Tom Gale
“Good Design Is Good Business” says design legend Tom Gale
Designing vehicles and solid bottom linesA couple walks the seemingly endless rows of classic vehicles at “Eyes on Design,” an annual celebration of automotive design. As patrons have been doing at the Detroit Institute of Ophthalmology fundraiser for 15 years, they wander, they crane necks for better views, and suddenly there they are – the bells, the whistles, the fireworks. An “ooooh” is uttered, another favorite vehicle – at least for that row - is chosen…and the love affair with the automobile continues. Part life, part science experiment, what draws a person to a vehicle?
Thomas C. Gale, former executive vice president of product development and design at DaimlerChrysler, will, of course, tell you the design and style of a vehicle is the ultimate “hook.” But, to the four-decade veteran of the automotive world who began his career with the Chrysler Corporation in 1967, it’s more than just an opinion out of habit. It is a timeless business necessity. “Good design is good business,” says Gale, who has been named “Honored Designer” for this year’s “Eyes on Design” event to be held June 7-9 at DaimlerChrysler Corporation headquarters in Auburn Hills. “It’s as simple as that, even though good design is not simple. Design is a corporate strength. It is a strategic weapon.”
If design is a strategic weapon, then Gale certainly helped put his share of ammo in the Chrysler Group arsenal. But, he is quick to correct that without a solid core team, a willingness to embrace educated risk and support of senior management, even the best design will not raise the pulse of the public. It is this philosophy that Gale says made and continues to make Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep® solid forces in a heated and highly competitive market.
“It is critical that design has credibility in an organization – and that’s not just automotive companies either,” Gale says. “The only way to hit homeruns is to be allowed at the plate. Design – even in my early days and now today – must earn its place in the corporate line up and that only comes through building a base of success.”Around 1985, Gale began to formulate an approach to Chrysler Design that was proactive rather than reactive. As such, he convinced his management team that it was necessary to take a gamble on the future by making one third of his staff “Advanced Product Designers.” It meant a radical change of course from the then cookie-cutter-yet functional K-Cars that saved Chrysler in the financially desperate 80’s to the educated risk that went into the development of “concept cars.”
“We had to ignite passion and design is at the heart of that emotional fire,” says Gale. “You engage a team and you let them push the limits. Can you go too far and create something so strange that it turns folks away? Sure. But it’s design direction might find its way to a production vehicle. You don’t know those limits until you surpass test them.”
Before long, Gale and his staff not only were pushing limits but also pushing customers into Chrysler showrooms. Concept cars and design studies were making their way to auto shows around the world. The attention – and reactions – would ultimately lead to a long line of production vehicles. The Portofino, Millennium and Optima became the Chrysler Concorde, Dodge Intrepid and even Neons that would be driven – and craved – by consumers.
“Customers want a solid product that is going to be a quality vehicle, no question, that’s the price of admission,” says Gale. “But, of course, they want to be proud, they want a vehicle that says something about and to them. That’s the function of design and this individualism is what makes the person spend the money and, therefore, makes the business solid.”
Gale referenced the 1993 Dodge Ram truck as a clear example. When the truck was introduced, Dodge maintained an approximate seven percent share of the truck market. Soon after it’s introduction, Ram commanded 21 percent of the market. “Of course, market factors and economics play a role, but you can’t deny the ability of a vehicle to hit an emotional chord that makes a true success.”
The power of design not only has an effect on the external world, but also on the morale of a company, says Gale. Chrysler needed an emotional boost in the late 80’s and was keen to show the world the positive effects of their dramatic turning around. The symbol of that cultural change for Chrysler Corporation was the Dodge Viper.
“We wanted to say we were bold, we wanted to say we were changing our attitude while we were changing the publics’ attitude about us,” says Gale. “The Viper, even though it was considered low volume, was a huge step for us in that its performance inside and dramatic look outside signaled we had turned a major corner. We weren’t sitting on the sidelines – we were in the game and playing to win.”
Winning the game with flash and style – and a good mix of educated risk -- came quickly on the heals of what was first called “Pronto” but was later called by many in the journalistic world as the most significant vehicle of the 1990’s.
“The Chrysler PT Cruiser essentially took the rule book and tossed it away,” Gale said, of the radically different vehicle that combined “retro” cues with modern-day function and interior innovations. “The vehicle broke segments but also expanded the minds of the public and the press by showing that design can be about function as well as emotion.”
Gale says however, that the trend of “Retro” that has sprung up as a large result of PT Cruiser’s success is cautious territory. “There needs to be a balance in looking back, because it can inhibit the ability to look forward. Making something that’s been done before without adapting it to ‘now,’ is a mistake. The key is tapping into a passion that might be more associated with a time period or brand, but still making it relevant. The basic premise to business is to give the public something they need; good business is giving them something they love and love to use.”
If he’s right and design is business, then for Tom Gale, business has always been good.
