James Wright McLernon (August 7, 1927 – March 21, 2020) was an American automobile company executive who worked for

Chevrolet Chevrolet ( ) is an American automobile division of the manufacturer General Motors (GM). In North America, Chevrolet produces and sells a wide range of vehicles, from subcompact automobiles to medium-duty commercial trucks. Due to the promi ...

while at

General Motors General Motors Company (GM) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. The company is most known for owning and manufacturing f ...

as an engineer. Born in

Kenmore, New York Kenmore is a village in Erie County, New York, United States. The population was 15,205 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Buffalo-Niagara Falls metropolitan area. Kenmore is in the south part of the town of Tonawanda, and together with the ...

, he became the first president in 1976 of manufacturing at

Volkswagen of America Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. (sometimes referred to as Volkswagen of America, abbreviated to VWoA), is the North American operational headquarters, and subsidiary of the Volkswagen Group of automobile companies of Germany. VWoA is responsib ...

, the U.S. division of

Volkswagen Volkswagen (VW; )English: , . is a German automotive industry, automobile manufacturer based in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony, Germany. Established in 1937 by German Labour Front, The German Labour Front, it was revitalized into the global brand it ...

AG. He was assigned to get VW's Westmoreland Assembly Plant, the first factory in the United States operated by a non-American automaker, up and running in 1978 and then became president of VW's entire American division. His role at Volkswagen was controversial, due to the softening of the

Volkswagen Rabbit The Volkswagen Golf () is a compact car/small family car (C-segment) produced by the German automotive manufacturer Volkswagen since 1974, marketed worldwide across eight generations, in various body configurations and under various nameplates ...

(known in Europe as the Golf), to make the car appeal to a mass market. He was fired by

Carl Hahn Carl Horst Hahn (1 July 1926 – 14 January 2023) was a German businessman and head of the Volkswagen Group from 1982 to 1993. He served as the chairman of the board of management of the parent company, Volkswagen AG (formerly Volkswagenwerk A ...

when Hahn became the chairman of Volkswagen AG in 1982. McLernon died March 21, 2020, at Beaumont Hospital, Royal Oak, Michigan and was buried at Acacia Park Cemetery, Beverly Hills, Michigan.Obituary for James W. McLernon

References

Sources

* University of Buffalo, Alumni Profiles, Fall 1998: ''James W. McLernon, Class of 1950'' * Kiley, David, "Getting The Bugs Out: The Rise, Fall and Comeback of Volkswagen in America", ''Adweek'', 2002 1927 births 2020 deaths People in the automobile industry People from Kenmore, New York Volkswagen Group executives {{automobile-bio-stub