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Whipped on by the dynamic leadership of President Lynn Townsend, Chrysler's sales are up 16.6%. Studebaker is out of the picture, and American Motors, caught short by the public's swing away from its compact cars, is off 12%. But it is Ford that is making the biggest splash of all in the area that counts most: share of the auto market. Ford's first-quarter sales are up an impressive 12%, and its market penetration, as Detroit terms it, is gaining in a rapidly expanding market after several years of decline. So far this year, it is up a percentage point—to 26.2%—at the expense of G.M. and Rambler. This gain took place long before the first Mustang hit the showrooms, and Ford is counting on its 1964½ offering to accelerate the trend. If Ford sells those 400,000 Mustangs, it could raise its market penetration to 29%.
On to the Basics. Though the sports cars are all the talk now, the big news will come in October, when the standard 1965 models are introduced. These cars, which account for 75% of all sales, will have the most extensive changes in Detroit's history. Nearly a billion dollars has been spent on new styling and mechanical developments.
Cadillac will lose its tail fins after 16 years, adopt the sleek, slablike sides that have become so popular in the industry. G.M.'s Corvair will retain its rear engine but adopt more conventional styling and have a larger body. Plymouth will grow from a 116-in. to a 119-in. wheelbase and become more interchangeable with the 119-in. Dodge. In addition to fielding a sports car, American Motors will introduce a new, longer (by 10 in.) Ambassador and a restyled Classic. Mercury will have a handsome new slab-sided car completely different in appearance from the Ford. The standard Ford will come out in its own version of slab-styling, first introduced by the 1960 Lincoln Continental, will also add vertical dual headlights à la Pontiac. For the first time in recent years, Ford's styling, which has generally lagged behind General
Motors', is expected to give Chevrolet, Buick, Oldsmobile and Pontiac a hard run for their money.
For the People Side. As with the Mustang, much of the credit for whatever gains Ford can make with its new models belongs to Lee Iacocca. "I see this as the start of a new golden age for Ford that will make the peaks of the past look like anthills," he says. Iacocca has had a Ford in his future almost literally since birth.
His father, Nicola, came to the U.S. from southern Italy when he was only twelve, soon bought his first Model T, and within eight years had parlayed it into a thriving rent-a-car business that grew to a fleet of 33 cars, mostly Fords. He returned to Italy at 31 to select his bride, found her in his home town of Benevento and honeymooned at Venice's sultry Lido Beach. Back in the U.S., they called their only son Lido out of sentiment for that spot. Iacocca's father branched into real estate around Allentown, Pa., so increased his holdings that he became a pre-Depression millionaire.