Download or read book My Years With General Motors written by Alfred P Sloan and published by eNet Press. This book was released on 2015-01-16 with total page 552 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Alfred P. Sloan, Jr. led the General Motors Corporation to international business success by virtue of his brilliant managerial practices and his insights into the new consumer economy he and General Motors helped to produce. Sloan's business biography, My Years With General Motors, was an instant best seller when it was first published in 1964 and is still considered indispensable reading by modern business giants.
Download or read book Fins written by William Knoedelseder and published by HarperCollins. This book was released on 2018-09-18 with total page 342 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The New York Times bestselling author of Bitter Brew chronicles the birth and rise to greatness of the American auto industry through the remarkable life of Harley Earl, an eccentric six-foot-five, stuttering visionary who dropped out of college and went on to invent the profession of automobile styling, thereby revolutionized the way cars were made, marketed, and even imagined. Harleys Earl’s story qualifies as a bona fide American family saga. It began in the Michigan pine forest in the years after the Civil War, traveled across the Great Plains on the wooden wheels of a covered wagon, and eventually settled in a dirt road village named Hollywood, California, where young Harley took the skills he learned working in his father’s carriage shop and applied them to designing sleek, racy-looking automobile bodies for the fast crowd in the burgeoning silent movie business. As the 1920s roared with the sound of mass manufacturing, Harley returned to Michigan, where, at GM’s invitation, he introduced art into the rigid mechanics of auto-making. Over the next thirty years, he functioned as a kind of combination Steve Jobs and Tom Ford of his time, redefining the form and function of the country’s premier product. His impact was profound. When he retired as GM’s VP of Styling in 1958, Detroit reigned as the manufacturing capitol of the world and General Motors ranked as the most successful company in the history of business. Knoedelseder tells the story in ways both large and small, weaving the history of the company with the history of Detroit and the Earl family as Fins examines the effect of the automobile on America’s economy, culture, and national psyche.
Download or read book General Motors the First 75 Years of Transportation Products written by General Motors Corporation and published by . This book was released on 1983 with total page 240 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Beyond the Horizons: The Lockheed Story is the story of those turbulent eighty-two years during which Lockheed achieved fantastic successes and endured occasional failures. Lockheed aircraft set innumerable records and were flown by great pioneering aviators such as Amelia Earhart, Wiley Post, and Howard Hughes. Lockheed engineers achieved fame usually reserved for film stars: Men like the great Kelly Johnson and Ben Rich advanced the world of aviation with their genius, and were honored as legends in their own time. Yet the secret of Lockheed lies in the spirit of family that illuminated the corporation over the years and permitted it to gain great triumphs and survive great tragedies. Over eight decades, Lockheed's unique corporate culture has enabled the company to thrive despite fierce competition. Making the right choices in leadership and technology at the right time contributed to their success, and here is the inside story of the people responsible for transforming Lockheed into the most profitable, prestigious, and influential company in the aerospace industry." --
Download or read book General Motors written by Michael W. R. Davis and published by Arcadia Publishing. This book was released on 1999 with total page 132 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The General Motors Corporation was established in 1908 by William C. Durant, who combined the Buick, Oldsmobile, and Oakland companies and, later, Cadillac, to form GM. From the 1920s onwards, GM grew from a firm that accounted for about 10% of new car sales in the U.S. to become the largest producer of cars and trucks in the world. The peak of the company's power and market dominance came in the 1960s, which proved to be the decade of change for the U.S. auto industry. With the introduction of federal safety regulations and control tailpipe emissions, GM's position as the world's largest industrial corporation changed. Its marketing strategy was undone by competitive challenges, and the business was never to be the same again. General Motors: A Photographic History explores the growth of the company in a series of over 200 black-and-white images. From the first assembly line to post-Second World War recovery, images from the world auto shows and the consequent re-organization of GM take the reader on an intriguing visual tour of a tremendously important era in the industrialization of America.
Download or read book American Wheels Chinese Roads written by Michael J. Dunne and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2011-07-20 with total page 211 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: How could one company—General Motors—meet disaster on one continent and achieve explosive growth on another at the very same time? While General Motors was hurtling towards bankruptcy in 2009, GM’s subsidiary in China was setting new sales and profit records. This book reveals how extraordinary people, remarkable decisions and surprising breaks made triumph in China possible for General Motors. It also shows just how vulnerable that winning track record remains. No small part of GM’s success in China springs from its management of shifting business and political relationships. In China, the government makes the rules for—and competes in—the auto industry. GM’s business partner, the City of Shanghai, is both an ally and a competitor. How does such an unnatural relationship work on a day-to-day basis? Where will it go on the future? General Motors also engages in constant battles with other global and Chinese car makers for the hearts of demanding Chinese consumers. Dunne gives us rare glimpses into the mindsets and behavior of this new moneyed set, the worlds newest class of wealthy consumers. China is already the number one car market in the world. During the next ten years, China will export millions of cars and trucks globally, including to the United States. American Wheels, Chinese Roads presents readers with fascinating illustrations of what to expect when Chinese cars, companies, and business people arrive on our shores.
Download or read book The Sack of Detroit written by Kenneth Whyte and published by Knopf. This book was released on 2021-06-01 with total page 433 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Vigorous, provocative... The Sack of Detroit is compelling, bold and stylishly written." —Barbara Spindel, The Wall Street Journal A provocative, revelatory history of the epic rise—and unnecessary fall—of the U.S. automotive industry, uncovering the vivid story of innovation, politics, and business that led to a sudden, seismic shift in American priorities that is still felt today, from the acclaimed author of Hoover In the 1950s, America enjoyed massive growth and affluence, and no companies contributed more to its success than automakers. They were the biggest and best businesses in the world, their leadership revered, their methods imitated, and their brands synonymous with the nation's aspirations. But by the end of the 1960s, Detroit's profits had evaporated and its famed executives had become symbols of greed, arrogance, and incompetence. And no company suffered this reversal more than General Motors, which found itself the main target of a Senate hearing on auto safety that publicly humiliated its leadership and shattered its reputation. In The Sack of Detroit, Kenneth Whyte recounts the epic rise and unnecessary fall of America's most important industry. At the center of his absorbing narrative are the titans of the automotive world but also the crusaders of safety, including Ralph Nader and a group of senators including Bobby Kennedy. Their collision left Detroit in a ditch, launched a new era of consumer advocacy and government regulation, and contributed significantly to the decline of American enterprise. This is a vivid story of politics, business, and a sudden, seismic shift in American priorities that is still felt today.
Download or read book Sixty to Zero written by Alex Taylor and published by Yale University Press. This book was released on 2010-05-04 with total page 272 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The collapse of General Motors captured headlines in early 2009, but as Alex Taylor III writes in this in-depth dissection of the automaker's undoing, GM's was a meltdown forty years in the making. Drawing on more than thirty years of experience and insight as an automotive industry reporter, as well as personal relationships with many of the leading players, Taylor reveals the many missteps of GM and its competitors.
Download or read book The Art and Colour of General Motors written by Jonathan A. Stein and published by . This book was released on 2008 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Published at the 100th Anniversary of General Motors, featuring the photography of iconic classic car photographer Michael Furman, and lively, entertaining essays by America's most distinguished classic car historians and journalists.
Download or read book Unsafe at Any Speed written by Ralph Nader and published by New York : Grossman. This book was released on 1965 with total page 396 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Account of how and why cars kill, and why the automobile manufacturers have failed to make cars safe.
Download or read book Maestro Bill Mitchell and the Iconic Cars of GM Styling written by Roy Lonberger and published by . This book was released on 2016-11-15 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An insider's look at the Golden Age of Automobile Design at General Motors during the leadership of Bill Mitchell, VP Design (1958-1977). Mitchell elevated design as a marketing tool resulting in General Motors establishing itself as the leading world corporation, and his Iconic cars sold over 136 million (including Corvette, Camaro, Riviera, and Toronado). Mitchell is regarded as the man who singlehandedly saved Corvette.Written by Roy Lonberger, who worked directly for Mitchell as head of his secret Studio-X, this 1st edition book of 440 pages has unique insights into the man, rare designer sketches, clay models, and secret photographs of the unique design process. Five years in preparation and with the help and license from GM Archive, this book is a must read for car enthusiasts, design students, and business managers.
Download or read book Car Guys vs Bean Counters written by Bob Lutz and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2011-06-09 with total page 209 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A legend in the car industry reveals the philosophy that's starting to turn General Motors around. In 2001, General Motors hired Bob Lutz out of retirement with a mandate to save the company by making great cars again. He launched a war against penny pinching, office politics, turf wars, and risk avoidance. After declaring bankruptcy during the recession of 2008, GM is back on track thanks to its embrace of Lutz's philosophy. When Lutz got into the auto business in the early sixties, CEOs knew that if you captured the public's imagination with great cars, the money would follow. The car guys held sway, and GM dominated with bold, creative leadership and iconic brands like Cadillac, Buick, Pontiac, Oldsmobile, GMC, and Chevrolet. But then GM's leadership began to put their faith in analysis, determined to eliminate the "waste" and "personality worship" of the bygone creative leaders. Management got too smart for its own good. With the bean counters firmly in charge, carmakers (and much of American industry) lost their single-minded focus on product excellence. Decline followed. Lutz's commonsense lessons (with a generous helping of fascinating anecdotes) will inspire readers at any company facing the bean counter analysis-paralysis menace.
Download or read book Giant Enterprise written by Alfred Dupont Chandler and published by . This book was released on 1980 with total page 272 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Billy Durant written by Lawrence R. Gustin and published by University of Michigan Press. This book was released on 2012-10-16 with total page 305 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Praise for the first edition: "A fascinating book [and] a sympathetic look at the man who glued General Motors together and in the process made Flint one of the great industrial centers of America." ---Detroit Free Press "It is refreshing to report that Billy Durant is one of the best researched books dealing with an automotive giant." ---Antique Automobile "Billy Durant fills in a masterly way the only important void remaining concerning the work of the motorcar pioneers." ---Richard Crabb, author of Birth of a Giant: The Men and Incidents That Gave America the Motorcar What explains Billy Durant's powerful influence on the auto industry during its early days? And why, given Durant's impact, has he been nearly forgotten for decades? In search of answers to these questions, Lawrence Gustin interviewed Durant's widow, who provided a wealth of previously unpublished autobiographical notes, letters, and personal papers. Gustin also interviewed two of Durant's personal secretaries and others who had known and worked with the man who created General Motors. The result is the amazing account of the mastermind behind what would become, as the twentieth century progressed, the world's largest company.
Download or read book Midnight in Vehicle City written by Edward McClelland and published by Beacon Press. This book was released on 2021-02-02 with total page 232 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Winner of the 2021 Midland Authors Book Award in History In a time of great inequality and a gutted middle class, the dramatic story of “the strike heard around the world” is a testament to what workers can gain when they stand up for their rights. The tumultuous Flint sit-down strike of 1936-1937 was the birth of the United Auto Workers, which set the standard for wages in every industry. Midnight in Vehicle City tells the gripping story of how workers defeated General Motors, the largest industrial corporation in the world. Their victory ushered in the golden age of the American middle class and created a new kind of America, one in which every worker had a right to a share of the company’s wealth. The causes for which the strikers sat down—collective bargaining, secure retirement, better wages—enjoyed a half century of success. But now, the middle class is disappearing and economic inequality is at its highest since before the New Deal. Journalist and historian Edward McClelland brings the action-packed events of the strike back to life—through the voices of those who lived it. In vivid play-by-plays, McClelland narrates the dramatic scenes including of the takeovers of GM plants; violent showdowns between picketers and the police; Michigan governor Frank Murphy’s activation of the National Guard; the actions of the militaristic Women’s Emergency Brigade who carried billy clubs and vowed to protect strikers from police; and tense negotiations between labor leader John L. Lewis, GM chairman Alfred P. Sloan, and labor secretary Frances Perkins. The epic tale of the strike and its lasting legacy shows why the middle class is one of the greatest inventions of the 20th century and will guide our understanding of what we will lose if we don’t revive it.
Download or read book Chrome Colossus written by Ed Cray and published by New York : McGraw-Hill. This book was released on 1980 with total page 648 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Explores the enormous influence General Motors has exerted on American values, culture, politics, and society over the past seventy years, focusing on the six strong-willed men who shaped the company and its fortunes.
Download or read book GM s Motorama written by David W. Temple and published by Motorbooks. This book was released on 2006 with total page 192 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The story of the eight GM Motoramas staged between 1949 and 1961, featuring the cars introduced at these extravaganzas--including the Corvette prototype.
Download or read book On a Global Mission The Automobiles of General Motors International Volume 3 written by Louis F. Fourie and published by FriesenPress. This book was released on 2016-12-27 with total page 493 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Volume One traces the history of Opel and Vauxhall separately from inception through to the 1970s and thereafter collectively to 2015. Special attention is devoted to examining innovative engineering features and the role Opel has taken of providing global platforms for GM. Each model is examined individually and supplemented by exhaustive supporting specification tables. The fascinating history of Saab and Lotus begins with their humble beginnings and examines each model in detail and looks at why these unusual marques came under the GM Banner. Included is a penetrating review of Saab through to its unfortunate demise. Volume Two examines unique models and variations of Chevrolet and Buick manufactured in the Southern Hemisphere and Asia but never offered in North America. Daewoo, Wuling and Baojun are other Asian brands covered in detail. This volume concludes with recording the remarkable early success of Holden and its continued independence through to today. Volume Three covers the smaller assembly operations around the world and the evolution of GM's export operations. A brief history of Isuzu, Subaru and Suzuki looks at the three minority interests GM held in Asia. The GM North American model specifications are the most comprehensive to be found in a single book. Global and regional sales statistics are included. GM executives and management from around the globe are listed with the roles they held. An index ensures that these volumes serve as the ideal reference source on GM.
