Car: a drama of the American workplace

Abstract

Faced with the task of redesigning the Taurus, America's best-selling car and the flagship of its fleet, Ford Motor Company assembled 700 designers, engineers, planners, and bean-counters under a tough manager who set out to retake engineering and manufacturing ground lost to the Japanese. On their shoulders rested the reputation and the profits of Ford, not to mention an investment of close to 3 billion dollars. This biting, insightful account by a seasoned journalist follows the 1996 Taurus from its conception as a clay model in Detroit to its birth in an Atlanta assembly plant to its public debut in a New Jersey dealership. Mary Walton, who was given unprecedented access to the Taurus team, chronicles brilliantly the clashes between designers and engineers, marketers and accountants, product guys and manufacturing guys to create a revealing portrait of the tension, the passions, and the pride that fuel the race to #1. An engrossing drama . . . with fascinating insights into every aspect of the car's creation. . . . Walton does an admirable job of making the redesign of a car into a compelling human-interest story.-Publishers Weekly (starred review) An engrossing, satisfying read.-Doron Levin, Philadelphia Inquirer (a Best Book of 1997) Vivid and informative. . . . Consistently entertaining because it is engagingly written, this is the rare business book that is a page turner.-Keith Bradsher, New York Times Book Review

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