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."