There's no biz like show biz: The Top 20 movers, shakers, heart-breakers in the mercurial world of autodom.

1.Rick Wagoner, General Motors chairman

When you're slipping to second, you try harder

Why he's number one: Carlos Ghosn is fond of saying there's no problem at a car company that good product can't fix. Rick Wagoner has taken that to heart. He's let his number-one car guy, Bob Lutz, help fix the primary problem GM has had since Ron Zarella was running the show, with his repugnant "brand management" style. All the GM engineers and designers on the Power List this year have contributed to Wagoner's standing and the company's refound product success. And some car-guy attitude has rubbed off on Wagoner, who, it turns out, is the man behind the "Blue Devil" Corvette ZR1.

Vanquished? Last year, we gave Wagoner credit for surviving former major GM shareholder Kirk "please, keep it in Vegas" Kerkorian's Machiavellian move to replace Wagoner with Ghosn. Last year, Toyota sold more vehicles than GM in the first few months of the year. But GM, in the midst of introducing greatly improved new models, regained the lead.

Warning: The huge, $39-billion third-quarter loss. Most of it is a paper loss, the "write-off" of tax credits GM had claimed earlier. Blame $757 million of the loss on the mortgage crisis, as GM still owns 49 percent of GMAC. Still, the write-off means Wagoner has lowered GM's profit expectations over the short-term.

He says: "People are going to see significantly greater distinctiveness in our product execution among our brands and they're going to see less overlap in our product portfolio from brand to brand as well. It's going to cover a broader portion of the market."

We say: GM's glory days could be ahead, once again. Toyota must show new respect.

2. Fujio Cho, Toyota Motor Corporation chairman

The runner stumbles

Bull market: Toyota made $4.27 billion in its third quarter alone. Cho has pushed to maintain excellent quality control and to expand the hybrid lineup. He still runs the world's best-run automaker.

Bear market: Japanese sales are slipping, environmentalists have figured out that Toyota profits on gas-guzzling trucks, Consumer Reports has uncovered quality glitches, and two top execs have left to save distressed U.S. automakers Ford and Chrysler.

Why that shouldn't worry you: Cho understands the problems and won't waste time fixing them.

3. Ferdinand Piech, Volkswagen AG Supervisory board chief

Plans to rule the world through VW and Porsche

Why he's behind Wagoner and Cho: Even with his family company, Porsche, buying up controlling interest of Volkswagen, it's not quite the powerhouse GM and Toyota are.

What's his game? Piech quietly sat in the first row of the Frankfurt show audience for each of VW Group's brand press conferences. After giving Bernd Pischetsrieder and then Wolfgang Bernhard a few years to dismantle his Phaetonesque product plan, those two are gone and Piech is back in the front row, planning automotive world domination.

4. Bob Lutz, GM vice chairman, global product and development

What's good for Lutz proves good for Wagoner

Props? Lutz has been GM's car guy long enough to foster in everything from the Car of the Year Cadillac CTS to Corvette ZR1, Buick Enclave, Chevrolet Malibu, a whole new line of Saturns and the upcoming Camaro.

Failures? The Aussie-built GTO never caught on.

Warning: His Aussie-built Pontiac G8 has suffered several delays.

Bottom line: Because Wagoner hired him to be GM's top car guy, they're a package deal. When Wagoner rises to the top of this list, Lutz can't be far behind.

5. Martin Winterkorn, Volkswagen AG chairman

Doing Piech's bidding to be at the top

What he's done for us lately: Has kept a GM-size list of brands true to their heritages, from proletariat Volkswagen to stiff-upper-lip Bentley to hot Italian Lamborghini.

Next big thing: The little Volkswagen Up!, a three-cylinder rear-engine hatchback for next-decade urban and Third World markets. And more luxurious, technically advanced Audis.

On the other hand: Still not that big in North America.

Will he run VW/Porsche? Could happen, though keeping Porsche under separate control (Wiedeking) is more likely

6. Chris Bangle, BMW Group Design chief

Moves on just as he's copied

His influence: Now that the rest of the automotive world has copied his "flame surfacing" design language, BMW is ready to move on to a much more handsome evolution. We'll see it roll out beginning later this year.

How so? Think a fleet of cars that look like the CS Concept replacing a fleet of 7 Series. It'll knock the rest of the design world on its collective ass.

This ends the controversy? Hardly. Luddites will always claim he ruined BMW design.

7. Wendelin Wiedeking, Porsche AG executive board chairman, chief executive director

Next two years will be crucial

Why he's slipped behind Winterkorn: Onslaught of VW's mainstream product is less interesting, but more important to the industry than the new GT2, GT3.

Why 2008 and '09 will be so big for Wiedeking: Further extension of the Porsche brand continues with the Panamera.

Why we're not so bullish on that: The word "handsome" doesn't come to mind when looking at the Panamera spy shots.

The big question: If Porsche controls VW AG, does it need anything but sports cars to balance its portfolio?

8. Ed Welburn, GM VP for global design

Responsible for GM's best designs since the 1970s

Evidence: Chevy Malibu, Cadillac CTS, Pontiac G8, Chevy Camaro. Give Welburn extra credit for working on the Sixteen concept that inspired CTS and future Caddys.

Not a Harley Earl or Bill Mitchell? Still too early for such comparisons, but his stock outside GM is quickly rising. Insiders have always been bullish on him.

What'll it take? GM design must be consistently good, through all divisions and at all price levels, to live up to GM design from the 1930s to early '70s.

9. Fritz Henderson, GM vice chairman, chief financial officer

Keeping the General's turnaround going

Who? Career GM employee who began as a senior analyst in the treasurer's office, he worked for GMAC from 1989 to 1992. Led recent turnaround of GM's European operations, and in last September's UAW negotiations, was GM's point man in for the all-important Voluntary Employee Benefits Association portion of the contract.

Why should you care? Without him, Wagoner and Lutz wouldn't have money to build good cars.

Bet you didn't know: Upcoming Saabs reflect his redefinition of the brand for Europe.

10. Walter Da Silva, VW Group design chief

From Audi S5 to the whole company

Design history: Penned the Alfa Romeo 147, then went to VW's SEAT, followed by a stint at Audi, where he led design of the A6, Q7, new TT, R8 and A4/A5/S5.

Bangle-like controversy: Many enthusiasts love his new Audi A5/S5, many more don't like it; Da Silva says it's "the most beautiful car I've designed in my career."

We say: Can't wait to see what he does for VW's new world car, upcoming Bentleys, Lamborghinis, and Bugattis.

11. Ian Callum, Jaguar design director

Leading the Leaper into a new design era

Why he's back: XF, the car that'll put Jaguar back on the luxury icon map. Callum, off last year's list after rising from 22 in 2005 to 18 in '06, finally has his first all-new design to show after joining Jag in '99.

What he's done: Aston Martin DB7, Fords Escort RS, Cosworth, RS200, Mondeo, Fiesta, and the not-all-new Jaguar XK.

What's next: 2011 Jaguar XJ with XF's design language. Expect more retro-free, ground-breaking heritage design no matter who owns Jaguar by then.

12. Kevin Wale, GM China Group president, managing director

Making GM number one in its number-two market

Why he's moving up: After selling more Buicks than the U.S. in 2005, he got a new rear-drive Park Avenue for China four years before the U.S. gets one.

Bonus points: The Buick Riviera concept was designed in China, where it made its world debut.

The outlook: GM was never going to crack the Japanese market. China is much bigger and more open, and GM under Wale is becoming a powerhouse there.

Why you should care: GM's strength there feeds capital for better cars here.

13. Tom Peters, GM director rear-wheel-drive design

Stunning auto shows with his rear-drive Chevys

Why he's 13 with a bullet: Peters designs new Chevys with the kind of appealing looks that made it such a hot brand in the 1960s.

Evidence: Corvette ZR1, new Camaro, C6, and an unnamed concept, said to be a showstopper.

Designer, phone home: Also designed first Saturn, Cadillac XLR. During a stint at Texas Instruments, he penned its first laptops and drew set design concepts for the film "ET."

Can't win 'em all: "Credits" also include Pontiac Aztek, concept and production.

14. Alan Mulally, Ford Motor Company chief executive officer

Steering the Titanic away from the iceberg?

Why he's slowly moved up: Mulally is changing and challenging Ford Motor's culture. He understands that Ford needs to become a smaller automaker, and seems to have convinced the UAW of that.

Why he's not moving up faster: Ford's over-reliance on SUVs is shifting to over-reliance on crossovers. His Five Hundred name change hasn't worked.

Prospects: Better, with Jaguar/Land Rover off Ford's hands. But the goal is profitability by late 2009, and with our faltering economy, that looks like a long shot.

15. Roger Penske, Mega-dealer, race-team owner smart guy

Can he sell Americans on tiny cars?

Has Penske met his match? The guy who could be running GM, the guy whose shop floors you can eat off, is the U.S. importer for Daimler's smart cars.

Will he succeed? He'll meet modest sales goals and make smart a niche car in urban markets. Won't be a runaway hit like Mini, though.

Bonus points: GM bought 50-percent of Penske's VM Motori diesel last year.

What does it mean for Penske's future? He can do anything he wants-but that's nothing new.

16. Ron Gettelfinger, UAW president

Settling with GM, Ford, Chrysler, was a survival tactic

Why he's here: Gettelfinger understands his union's survival depends on GM, Ford, and Chrysler's survival.

What he did: Settle with each of the Detroit Three and take over health care benefits through voluntary employee benefit associations. Gettelfinger settled four-year contracts that seemed to satisfy both rank-and-file and management.

On the other hand: Rank-and-file barely passed the Chrysler contract, and the company followed by laying off another 10,000 blue-collar workers.

Bet you didn't know: Gettelfinger's UAW represents workers at three Detroit casinos.

17. Jean Todt, Ferrari CEO

Runs automaker like an F1 team, and vice versa

What he's done: Led Ferrari through its 60th anniversary with a healthy lineup of sports/exotics. He's looking to the future with lighter-weight cars that get better mileage and spew less CO2.

The sports pages: Led Ferrari to its 15th Formula 1 Manufacturers Championship (and 15th Driver's Championship, with Kimmi Raikkonnen last year). All that after Team McLaren got caught spying on Ferrari as its phenom, Lewis Hamilton, lead in points.

Bonus OK! magazine gossip fodder: Still reportedly dating Malaysian model/actress Michelle Yeoh.

18. Martin Smith, Ford Europe executive director, design

Designs the Fords Americans want

What he's done: Introduced Ford's new small-car design language with the Verve B-car concept at Frankfurt. His Ford Mondeo sedan nearly stole "Casino Royale" from the Aston DB-S. motortrend.com's e-mailbox has been stuffed with demands to bring the non-U.S.-compliant Mondeo here.

Last year, we said we hope Horbury can do for Ford what Smith has done for Ford of Europe: This year, we hope to see spy shots of small-car world designs based on the Verve.

19. Adrian Van Hooydonk, BMW Cars Design director

Deserves some of Bangle's credit for BMW design

Who is he, exactly? Bangle is design chief for all of BMW, which includes nonautomotive clients and motorcycles. Dutch-born Van Hooydonk reports to him as design chief for cars.

And why is he No. 19?: Van Hooydonk got the job in September 2004, well after Bangle had established his Flame Surfacing design language. The next generation of cars will have more of Van Hooydonk's influence. And they look sensational.

Really? Consider the production-approved CS Concept. It hints at the future direction for all future Bimmers.

20. Clay Dean, GM Design Cadillac Division

From truck design to Standard of the World

Why he's No. 20 with a bullet: Last year, we recognized Dean for designing the new Chevy Silverado and GMC Sierra. GM has since recognized Dean by putting him in charge of Cadillac, the only division with its own design studio.

Why that's a big job: Dean must translate the successful CTS sedan design language to coupe and wagon versions, plus the 2011 rear-drive DTS/STS replacement and the '10 BRX.

Other credits: C5, 1993 Camaro, '95 Impala SS, Avalanche, H2, '07 Saturn Aura, '08 Chevy Malibu.