Obituary: Lee Iacocca

THE WORLD’S carmakers can be roughly divided by specialisation. Europe’s are regarded as the best at sophisticated engineering. Japan’s are the masters of mass-production techniques. What American car firms do best is marketing their products. That reputation was acquired largely thanks to the efforts of an American business legend, Lee Iacocca, who died on July 2nd at the age of 94.

Brash, tireless and in the seclusion of the boardroom wreathed in a cloud of cigar smoke and profanities, Mr Iacocca presented a public image when boss of Chrysler as the patriotic car guy urging his countrymen to buy American. His rescue of the perennial weakling among Detroit’s “Big Three” from the brink of bankruptcy, and his regular appearance in the firm’s television adverts—once challenging customers that “if you can find a better car, buy it”—made him a celebrity boss long before such an idea became commonplace.