Every year for the past three years, Newsweek has given out its annual World’s Greatest Auto Disruptor award, presented to a person who has been responsible for fundamental and transformative change in the automotive industry. The Legacy of Disruption award is also presented to someone with a long history of this kind of change, and this year, Subaru’s former president and CEO Thomas J. Doll had the honor to be the recipient!
The Legacy of Disruption award isn’t given to just anyone from the industry. Newsweek selects candidates from across the entire industry and considers their cumulative merits, including executive decision making, corporate strategy, product development, and publicity. The positive change that they helped to drive and the impact they have had must be able to show measurable, real-world results– the kind of thing that can only be achieved through decades spent working in the industry. For Thomas J. Doll, this award specifically highlights his work in implementing the Share the Love Event in 2008 and pushing Subaru to shape its identity as “More Than a Car Company.” This work on behalf of Doll and Subaru was revolutionary in the auto industry, calling attention to the power of corporate philanthropic initiatives and enabling Subaru and its retailers to work together and build trust with customers while supporting regional and global communities.
In Doll’s time at Subaru, nearly 42 years, he was also the leader of an astonishing period of growth for the company, including an unprecedented 11 years of consecutive sales growth and an all-time record of 700,117 vehicle sales in 2019. Subaru retailers were also consistently ranked at the top of the industry under his guidance, and he encouraged the personal growth and enrichment of Subaru employees across the board. His official retirement in January of this year marked the closing chapter of a long and prestigious career.
“It is an honor to receive this award and share it with my extended Subaru family,” Doll said. “I am eternally grateful for all the passionate people I have met along my journey and most importantly, for the work we did to come together with a purpose. At its core, our business is about building trusting relationships, which is the foundation that allows us to differentiate our brand. I’m proud to leave a legacy of disruption by recognizing when change was needed, never being afraid to try something new, and working collaboratively to transform the impact we can have on the world around us.”
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