Iacocca returns as Chrysler pitchman

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Iacocca returns as Chrysler pitchman
Wednesday, July 6, 2005
BY JAMIE BUTTERS
FREE PRESS BUSINESS WRITER

Former Chrysler Chairman and CEO Lee Iacocca will again pitch cars for
the Auburn Hills automaker, which is even bringing back his old
tagline: "If you can find a better car, buy it."

The 81-year-old retired auto executive who led Chrysler's comeback
from near-bankruptcy in the early '80s is starring in a campaign to
tout Chrysler's "Employee Pricing Plus," a response to GM's popular
"employee pricing for everybody" program last month.

The campaign was to be announced at 3 p.m. Wednesday press conference
which was delayed until 5 p.m. while the parties tried to reach a
final deal. A final deal has not been signed yet, due to normal
contractual issues, said Chrysler spokesman Mike Aberlich.

The bones of the deal would include an initial payment to the Iacocca
Foundation and a pledge to donate one dollar for each car and truck
the Chrysler Group sells from July 1 to the end of the year. In the
first half of the year, Chrysler sold nearly 1.3 million. The Iacocca
Foundation is trying to raise $11 million for diabetes research.

The move to bring Iacocca back as part of the public face of Chrysler
raises some questions, such as whether there is finally peace between
him and DaimlerChrysler after he supported billionaire tycoon Kirk
Kerkorian's 1995 effort to take over Chrysler Corp. (The company was
eventually acquired by Daimler-Benz AG in 1998, and Kerkorian is now
an investor in General Motors Corp.) It was this episode that kept the
automaker from naming its headquarters tower for Iacocca.

Perhaps more important is whether he will resonate with younger
consumers, who may not remember his old ads, his best-selling
autobiography and the excitement that once surrounded the man many
thought could run for president.

In the 1980s, President Ronald Reagan tapped Iacocca to raise money to
overhaul the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island.

Before joining Chrysler in 1979, Iacocca had worked for years at Ford
Motor Co.

He burst onto the automotive scene in 1964 with the introduction of
the Mustang, the first car aimed at the youth market.

By 1970, he was president of the Dearborn automaker, but he was fired
in 1978 by Henry Ford II, who later said "Sometimes you just don't
like somebody."

The new ads pay homage to Iacocca's storied past.

One ad features Iacocca with comic actor Jason Alexander, formerly of
Seinfeld. Chrysler Group Vice President Jason Vines said that it is
Alexander who delivers Iacocca's signature line: "If you can find a
better car, buy it."

In another spot, Vines said, Iacocca is sitting in a limousine,
reading a newspaper while we hear his thoughts about the quality and
styling of today's Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep vehicles. The driver opens
the door and asks if he is the guy who says that line.

Iacocca's reply: "Still am."

Vines said that Iacocca is still in very good health and still brings
a lot of his characteristic energy to the spots.
The Chrysler Group may put outtakes from the ad shoots in California
on its Web site, Vines said: "It's been a lot of fun working on this
one."