Charlie Hughes—who has worked for a number of OEMs, including as CEO of Land Rover in North America, and as president and CEO of Mazda North America, who is currently head of Brand Rules, a consultancy on branding—thinks that the auto companies that are gaining the most traction and momentum are those that are, in effect, run by. . .autocrats.

Sergio Marchionne of Chrysler/Fiat

Marchionne. Ghosn. Chung.  Chrysler.  Nissan.  Hyundai.

Men who have a specific vision of what they want to achieve. Those who work for them know that there is no getting around that. If the exec says X, then X it is.

Companies that lack this clarity of purpose, well, they’re simply not going to perform as well.

Hughes shares some of his insights and experience along with Peter DeLorenzo of Autoextremist.com, Frank Marcus of Motor Trend, John McElroy of Autoline, and your autofieldblogger in this edition of “Autoline After Hours.”

In addition to Hughes on branding, the other four engage in a wide-ranging, spirited discussion ranging from NASCAR to Tesla, from the Volkswagen X1 to the Chevrolet SS.