mackinaw Posted March 3, 2012 Share Posted March 3, 2012 The book is authored by Detroit News reporter Bryce Hoffman (with Ford's cooperation) and will be available later this month. Some highlights: 1) The board's pressure on Bill Ford Jr. to step aside as CEO in 2006 2) The push by some board members to sell the company or file for bankruptcy 3) Ford's secret negotiations with the UAW to produce game-changing contracts in 2007 and 2009 4) The automaker's slide toward bankruptcy, just months away from running out of cash at the end of 2008 More on it here: http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20120303/AUTO0102/203030352/Book-highlights-include-Ford-s-narrow-escape-from-bankruptcy?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|FRONTPAGE Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrewfanGRB Posted March 3, 2012 Share Posted March 3, 2012 "During the 3rd quarter (2008), Ford was losing more than $83 million a day". Mind blowing when you consider it--just the scale of how big a company this is that it can even lose that much in a DAY. And an even better testament to Mulally's success in saving the company. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biker16 Posted March 4, 2012 Share Posted March 4, 2012 "During the 3rd quarter (2008), Ford was losing more than $83 million a day". Mind blowing when you consider it--just the scale of how big a company this is that it can even lose that much in a DAY. And an even better testament to Mulally's success in saving the company. no dude it was the bailouts of GM and Chrysler, which happened in the Q4 of 2008 that helped stabilized the entire industry. If GM and Chrysler went bankrupt ford would be soon to follow. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mackinaw Posted March 4, 2012 Author Share Posted March 4, 2012 no dude it was the bailouts of GM and Chrysler, which happened in the Q4 of 2008 that helped stabilized the entire industry. If GM and Chrysler went bankrupt ford would be soon to follow. Maybe not. The book will also point out how Ford, behind the scenes, worked with both Toyota and Honda developing plans on how to keep American suppliers in business. It was called "Project Quark." More here: http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20120303/AUTO0102/203030360/1148/AUTO01/Book-Ford-teamed-Japan-rivals-buoy-suppliers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noah Harbinger Posted March 4, 2012 Share Posted March 4, 2012 Maybe not. The book will also point out how Ford, behind the scenes, worked with both Toyota and Honda developing plans on how to keep American suppliers in business. It was called "Project Quark." More here: http://www.detroitne...-buoy-suppliers I'll have to read that - it does make sense that the Japanese automakers also would have had a lot riding on keeping their US supply chain alive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottLeonard Posted August 20, 2024 Share Posted August 20, 2024 Who read it? Is it ok? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottLeonard Posted August 20, 2024 Share Posted August 20, 2024 (edited) On 3/3/2012 at 7:23 PM, mackinaw said: The book is authored by Detroit News reporter Bryce Hoffman (with Ford's cooperation) and will be available later this month. Some highlights: 1) The board's pressure on Bill Ford Jr. to step aside as CEO in 2006 2) The push by some board members to sell the company or file for bankruptcy 3) Ford's secret negotiations with the UAW to produce game-changing contracts in 2007 and 2009 4) The automaker's slide toward bankruptcy, just months away from running out of cash at the end of 2008 More on it here: http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20120303/AUTO0102/203030352/Book-highlights-include-Ford-s-narrow-escape-from-bankruptcy?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|FRONTPAGE I understand this is about the history of Ford? I always liked such books, I have a whole collection at home. Edited September 3, 2024 by ScottLeonard Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sherminator98 Posted August 20, 2024 Share Posted August 20, 2024 5 minutes ago, ScottLeonard said: I take it this is about the history of Ford? I've always liked such books, I've already got a whole collection at home. But this book is missing. This thread is almost 12 years old..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mackinaw Posted August 20, 2024 Author Share Posted August 20, 2024 23 minutes ago, silvrsvt said: This thread is almost 12 years old..... Indeed. I'm the one who started it. Bryce Hoffman, the author, left journalism 10 years ago. The book referenced was published and dealt with Alan Mulally's early days at Ford. It was well received too, as I recall. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmc523 Posted August 20, 2024 Share Posted August 20, 2024 Is this the book "American Icon" ? I actually recently bought this book, but haven't had a chance to read it yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mackinaw Posted August 20, 2024 Author Share Posted August 20, 2024 24 minutes ago, rmc523 said: Is this the book "American Icon" ? I actually recently bought this book, but haven't had a chance to read it yet. Yes, this is the book. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Rosadini Posted August 24, 2024 Share Posted August 24, 2024 On 8/20/2024 at 1:46 PM, ScottLeonard said: I take it this is about the history of Ford? I've always liked such books, I've already got a whole collection at home. But this book is missing. I can't think of titles but I have read other books Hoffman has written. Does a good job IMO in digging for the facts Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Rosadini Posted August 24, 2024 Share Posted August 24, 2024 2 minutes ago, Bob Rosadini said: I can't think of titles but I have read other books Hoffman has written. Does a good job IMO in digging for the facts Hah..just catching up with rest of posts-and paying attention to dates😎 Yes it was a good book! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
7Mary3 Posted September 6, 2024 Share Posted September 6, 2024 This thread got me thinking about that book again. It is good, a fascinating look at a dysfunctional company in a dysfuctional industry, at least at the time. Each of the 'Big 3' was in their own unique bad situation, brought to a head by the financial crisis. I have a little different perspective on the Mulally years these days. No question he was the right man for the Ford CEO postion at the time (Bill Ford certainly was not, but at least he knew that) and his common sense pragmatic approach was spot-on. However, you can't help but notice after he left Ford the company went back to a lot of its old bad habits. I often wondered if Fields and some other executives were just waiting Mulally out, figuring after he was gone and Ford was solid financially they could go back to 'business as usual'. Boeing's recent troubles also come to mind, and while a lot of what Mulally did there got Boeing out of their post 9/11 crisis but now they seem to be in a far worse crisis and some are saying the roots of many of the issues Boeing is currently facing are the results of some of Mulally's policies not being properly managed, notably relying on subcontractors. Seems to me while you would be hard-pressed to find fault in Mulally's performance both at Boeing and Ford in both cases things eventually went bad after he left. Of course you can't blame Mulally for what idiots may have done after he left, but it is ironic that neither Boeing or Ford found people to 'carry the torch' after he was gone. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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