Rest stop: The cult of automotive personality [Discussion]

Big names have long dominated the automotive business, but has the era of personality come to a close?

Welcome to Rest Stop, our semi-regular Leftlane staff discussion series covering all things automotive.

This week, we're doing something a little different. In the wake of Lee Iacocca's passing, we got to thinking about how strong personalities have shaped the auto industry, past and present.

[This installment's participants: Managing Editor Drew Johnson, News Editor Justin King, Buyer's Guide Editor Byron Hurd, and European editor Ronan Glon]

Byron: I think the premise of this week's discussion is pretty obvious, but I suppose an introduction can't hurt. Rather than simply doing a catch-all discussion of the events going on in the industry, we're going to focus on a single topic: strong personalities in the auto industry and the lasting impact they've had (or continue to have).

Byron: Since Iacocca was the catalyst for this idea, we might as well start with him.

Justin: It was interesting to learn that he had been involved in numerous electric vehicle projects after retiring from Chrysler. His bet on electric bicycles in the late '90s foreshadowed the current boom in e-bikes, but ultimately collapsed 20 years ahead of its time.

Ronan: I think what all of these guys have in common is that, if you'll pardon this sorely overused term, they're visionaries. They have a better idea of what the future holds than most.

Byron: Even if they're a little off on the exact time frame of that future.

Ronan: Right, that's the trade-ff. But sometimes they're also dead-on. Many of [Sergio] Marchionne's predictions were accurate, for example. He didn't live long enough to see it happen, but the industry is consolidating. BMW and Jaguar announced an EV partnership, Ford and Volkswagen will likely share the MEB platform, and of course FCA nearly merged with Renault. He called all of this. And remember: he didn't start his career in the automotive industry. He studied philosophy, law, and business. That's how accurate his sense of business was.

Drew: Back in the good old days, one person had the ability to create a covert skunkworks with a team of secretly-funded designers and engineers, all toiling away after normal work hours. And that "one man, one vision” philosophy led to the creation of a lot of cool cars which, in turn, put the spotlight on the person that championed the project.

Ronan: And they realized that breaking rules was sometimes the only way to get things done. They're also outspoken; remember when Marchionne said the Commander was unfit for human consumption? I mean, you could say that about a lot of cars released in the 2000s, but he's the only one who had the balljoints to come out and say it.

Byron: I see we're slipping a little bit into past tense here. Are we saying that the era of big personalities is over?

Drew: There will always be significant figureheads in the car business, but I'm not sure we'll ever see a singular visionary ever again. That's because the auto industry is heading in a new direction -- one that emphasizes groupthink and automation.

Byron: Diffusion of influence, I guess is a way of looking at it. Globalization of the industry is a big factor too. Imagine how much of the 2015 Ford Mustang's design was done by international consensus. Automakers aren't just engineering new cars for a few first-world countries anymore.

Drew: Exactly. The modern auto industry isn't as accommodating to "backroom" designs. Division heads are narrowly focused on the work at hand, and funding for every nut and bolt is scrutinized. In other words, it's nearly impossible for one person to push a project through, which means it's nearly impossible for one person to rise to fame.

Byron: And the price of failure is arguably higher than it has ever been. Some of the most-respected personalities in the auto industry have been closely associated with some of its most significant controversies. Iacocca knew about the Ford Pinto fuel tank situation long before it became a scandal. Henry Ford was basically a Nazi.

Justin: Iacocca, Lutz, and Musk have all suffered from hubris at some point in their respective careers.

Ronan: This goes back to my comments about Marchionne. A lot of these figures weren't just businessmen and marketers. They were thinkers. They understood people, not just money.

Ronan: Carlos Tavares often gets left out because he's a lot less influential in the United States, but he's up there with the rest. He's a business genius, a ground-breaker, and he's heavy into cars, too. That's not necessary, but it helps. In 2014 or so, when he was still at Renault, I was on the historic Monte-Carlo rally and I spotted him behind the wheel of his personal Alpine A110. That's when I realized he was not just your average auto executives; this dude is taking time off to race.

Byron: This is what makes people like Bob Lutz and (though fewer people know about him) Ralph Gilles so magnetic to those of us who care about the industry. They're enthusiasts. Bob is basically a walking embodiment of the "LS swap all the things" meme and Ralph races Vipers. Here I am calling them by their first names, even. We can relate to these folks.

Drew: The shift to automation is also limiting the future role of big personalities in the auto industry. Cars like the Dodge Viper stoke emotion, so it makes sense that the people behind them often reach legend status. A driverless pod, on the other hand, is a passionless product that doesn't evoke the same kind of feelings.

Drew: Of course it's still possible to become a big personality in today's auto industry, as Elon Musk has proven. I'm just not sure how many more billionaire entrepreneurs are in the pipeline.

Byron: I'm sure there are plenty of aspiring disrupters. The question is, does the flash-in-the-pan nature of the startup economy allow for those personalities to emerge the way the old-school business world did? Will this new economy be as tolerant of failures and flaws as the old one?

Byron: I think part of what made it possible for the people we've discussed to reach the level that they did was the good-old-boy network that kept them employed even in the wake of some of the business failures (and personal failings) with which they were associated. Spotlights didn't shine quite as brightly in the old days. I'm not confident that some of these folks would be able to bounce back as effectively in the world of social media and up-to-the-second accountability.

Justin: Plus, a lot of what is happening in the industry now is kind of the crystallization of what some of these guys considered to be retirement hobbies. I mentioned Iacocca before, but there are other examples, like Bob Lutz's involvement in General Motors' failed EV1 and then his about-face with the remnants of Fisker.

Byron: I think the auto industry's revolving door of leadership is spinning faster now than it ever has, and the startup economy is just going to fuel that acceleration even more.

Justin: I agree. Established players will have to take inspiration from disruptive startups, while the newcomers will have to learn a few things from the veterans. The turnover rate for automotive CEOs will likely accelerate in the next five years as technological shifts create new winners and losers.

Justin: The simultaneous expansion of electric vehicles and quest to commercialize self-driving technology will test the leadership skills of all industry executives.

Byron: We've gotten pretty academic here, and I want to steer back to a big personality that seems to be the exception to the rule: Elon.

Justin: Musk's vision was basically the inverse of Iacocca's and Lutz's. He came at the problem from the opposite angle, initially focusing on the six-figure Tesla Roadster to launch the company when battery prices were much higher than they are today. As prices steadily dropped, the company succeeded in expanding its range with the Model S, X and finally the Model 3.

Byron: Essentially, he looked for a way to turn something Lutz and Iacocca considered a novelty into something that everyday consumers would want.

Justin: Exactly. Tesla ultimately struggled with the transition from low-volume niche vehicles to the high-volume Model 3, entering territory that Iacocca and Lutz had skillfully managed during their respective tenures at the head of Detroit Big Three automakers.

Byron: So, is Musk the model for the new generation of industry personalities?

Ronan: I'm not so sure. Musk is on another level, because he has either positioned himself as a prophet, or been elevated to prophet status by his Twitter followers. He's another species of executive entirely; the superstar CEO. It's almost like if General Motors replaced Barra with Kanye West.

Byron: I think a non-trivial number of folks out there would actually welcome that transition. And on that note, I think that's our time. Have a great weekend, everybody.