At just 40, John became GM’s youngest division head, where the Camaro-based Firebird, and an all-new Grand Prix were created under his direction. The sleek, sporty 1969 Grand Prix outsold the 1968 model nearly three-times over, and in 1969, he was promoted to lead General Motors’ flagship Chevrolet division.
In reference to GM’s corporate philosophy John says “GM is reluctant to pioneer in the auto industry, rather banking on letting others pioneer new markets and following them up with a bigger and more aggressive sales effort. The logical result of this, when I was there, was that GM was usually late in the market with new products, slow to respond to quick turns in the marketplace because it didn’t perceive them when they were happening, and the least effective in the automobile industry in its advertising programs. A quote from “A Clear Day you can see GM” by J. Patrick Wright, dictated by DeLorean. (page 164, ©1979)
…what bothered me was that there was no means to make the changes in our business philosophy and the response to our publics which I felt were paramount to the long-term health and growth of the corporation. In theory, the GM system of business management featured two functions: centralized policy making and control, and decentralized operations. John Z. Delorean, from “On a clear day you can see General Motors.”
