Time Inc.'s The Drive Names Elon Musk Most-Influential Person in Car Business

DETROIT, MI - Elon Musk is the "Most Influential Person in the Business of Cars," according to Time Inc.'s The Drive, which is ranking the top 50 movers and shakers in the industry, and breaking it out into the categories of tech, business, sports, celebrity and social.

In business, Musk was chosen above the likes of General Motors CEO Mary Barra, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles CEO Sergio Marchionne and President Barack Obama.

What makes Musk so influential? Says The Drive:

"As the founder of Paypal and the NADA's number one enemy, the Phantasmagoria from Pretoria is hoping to change the way consumers buy cars: direct, on the internet, without the intermediating dealers (and markups) that make up the current American system."

Musk's Tesla Motors has proven that electric cars can have mass-market appeal, as it's newly revealed Model 3, with a base price of $35,000, has already generated nearly 400,000 pre-orders.

But the California carmaker still needs to grow its small production output exponentially to satiate that demand, a prospect that had Musk telling investors after reporting yet another quarterly loss that he has a sleeping bag near the production line.

Musk was also at the no. 2 slot for The Drive's "Most Influential People in Automotive Technology," behind only John Krafcik, the CEO of Goggle's self-driving cars program.

Here's The Drive's Top 10 Most Influential People in the Business of Cars:

1. Elon Musk, 44; CEO of Tesla Motors and SpaceX

2. Barack Obama, 54; President of the United States

3. Sergio Marchionne, 63; CEO of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles and Ferrari

4. Li Shufu; Chairman of Geely

5. Roger Penske, 79; Chairman of the Penske Corporation

6. Charles Breyer, 74; Judge of the United States District Court

7. Mark Fields, 55; CEO of Ford Motor Company

8. Raj Nair, 50; CTO and executive VP of product development, Ford Motor Company

9. Ratan Tata, 78; Former Chairman of Tata Group

10. Mary Barra, 54; CEO of General Motors