Rise and Fall of Malcolm Bricklin and John DeLorean
The rise and fall of Malcolm Bricklin and John DeLorean is a story that resembles many successful people’s stories. The two succeeded in achieving their dreams shortly before the dreams gt destroyed. It is important to learn about the Bricklin and DeLorean’s story so as to avoid getting the fate as them. In both cases, the individuals had big dreams, rose through the ranks of their profession, got government support, achieved their visions, and later failed.
Malcolm Bricklin is a businessman who majors in manufacturing and importing cars in the U.S.. Bricklin has an aggressive personality, which makes him grow in business by often taking risks. Bricklin started his business career by working at Malcolm’s father’s building supply hardware store in Florida. After making the hardware business to flourish, Malcolm left the hardware business and joined the automotive industry. Bricklin began by importing and selling the Subaru 360, which he branded the name Subaru of America. Malcolm then left Subaru of America and started a personal sports car manufacturing and selling company called Bricklin SV1.
Besides Malcolm, the New Brunswick government had invested an enormous capital to the production of the BricklinSV1. The government hoped that the Bricklin SV1 manufacturing plants in Saint John and Minto would create jobs for the locals. On the other hand, Malcolm had a vision of manufacturing a safe sports car which was economical. This vision was not possible because of the additional expenses that the safety features brought. The Bricklin SV1 finally became safe but inefficient.
Malcolm Bricklin’s dream company later failed because of having a massive debt. The company owed the New Brunswick government a debt of 21 million dollars. This debt was the result of the company’s inability to produce cars fast enough to make a profit. Consequently, the company went into receivership with the New Brunswick government being the receiver. This receivership was a major setback to Malcolm as it was the fall of his dream.
John DeLorean was an American engineer and an executive in the United States of America automobile industry. John had a strong personality that made John have a nonconforming and attention seeking behavior. He prospered career wise from being a salesperson in Chrysler to forming the DeLorean Motor Company. During this period, DeLorean had worked at Chevrolet and General Motors before forming the DeLorean Motor Company.
John had a vision of starting a sports car manufacturing company that made sports cars from stainless steel with gull-wing doors. This dream was not possible at first since DeLorean lacked enough capital to start the business. Later, the Labour government of Ireland invested in his company with the hope that it would create jobs in Belfast. This incentive was a significant progress towards achieving DeLorean’s dream.
Although John DeLorean had a mixture of engineering expertise and excellent sales skills, DeLorean Motor Company quickly collapsed. This failure was the consequence of production delays which made the company to release the DeLorean Motor Company-12 model to the market in 1981. This period was very unfavorable for the company due to the United States of America economic recess and the critics’ opinion that the model’s price did not compensate for its features. This market challenge led to the company going into receivership after making losses. The company was later liquidated and the British government took full ownership after the arrest of John DeLorean.
The events discussed above show how determined figures rise and fall before fully realizing their dreams. In both Bricklin and DeLorean’s case, the initiatives are supported by the local government with the aim of creating employment for their citizens. However, the visions are failed by the inability of the individuals to manage the financial challenges that eventually face the companies. The respective supporting governments later take the companies.
