 Automotive News All-Star Photo Gallery
| | | Over the past year, auto executives have endured the industry’s version of the biblical plagues. This week, Automotive News unveils its annual list of automotive All-Stars — those resourceful executives who weren't deterred by recession, soaring steel prices, bankruptcy rumors or $4-a-gallon gasoline.
In terms of sales, the year started out bad — then got steadily worse. Now, it's starting to look like something much more than a mere recession.
Automakers are tearing up their product plans so they can produce the small cars and crossovers that consumers are demanding. All automakers are scrambling to develop hybrid powertrains, diesels and electric cars. The crisis is especially acute for the Detroit 3.
Alan Mulally, Rick Wagoner and Bob Nardelli have launched turnaround plans. But Ford Motor Co., General Motors and Chrysler LLC face a long, hard slog.
That’s why, Automotive News has not named a top North American CEO — the third straight year in which we left that category vacant.
Readers will note that Toyota’s brain trust did not earn a single award. Despite Toyota's strong performance, that is not an oversight. Instead, it's a testament to Toyota's corporate culture that it could lose accomplished executives such as Jim Press, Jim Farley and Deborah Meyer without losing a beat.
If companies were All-Stars, Toyota would be a perennial winner.
- David Sedgwick
Automotive News Editor
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All-Stars Index:
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When Sergio Marchionne became CEO of Fiat group in June 2004, its automaking division was losing about $3.7 million a day. Fiat Auto's market share in western Europe was plummeting. Financial analysts speculated about which rival would buy the Italian automaker. Today, Fiat Auto is profitable.That turnaround has made Marchionne Automotive News' Industry Leader of the Year for 2008. |
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Kosak oversaw the successful marketing launch of the redesigned 2008 Chevrolet Malibu, which included a big online presence. The campaign's tag line was "The Car You Can't Ignore." |
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Gettelfinger's oversight last year of innovative contract talks with the Detroit 3 avoided a Motor City meltdown that could have irrevocably damaged the companies and destroyed the union. |
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Under Stephens' supervision of engine and powertrain design and production, GM is working to boost performance and fuel economy. GM has rolled out an impressive family of six-speed transmissions and several direct-injection engines. A groundbreaking new diesel engine eliminates intake and exhaust manifolds. |
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Winner of this category for the second straight year, Lutz has presided over strong redesigns of the Chevrolet Malibu and Cadillac CTS and successful mid-sized crossovers such as the Buick Enclave. Even chronic GM critics applaud the new vehicles -- and absolve Lutz of blame for GM's overreliance on big pickups and SUVs. |
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Under Shoupe's leadership, Honda has built needed flexibility into its North American assembly plants, moving vehicles among plants with ease. For example, the Honda Civic is built on the same assembly line as the Acura MDX crossover and Honda Ridgeline pickup at its Alliston, Ontario, plant. |
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More than 4,700 new Mazda cars were on a ship that almost capsized near Alaska last summer. Mazda turned what could have been a public relations disaster into a triumph by scrapping the cars and recycling their parts instead of trying to sell some of the cars as used. |
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Stanton was a big player in last year's fuel economy debate on Capitol Hill. He was one of the first industry executives to concede that automakers would have to accept a new corporate average fuel economy standard of 35 mpg. But Stanton also worked with an industry coalition to win concessions and block state-by-state greenhouse gas rules. |
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Manganello has tirelessly promoted turbocharging and dual-clutch transmissions. BorgWarner's products are especially important as the industry works to meet new fuel-efficiency and emissions rules. |
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Friedman was on the front lines of the lobbying battle that preceded last year's increase in corporate average fuel economy standards. Friedman, an engineer, was largely responsible for the steady stream of science-based reports rebutting industry arguments that the CAFE increase was unaffordable or impractical. |
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Hallett rejoined the No. 2 auto auction company last summer after leaving a year earlier. (He says the company's previous owners fired him.) Since then, he has opened five U.S. auctions and one in Canada. In the next three to four years Hallett seeks to increase ADESA's North American market share to 30 percent from 20 percent. |
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Jutte has done a masterful job of nurturing Honda's North American supply chain. Suppliers' satisfaction with Honda is high, as is suppliers' capacity for innovation. |
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Henderson had a big role in reaching last year's landmark UAW contract. He worked on the bailout of Delphi Corp., a key GM supplier. He helped tidy up an accounting dispute with the Securities and Exchange Commission. |
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The Sync system of on-board communication and entertainment is a hit for both Ford Motor Co. and its partner, Microsoft Corp. Thall is the software giant's point man for the Sync venture, which continues to generate big buzz at consumer electronics shows a year after its launch. |
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An All-Star for the fourth straight year, Farley joined Ford last year after a dazzling run at Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A. Farley already has overhauled Ford's marketing team, launched a Ford brand campaign and a number of regional incentive campaigns, and involved dealers more in local advertising and marketing. |
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Not only are sales of MazdaSpeed parts and accessories going through the roof, but MazdaSpeed racing accessories outsell MazdaSpeed accessories bought from dealerships. |
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In a down market, Penske's public dealership group is No. 2 in the United States and gaining fast on AutoNation. Penske also is expanding overseas operations and is overseeing U.S. distribution of Smart, a line of small cars that is both a distinctive brand and a high-risk venture. |
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A repeat winner in the category, de' Silva is bringing to mass-market VW brands the sophisticated look he gave such Audi models as the R8 and A5 when he was the luxury brand's top designer. |
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O'Sullivan has steadily guided Mazda in the United States since he took the company's reins in 2003. His leadership, coupled with appealing new products, has restored dealers' confidence. |
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De Nysschen has elevated the Audi brand in the United States through careful selection of product, limits on incentives to maintain residual values and a new dealer margin system aimed at weeding out underperforming stores. Assessments of the luxury brand's quality have risen dramatically in U.S. consumer surveys. |
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Marchionne has presided over the turnaround of an automaker once left for dead. The popular, stylish Fiat 500 small car represents the company at its best. Marchionne has invigorated Fiat's once-moribund corporate culture, encouraging dozens of joint ventures and alliances that have leveraged Fiat's technical prowess while preserving capital. |
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Tata is putting India's burgeoning auto industry on the world map in a big way. Even as his company has bought the Jaguar and Land Rover luxury brands from Ford Motor, Tata is preparing to launch the Nano — the so-called $2,500 car that is poised to revolutionize the low-cost global market. |
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Critics have derided the absence of big trucks, V-8 engines and rear-wheel-drive models in Honda's U.S. lineup. But Colliver has steadily maintained Honda's emphasis on smaller cars that, in an era of expensive gasoline, looks prescient. |
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