Sep. 20 in automobile history timeline: Lee Iacocca takes over at Chrysler

Having been fired as president of Ford Motor Company in 1978, Lee Iacocca was elected as Chrysler Corporation's chairman on September 20, 1979. Iacocca was courted heavily by Chrysler, which was on the verge of bankruptcy due to a combination of poor quality and a vehicle line-up comprised primarily of poor fuel mileage vehicles.

Bolstered by a struggling economy and instability in the oil markets, Iacocca lobbied congress heavily for a loan to help salvage the failing automaker. His efforts proved successful in 1980, when congress agreed to loan Chrysler $1.5 billion if the company could come up with $2 billion in capital on its own. Iacocca acted swiftly, increasing Chrysler's efficiency through plant closures and spending cutbacks which included concessions from the UAW, paving the way for heavy wage cuts and layoffs. Iacocca led this effort by example, voluntarily reducing his annual salary to $1.

With the guaranteed loans in hand, Iacocca orchestrated a change in focus to more fuel-efficient vehicles and aggressive advertising, including personal appearances in television commercials and printed ad materials. These efforts provided very quick results with Chrysler posting a small profit in 1981, less than a year after being on the brink of bankruptcy and accepting the loans. Three short years later, the company posted a record profit of $2.4 billion. With this success, Chrysler paid back all of it's loans in lest than four years, prompting one of Iacocca's more notable quotes: “We at Chrysler borrow money the old-fashioned way. We pay it back.”

With the help of other ex-Ford employees, most notably, Hal Sperlich, Chrysler brought the “minivan” to the U.S. Market in the fall of 1983, with the intirduction of the Dodge Caravan and Plymouth Voyager. Sperlich and Iacocca had tried unsuccessfully to develop the minivan during their employment at Ford. So uninterested in the minivan was Henry Ford II, that Spurlich had actually been dispatched from Ford several months prior to Iacocca. Chrysler led the market in minivan sales for 25 years until losing the title to Honda in calendar year 2008.

Lee Iacocca later coordinated Chrysler's acquisition of American Motors Corporation (AMC) in 1987, which brought with it the profitable Jeep division and ultimately, the 1992 introduction of the Grand Cherokee (as a '93 model vehicle). Iacocca retired at the end of 1992, leaving behind a legacy as one of the greatest CEO's of all time.

Happy Motoring!