In the auto business there is always some employee swapping going on. However, in the past couple of months there have been three high profile defections from Toyota. Farley is headed to Ford but previously Chrysler named Jim Press, who had been the Japanese company's highest-ranking U.S. executive, as president and in August hired Deborah Wahl Meyer, formerly a top marketing official for Lexus.
This brings up several questions in my mind. Firstly, how deep is Toyota’s bench? Secondly, can these top drawer executives transfer their successes to their new employers? In my mind both of those questions can be answered by one word: product. With the right leadership in place, competitive “gotta have it” vehicles can work their way up through the organization and onto the dealer’s lots. Bob Lutz help foster this very atmosphere at GM and its portfolio is now starting to really blossom.
This brings up several questions in my mind. Firstly, how deep is Toyota’s bench? Secondly, can these top drawer executives transfer their successes to their new employers? In my mind both of those questions can be answered by one word: product. With the right leadership in place, competitive “gotta have it” vehicles can work their way up through the organization and onto the dealer’s lots. Bob Lutz help foster this very atmosphere at GM and its portfolio is now starting to really blossom.
As Chrysler has shown in its previous near death/miraculous rebirth cycles, one very hot, high volume product can buoy an entire downtrodden company. So what’s in the pipeline for Chrysler and Ford? This is where things currently don’t look so promising. Ford has the new F-150 debuting soon, but with the pickup market so cut throat right now it’s going to be a challenge for Ford to make any real headway. The real heavy hitter could be the Flex. If Ford can retain buyers trading out of their Windstars, Explorers, Expeditions, and perhaps poach a few customers from its competitors then the Flex could make a nice home for itself on the sales charts. The Flex can’t save Ford all by itself, but it’s unique enough to make a splash. Peering into Chrysler’s immediate future, I don’t really see any new breakout, high volume products. Obviously there are vehicles that I have no idea about, but outside of the niche stuff I don’t see Chrysler’s savior. I hope I’m wrong.
As for Toyota? I think it will be able to carry on. Even if it must endure some growing pains, the Toyota and Lexus brands have so much equity that it was take a colossal failure of new products to cause a real slowdown in Toyota's momentum.
Both Ford and Chrysler have other issues embedded in their organizations that have to be exorcised, but as with real estate the Automotive biz is all about product, product, product.
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