When management is not run by engineers the company dies. At least that is the reason(or an simplistic explanation) for the downfall of all the automotive giants.
Yes, and no.
Alec Issigonis, partially killed BMC. The mini was far from a revolutionary car. Despite what the brits like to claim Issigonis didn't invent transverse FWD engine setup. There were cars with such setup prior. Also, it was a flawed setup in case of the Mini due to the gearbox-in-the-sump layout and FIAT's Dante Giacosa actually had similar idea but discarded it and later came up for the template that most FWD cars would follow . The mini had other piss poor design decisions (i personally despise the car) and not to mention was a money sink for the BMC until the 70's.
Then there is of course Austin 1800 and Austin Maxi great in some ways(the ride) Rubbish in pretty much in every other way. No wonder they flopped.
And even Alec Issigonis arguably greatest success the
Morris 1100. Had such thin profit margins it really wasn't worth the production effort.
Heck even the Morris Minor. Which was another succes. Would have likely been a money sink if not for Lord Nuffield telling Issigonis to fuck off with his initial ideas for it.
Jaguar is another case of engineers fucking the company over frankly and not to mention in small part helped BL into the ground.
Then there is Lancia and Antonio Fessia. His grand creation, Flavia, arguably was what ultimately killed Lancia. While a really great car. Technically it shifted so dramatically away from previous Lancia's. It didn't quite appeal to regular Lancia costumers and did not have the appeal to attract new costumers either and not to mention was R&D and production wise very costly.
Moving on to the Americans.
Chrysler one of the Big 3 Was always considered the sick brother. It was a company that for most of it's live ran by engineers. That didn't help it's bottom line or really despite populaire believe made their cars technically or build quality wise all that much better to GM or Ford. In fact their most profitable period and what saved them from bankruptcy was the K-car platform. A bean counters delight.
Citroen is another brand which i don't think i have to mention.