How automotive history has shaped and predicted today’s automobiles and the industry that builds them
Fin Tales is chatty, engaging, and easy to read. Written by John Smith about his experiences as General Manager of Cadillac, Smith’s story is one of rescuing the Cadillac brand from what appeared to be its certain demise, first by pushing for introduction of the Escalade against General Motors’ foolish “brand management” strategy and then…
The herd mentality is alive and well among automobile industry executives, not excluding Mary Barra and Jim Farley. Viewing Elon Musk and Tesla as their lodestar, automobile manufacturers seem intent on destroying the dealership model of sales. They’re going to regret that because they’re going to do what they always do – make too many…
One hundred years ago, many automobiles were produced from standardized components purchased from others, rather than from components manufactured in house by the automobile company. Comprising 25% of the new car market in 1916, these were called “assembled cars.” Production costs drove most assembled cars from the market during the 1920’s. None survived the onset…
Automobile Chronicles is about “Automotive History – Then and Now.” But there would not be any automotive history were it not for the wheel. Two of our readers, Emily and Melissa, who are both students and students of history, recently pointed this out and directed our attention to an article discussing the history of the…
Control of 59% of Ford Motor Company stock allowed Henry Ford to introduce the Model T in 1909. He added the assembly line in 1913. In 1915, he began acquiring land for the ultimate in industrial vertical integration: the River Rouge complex. In pursuing these plans, Henry Ford would discover that even 59% of the…
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text] Elon Musk has a lot in common with Henry Ford. fact, studying Henry Ford could give Mr. Musk guidance in his quest to make Tesla successful. In the end, Henry Ford won – and won big. So, too, can Musk. Parallels of Ford and Musk are revealing. Like Henry Ford, Musk has his own…
Can Tesla succeed? History is full of automobile manufacturers that failed. The Dodge brothers were the last to start a new automobile manufacturer in the United States that still, in some corporate form, is in the business today. They did it in 1914. The most recent serious attempt at starting a domestic mass production automobile…