likely change in the future. But disastrous current sales and unsold inventories figures, industry-wide, tell the real story. While true that ICE sales are bad right now, all EV sales are far worse.
@@watchman1872I agree that the EV boom was a bad investment in the short term, but Mitsubishi could’ve ridden the hype for awhile. That was all lost sales. The technology was taken to Nissan, but they didn’t even implement the technology till recently which is the ok-ish CFM EV platform that the Ariya and Megane sits on. Nissan should’ve used Mitsubishi’s technology earlier or just left Mitsubishi alone after they took over. The alliance is playing catch-up with Renault developing a separate EV division called Ampere, when Mitsubishi could and should’ve been one from the first place. Again, I agree EVs were a bad investment for those who rushed billions into it, but for Mitsubishi who was thinking long term development and implementation of that technology in different ways such as PHEVs, Nissan canceling all of Mitsubishi’s new cars development was a shot in their own foot as much as it was to Mitsubishi.
I'm really glad that most people will remain absurdly ignorant about him.
One thing all JDM fanboys should know first is that: producing automobiles don't make money. All asian brands are very conservative about resources - way more than americans or europeans. Nissan already in early 1990s was pretty much lame, watching their sales going down year by year. Excellent Fairlady Z32, but... with less people buying each year. And that is due to north-america economic stability and europe-asia opening after the fall of USSR. As the JDM was pretty much over and the european and american brands focused on themselves, the asians were left pretty much to take the market elsewhere, in south-america, africa and oceania.
When he stepped in, he held the company together coming from the destruction long after the japanese bubble burst, he was the first guy to see the disaster. I can only point to his mess with Renault and Mitsubishi as the problem; juggling with three was not exactly a good move. In businesses you need to learn how to make decisions to either keep the operations going on or bankrupt everything. And, surely, he was less than a monster than DeLorean being a drug dealer or idiots imploding Chevrolet (GM). After all, when you escape in a box is the best ending possible. Not even cinema does it so properly. At least he's not going to the grave in one knowing that you fucked up so many people. That reminds me of the never ending pollution of many "rolling coal Volkswagen F-150/S-10/Ram" still being used today.
Love your channel! This was WAY more interesting then I thought it would be thanks.
Side note :was at a EV show in melbourne,Fl. Mr. Bricklin was there with his ev prototype! Super cool
Great Episode! We have a saying at my work, " You f--k up you move up" which I find many companies tend to promote many incompetent people a lot.
this shows that that saying: "POWER TENDS TO CORRUPT, ABSOLUTE POWER CORRUPTS ABSOLUTELY"!!!!!! So very TRUE!!!!!!! Good show!
If you've never watched an interview with Malcolm Bricklin you're missing out. His... exuberance, is entertaining.
Mercedes was truly the best or nothing based on the budget was built around the car. 95 on it became car built around the budget.
It’s weird seeing premium luxury brands with “entry-level” budget models. It’s like they took away something that would be otherwise special and said “anyone can have one of our cars…” and somehow that cheapens the experience and brand reputation. It’s like “Oooh you have a Mercedes….ohhhhh it’s an A class.” A Mazda 3 can easily put that little car to shame.
@@crackers23 well that really kicked up after the recession
English, please.
@@GSPirosaki the use to design the car and all its components first, and then build a budget around the design. After 1995, they started creating a budget and then building the car around the budget given.
W126 series was legendary. After that all downhill.
I was an MBA student at the University of Michigan from 1982 to 1984. Each year the school would name an "Executive of the Year." One of those years--can't remember which--the winner was none other than Roger Smith! As wet-behind-the-ears that I and my buddies were, we just couldn't believe it. Roger Smith of all people. His reputation preceded him even way back when.
The current and last CEOs at Ford have been disasters
I think going only to trucks hurt them
I miss the VW TDI's I have a 2001 TDI and I would love to get a newer one... But nope... thanks to the EPA... And VW CEO..
Bring a canadian one.
My 2003 Jetta TDI is still going strong, but it's more of a hobby car now, it was my first car and it's just fun tinkering with the diesel engine.
It's a tragedy to lose those.
Currently working on a 2003 402k km on the motor and tranny and still running like new they are cars that last your lifetime.
The best they built my sister has one too greetigs from Germany:)
Don't bother. The MK4's are the best ones they made. Better fuel mileage, plenty enough power for the car. Just keep up on your timing belt service and it will last forever.
Weird that Chrysler's Bob Nardelli of wrecking Home Depot and then getting a golden parachute fame wasn't here
I was waiting for him...
The VW chief deserved a medal for making great cars. The diesel regulations are crap. Those cars were efficient.
Yes, the cars were efficient.
However, they required AdBlue to work cleanly. That either required frequent refills OR a large reservoir that would have taken up space where Audi would have installed high margin options: a typical conflict that would have required a sensible management decision.
Winterkorn, however, was an awful choleric who had the habit of browbeating anyone reporting difficulties or delays.
A consultant with VW at the time told me that project progress meetings headed by him were dreaded as "Wiko's Origami meetings", alluding to his habit of proverbially "folding up" anyone contracting his ire with any delay whatsoever.
So when the "clean Diesel conflict" emerged, his subordinates preferred covering up the problem with a fraudulent defeat device to telling him about the underlying problem and asking him for a management decision.
He may not have cheated himself - but he was damn well responsible for that outcome.
Nah. the previous generation were amazing. The MK4 Jetta getting an easy 50 MPH, built rock solid and easily put 500,000 miles with out any major mechanical issues. The MK5 and mk6 both got worse mileage, in the name of performance, on a car that absolutely no one cared about the performance of. For what it's worth, the little 1.9L, 90HP TDI had no trouble at all pushing you in your seat in a 3000lb. car. It was fun as hell to drive and didn't need the less efficient, more powerful, engines of the later models that needed to cheat the regulations.
Schremp wears the squarest glasses of anyone I've seen.
He reminds me of the stereotypical German execs that take over the power plant on the Simpsons......and Homer is dreaming about the land of chocolate.
Many Germans execs wear glasses even if their eyesight is perfect. All intended to intimidate.
Carlos Ghosn undoubtedly saved Nissan, however after 2010 there were noticeable changes going on with the company, and that was aggressive sales and more cost-cutting. Some journalists have said that Nissan and Infiniti are in the spots where Hyundai and Kia were in the late 90's and 2000's. That is not a good sign. It was true and still is true today. Here in North America, Nissan and Infiniti dealership try to sell as many vehicles as possible, they were trying to push sales in order to meet Ghosn's goal to beat records and be on top, it's rather obsessive when you look at it. The dealerships probably felt the pressure to move cars, so much so that they approved car loans to people with terrible credit, sort of mirroring what happened with the housing crisis. Because Nissan and Infiniti vehicles ended up in the hands of so many people with bad credit, these people were more likely to be reckless drivers and irresponsible, the two brands have gotten a bad reputation throughout the 2010's. Specifically the Nissan Altima is known to the public and the people of the Internet as the car for people who have bad credit and drive recklessly. And if you notice on the street and roads that a lot of Altimas and other Nissans and Infinitis are in bad shape, because there's no point in maintaining them if it's going to be repossessed anyway. Nissan has bad P.R., declining quality, and aging vehicles. Their dealership partners have also closed, especially after the pandemic. What used to be synonymous for Japanese quality, reliability, and sportiness is now a cheap car that's parked in the ghetto associated with terrible credit and reckless drivers. That is the harsh reality Nissan and Infiniti is in right now. They need to go after responsible customers.
THIS VIDEO IS AMAZING. How the inept & conniving are rewarded. How BILLIONS ARE LOST. How top management shapes corporate culture & sales.
Most of GMs CEOs over the last 40 years were terrible.
Especially the current one.
@@MrModamanReviewslol
GM only promotes from within and only 'yes' men (or women).
@@MrModamanReviews exactly, she made a lot mistakes decisions
Roger Smith HAS to be #1 worst
Number 2 sorry bud
You're right Bob Eaton was the worst. His only goal was to sell Chrysler if you ask me @@itsPikachu
Roger Smith was the wrong leader at a time when GM needed to be major changes to survive and compete.
Nope. I think Eaton was worse. He was a total rotten traitor.
I disagree. Robert Eaton of 90's Chrysler has to the worst due to his fire sale of a then-healthy, independent Chrysler to Daimler.
Perhaps a too recent example but Herbert Diess is a good mention at VAG too, given how he completely messed up software/infotainment development so badly that cars that were supposed to come out years ago are only coming out now among other less obvious issues he's responsible for
He didn't screw up as bad as Winterkorn did, especially considering what Dieselgate did to the market.
Mary Barra #1
Great video nice to see someone talking not only about the cars but the people behind the companies. Don’t know if Henry Ford should have been on this list since you did really only talk about his personal feelings or thoughts
Ghosn's escape in a box reminds me of that 90s MC 900 Ft Jesus music video, "If I Only Had A Brain", showing the artist mailing himself in a box. And that video reminds me of the Beavis & Butthead episode where Beavis hums the tune while watching that video on MTV.
🐐🐐🐐🐐
Good work 👍 long video.
Many memories as former Detroiter
Came back to watch this one..
Uncle's both sides,grandpa at hydromatics. Father skilled trades at Ford..
Appreciate your channel.
One day a member., a Detroit Union carpenter, which means sht. It's
Feast or famine. Generally the latter.
God bless.
Extraordinarily well done !
Henry Ford, the good the bad the ugly! Thanks, Pat, for another great video.
There's an apocryphal story from 2002 about how Bill Ford apparently asked the heads of Ford's factory F1 team at the time, Jaguar, "who the hell is this Edmund Irvine we're paying $16M/year to?"
Eddie Irvine was the star driver they had lured away from Ferrari for 2000, the year Ferrari won the first of their 5 consecutive double world championships with Irvine's former teammate, some guy name Michael Schumacher.
It is a great video, thank you 🙏
When you make another video about the best CEOs of the auto industry, remember Dr. Andy Palmer who was CEO of Aston Martin, maybe the only CEO to bring AML to profit. A true var guy and a petrol head.
Ridiculous how they laid off such an obviously incredible employee. Proud of you for recognizing the bullshit system we've all been thrown into. Wishing you the best and look forward to following along!
Time for a 10 best CEOs list next
Carlos was never going to get any fair treatment from Japan. They hated him from the start. The man SAVED Nissan from themselves.
Jack Nasser was a mad jackal took Ford to the cleaners
Japan: "you're under arrest!"
Ghosn: "Imma be a cat"
2:56 they actually have a very opposite affect! If you manage to roll the SV-1 you become unable to leave the car through the doors as they cannot open anymore. This is why the SV-1 in Lemons Racing has been modified with normal doors
I’m gonna be shocked if Mary Barra isn’t on this list!
She’s just a diversity hire
Really? She’s amazing…
Shes the worst.
@@henrystowe6217 A bit harsh…At least she’s an engineer.👷
Thanks ford for inventing the weekend schedule as we know it today
That's another reason that I left Ford. The bastards sent out a letter to the dealers in the 1990's, stating that since their competition was open on Saturday, Ford will now too.
If someone won't come into your stores during the week, they're certainly not make the trip in on a weekend. Produce a better product, and you might turn things around.
I know that a lot of people will probably disagree with me but Lee Iacocca could probably be on both lists. Yes, he is famous for saving Chrysler, however he also got fired from Ford. He was fired because he kept butting heads with Hank Ford and he was also responsible for the Pinto fiasco. When the engineers pointed out the problem before hand and a fox for it he was quoted as saying "safety doesn't sell).
Henry Ford being both one of best and one of the worst is true. He built Ford and almost destroyed it too.
Notice how most of the worst are in modern history. Many of the best are from a bygone era. Quality leadership is in short supply these days. Greed is prevalent.
Barra will join this list soon. Eaton also deserves his place here.
I thought for a second that Roger Smith was that animated alien from American Dad. 🤪
The GM CEO was one of his personas...
@@kirkericson2722 That makes sense.
What about the Chrysler CEO that was there before Lee Iacocca? First bailout...
A very good list. I cannot find any fault.
Great episode
Chrysler been passed around like a blunt.
24:58 That’s a 2009 Pontiac G8 GXP. Only year Gxp was made, only 1829 of them IIRC. 08-09 full production run.
Us Aussies could buy Pontiac front ends for Commodores because they had so many in stock after the Pontiac version of the Commodore got canceled.
Carlos Ghosn was a legendary CEO.
Saved Renault, Nissan, Mitsubishi from financial crisis and possible bankruptcies. Saved and created tens maybe hundreds of thousands of jobs.
He was framed by fascist Japanese businessmen because he wanted to merge Nissan and Renault, then he was replaced by one of his conspirators. Guess what? That guy who replaced him was in a lot bigger misconduct but he was handled in secrecy by Japanese authorities.
People who worked with Japanese firms would confirm their fascism. You’d just be a “Gaijin” and you’d be sacked as soon as you are bigger/better than them.
Yeah, we all know Malcolm B. did all kinda bad, but he was trying, like most visionaries
Carlos Tavares is working hard to join this list
Can you do a video on the Nissan sx cars?
If i see a top ten list of bad automotive managers where Carlos Ghosn is in at already number seven, i'm very interested!
He was one of the best and one of the worst, like Henry Ford
You should do a Video on the Nissan Xterra
What about Porsche’s Wendelin Wiedeking, whose hostile takeover attempt of VW would end with them buying Porsche outright
The Porsche family owns the majority shares of VW also, so it doesn't even matter.
Re the VW diesel scandal, how "clean" are the tests if the system runs MORE fuel efficient AND MORE powerful when not saddled by the requirements of the tests?
„Roger and me“ is a typical Moore production - opionated, convoluted propaganda, missing the point and proving another with anecdotal evidence. There is a lot to say and criticize about Roger Smith, and Moore has covered nothing. However, it is a funny entertainment product.
I thought Moore was cool in this era....but then I grew up.
MICHAEL MOORE SHOPS AT KMART
I'm sad I thought it was a new video now I gotta wait two days well, notify me I guess 😂
"Ve make wonderful tanks in Germany." (So long to the cab-forward cars that Chrysler used to make.)
I feel bad for the sales guys that stuck their face in the exhaust pipe to prove it's clean...
Henry Ford was a innovative guy but he was also good friends with a certain Austrian painter with rather controversial views
Lots of ppl where.
Carlos Ghosn for sure. How many ceos are so bad that they have to flee the country?
Wrong. Absolutely wrong.
Rick Wagoner is actually a distant cousin in my wife’s family tree. I just wish they would have stood behind my Saturn Aura instead of saying “screw you.” It’s part of why I’ll never buy a GM car again.
Talk about the nissan sentra b16, which was built since 2007 to 2012
Carlos Tavares needs to be on here, and at number one. Not even up for debate. Stellantis is, currently, single handedly running CJDR into the ground.
3:33 they really had to import the yugo to america.... they were alright and comparable to a corsa a or similar but americans want bigger
they did, they sold in modest numbers at first on the back that they were cheap. they were coming out with an improved model when the war broke out
Note to self don't promote financial analyst to CEO. This was a common theme. 😂😂
3:55 how many of the 160,000 Yugos remain on the road?
Eaton absolutely deserves the number 1 spot!
18:25 They also used caster oil, which has some effects. Hope you went before you left the house. Spa treatment has never sounded so terrifying.
BMW’s Pischetsrieder didn’t make the list? And Barra as a mention? I guess I wasn’t aware how bad GM had become😂
Bernd Pischetsrieder was unlucky,
33:24 The king of vaporware, make believe founder of tesla.
27:59 That line aged well.
I believe you’re wrong about Stemple. Roger Smith did so much damage to GM and Bob stemple was left to deal with it all
GM - government motors, but now going the way of Sears
Ghosn was a visionary and was treated incredibly badly by the bizarre Japanese legal system. The reputation of Japan was done incredible harm by this ridiculous episode.
Agreed…he saved Nissan. Well…he was a Manga hero there for a while…😂
Couldn’t agree more. Carlos is a management genius.
Nuh uh
@@Doshiba UR MOM
22:37 - Mercedes dug its own grave by building awful “cheap” expensive Chrysler-Benz clunkers.
I refuse to touch any Chrysler products from this era. German complexity and American lack of build quality.
RIP Pontiac and Olds
Sir Michael Edwardes.
I use car hunter for some reason it kept mistaking a Buick century for Chevy Chevette
Chrysler went from real 60 engineering with things like the turbine car to the cab forward designs of lutz to the worst design flaws of the 2.7 and materials quality if the big 3. Now it’s pure crap.
Gm and Chrysler Gm's should be tied for 1 forever
Henry Ford is one of the best and worst for sure, but what makes him the absolute worst for me is essentially he killed his own son Edsel by constantly refusing to go from the T into newer models. But beyond this, Edsel made plans for a new factory at River Rouge to make a new car. When Henry found out, he stopped the plant, but left the footers in place as a reminder to his son to never try something like that again. He also would call Edsel into his office and yell at him for hours on end. He was truly an awful person to his son.
I don’t think Moore twisted or tilted the facts he let the pieces all fall naturally in B place Moore did a great job of navigating that dabacle back in the 80s he did it respectfully & gracefully
Names of some good CEOs :
Don Petersen
Alan Mulally
Lee Iacocca
Sergio Marchionne
Heinz Nordhoff
Any other suggestions?
Akio Toyoda
Tom Doll? Although he only led Subaru of America.
There was also Ferdinand Piech, Led Audi and then the whole VW group until right before Dieselgate.
Carlos Goshn..guy saved Renault, Nissan, Mitshu...well, he just fuck up later and escaped like a champ..but the guy knows about leader chip and what car markets wants..
Carlos Ghosn. I haven’t gotten into the video yet, but Carlos Ghosn.
Seriously, HOW is Carlos Tavares not on here??
Sounds like if you wanna be an automotive CEO start as a financial analyst.
do video on Twin Mill
Nasser and Ghosn look so similar.
They are both Lebanese.
@@mihali9655ah that’s why.
Great video. The text to speech program blows
HM needs to be Ralph Gilles
Surely John Towers and the Phoenix 4 are here??