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1-Page Summary of Iacocca

Wieners and the Depression

When Nicola Iacocca arrived in Ellis Island, he was determined to live the American dream. He worked hard and became successful. His son Lee embraced his father’s ideals and succeeded as well. Nicola was one of the first people in Allentown who owned a new Model T Ford. During World War I, he trained ambulance drivers at Camp Crane not far from home. He met a 17-year old girl while there and married her when he returned to America with both women later on. When the Depression hit, most of their properties were lost but they still made money because they ran an Orpheum Wiener House restaurant that kept them afloat during those times of economic turmoil.

Lee Iacocca was a devout Catholic who enjoyed going to confession. He was also an excellent student and athlete, until he got rheumatic fever during his freshman year in high school that left him unable to play sports for the rest of his life. The Depression turned him into a materialist, but he never lost sight of what truly mattered in life: optimism. His father’s persistent optimism helped Iacocca carry the weight of giant corporations on his shoulders when times were tough. As a child, he did not even realize he was Italian until age 11 because they lived such comfortable lives growing up. A smart kid with a knack for understanding adults, Lee worked hard at reading and writing music and played the saxophone as well as loved big band music like Frank Sinatra and Glenn Miller. When World War II began during his senior year in high school, he was deferred from service due to childhood illness. After graduating from Lehigh University near Allentown, Pennsylvania, Lee went on to study engineering where learned two important lessons : 1) concentration is everything; 2) take weekends off so you can enjoy life while you’re still young enough to do so. These same principles would later apply when Lee became head of Ford Motor Company ‘s car division ; don’t lose focus or become consumed by your work because it will be too late once you get older.

The Reluctant Engineer

After he graduated from Princeton, Iacocca was recruited by the school for its master’s program. They offered him a scholarship that covered his tuition and spending money. However, Ford Motors selected one student from each of the best 50 colleges in the United States to join their engineering program. That year, it was Iacocca who got picked as the 51st student. He earned his master’s degree in a year and talked his way into Ford’s next class as well because he had just completed one at Princeton University.

Once Lee Iacocca joined Ford Motor Company, he realized that the job of an engineer was not for him. He wanted to be in sales because it was more exciting than engineering. He got a low-level fleet sales job in Chester, Pennsylvania and discovered that it was very profitable since there were so many orders and little inventory after World War II. In 1949, he became a zone manager who treated dealers fairly by giving them good prices on cars while still making money for himself and his company. This early experience with selling has helped him avoid problems with dealers later on in his career as an auto executive. His time spent selling cars taught him how to sell things: what customers want (styles), their size (sales volume), what they’re used for (profitability) and the price range ($). ”

“56 for 56”

Lee Iacocca used a series of marketing gimmicks to get the sales going. He came up with the “56 for 56” program, which allowed customers to make 36 monthly payments of $56 on a 1956 Ford model car. This was so successful that it spread nationwide and increased sales by 75,000 cars in one year. That same year, Lee married Mary McCleary, who has been his partner ever since and is an important source of pride for him.