One skill Folz has applied at all three companies is setting and hitting financial targets.
In 1998 Folz began to rationalize the entire assembly operation by introducing a cost-cutting strategy.
So it came as a surprise to many when Folz replaced Calvet in October 1997.
Ever loyal and self-effacing, Folz was the perfect foil to the larger-than-life Calvet.
When Folz took over four years ago, Peugeot was in a sorry state.
Intent on lowering the average age of its workers, Folz has since February paid bonuses to those who retire early.
By using the shared platform Folz can both produce better margins and tempt buyers with a wider variety of models.
Besides making sound investment decisions, Folz has been an effective manager of people, a particularly important skill in countries with restrictive labor laws.
We've been ahead of the pack before in choosing Chris Gent of Vodafone and Jean-Martin Folz of Peugeot as top executives of the year.
But Folz defines it to include not only the skeleton of the car but also the engine, the gear box, the transmission and the suspension.
Folz has maintained the joint ventures formed by his predecessor with Fiat in light trucks and with Renault in engines, gear boxes and industrial vehicles.
"Folz has the best managerial reputation in the European automobile industry, " says Gianluca Pediconi, an auto industry share analyst with Credit Suisse First Boston in London.
The soft-spoken, bespectacled Folz was new to the car business.
"If you can build a good platform made up of high-tech, high-quality elements and you then produce, oh, five vehicles on that platform, you are going to save a lot of money, " says Folz.
What persuaded FORBES GLOBAL to name Folz its Businessman of the Year was his ability to sustain Peugeot's positive momentum despite the weakening in the worldwide demand for automobiles in March of last year.
Vowing to sell 4 million cars a year by 2006-a 23% increase over his goal for 2002-Folz has inked a deal with Dongfeng, a local partner, to return to Chinese production after five years.
It's difficult to imagine Folz entering a transaction of such complexity, consisting of the revival of a troubled foreign company, the seconding of an important executive to a far-away business and a lot of complicated financial deals.
Folz says that he sees "perhaps better immediate opportunities" in Latin America (Argentina and Brazil in particular), Eastern Europe (Poland and Turkey) and China, where Peugeot has a joint venture with Dong Feng Motors (an auto assembly plant that can turn out 150, 000 vehicles a year plus an engine and gearbox factory).
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