The Big Three finally landed their emergency bridge loans – with possibly more cash on the way – but unlike the financial sector’s $700 billion bailout, the Detroit automakers will be kept under a microscope in return. One of the stipulations for the bailout cash was a ‘car czar’, a position Ford CEO Alan Mulally hopes steers clear of product development.
The exact role of the car czar has yet to be define, but Mulally hopes the position will not include the power to oversee product strategy. “My god, I hope that a car czar does not get into the product strategy of the companies,” Mulally told Automotive News. “The product strategy has to be led by the companies.”
The car czar will oversee the Detroit automakers’ North American turnaround, but it still remains unclear exactly how much power the position will wield over the automakers’ lineups. Many on Capitol Hill have called for more fuel-efficient vehicles from Detroit but, in all actuality, Detroit already produces several vehicles with better fuel economy than their foreign rivals.
President-elect Barack Obama is expected to appoint a car czar in the next few weeks.
