Wayne German received a phone call in 1984 from General Motors (GM) asking him if his U.S. Magna Division would be interested in buying the GM's Bendix Brake operation at South Bend, Ind. Wayne in turn phoned his boss, Mr. Frank Stronach, Head of Magna International in Canada. Mr. Stronach told Wayne, "If you like the deal, go for it."
Wayne German wrote in autobiography, "We purchased the entire Bendix brake operation and moved it to Magna's Saturn parts plant at Clinton, Tenn. as a hedge against the possible failure of the Saturn automobile. In explaining the move, Wayne wrote, "GM had not been able to make a profit at their South Bend Bendix Plant due to high labor costs. They had lost control many years ago of their legal right to manage."
Magna International was awarded parts contracts with European car makers Mercedes Benz, BMW, and Renault. Wayne German was put in charge of these accounts. This responsibility was in addition to the 12 U.S. plants that he was already supervising at San Francisco; Oklahoma City; East St. Louis; Westminster, Maryland; Clinton, Tennessee; and seven plant operations in Iowa, and a large trucking operation at Williamsburg, Iowa. Wayne wrote, "The automobile manufacturing business is a fun business, but all this travel was not my thing."
By 1985, Mr. Stronach, head of Magna, had shifted his interests to Canadian politics and horse racing track ownership. He campaigned for election to Canada's Parliament and became owner of most of the major racing tracks in Canada and the United States. He hired some outside people to manage Magna corporate offices in Toronto, Canada. Wayne wrote, "None of these executives had any manufacturing experience and were making disastrous deals with former employers by offering huge price concessions and agreeing to ridiculous terms. I could foresee that the corporation was no longer in a position to aggressively pursue opportunities as we had for so many years. Mr. Stronach was way outside looking in now, and he was not paying attention. I told him I planned to retire at the end of 1986 if he persisted in allowing these incompetent people to ruin the business. I had done well in Magna, and really did not need to work, I was 54 years old." Mr. Stronach did not want to change management and urged Wayne not to retire. Wayne resigned at year's end, but agreed to a consulting arrangement for the next five years at a substantial fee. Wayne said, "As it turned out, I was never called upon to do anything in the ensuing five years." Wayne's colleagues, the other seven regional vice-presidents, would eventually retire. As Wayne had expected, Magna International "bottomed out". Mr. Stronach had to back away from politics and horse racing to rescue his company. Because he was Canada's largest employer, and wealthiest man, Mr. Stronach was able to secure huge sums of capital from several European investors to restore Magna to a vibrant corporation. Mr. Stronach would latter acknowledge that Wayne had been right.
Wayne German returned to Osceola in 1986. Wanting something to do, he bought a machine shop in Omaha, Nebraska and moved the business and equipment to Osceola to the former Fletcher Ford building on Jeffrey's Drive. German Machine Works, Inc. opened July, 1, 1987. Today, at age 78, Wayne German leaves much of the machine shop management to his foreman, Steve Woods. Other employees are John Kerwin, Anatoly Panasyuk, and Mike Anderson. In better times, employment has reached twenty.
Wayne prefers to spend most of his time reading, researching history, and writing family genealogies. Wayne is an interesting conversationalist with a keen memory for names, events, dates, and history. He has an astute command of the English and German languages and speaks some Japanese. He lives very modestly by himself at 328 East View Place in Osceola. He is proud of his Ford Thunderbird car collection that is kept at the German Machine Works.
Wayne has a sister, Joyce Garrett, and a brother, Harvey German. Brothers Jim, Robert, and Richard are deceased. He has two daughters; Debra Hobbs, and Denise Rode. His wife, Amy Ann German passed away in 2009.