Ocean State Libraries

This is the saga of the American automobile industry's rise and demise, a story of hubris, denial, missed opportunities, and self-inflicted wounds that culminates with the president of the United States ushering two of Detroit's Big Three car companies--once proud symbols of prosperity--through bankruptcy. Pulitzer winner Paul Ingrassia answers the big questions: Was Detroit's self-destruction inevitable? What were the key turning points? Why did...

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.

New York Times-bestselling author Jacqueline Briskin delivers a richly romantic, epic novel about the founding of the automobile industry, spanning two continents and five turbulent decades of American history. In 1894, while penniless nineteen-year-old Tom Bridger works at a Michigan furniture company that fuels his ambitions, he falls in love with beautiful, sophisticated Antonia Dalzell. But his real talent is inventing machines. He's secretly...

Drawing on a wide range of interviews with industry leaders, including Toyota's Fujio Cho, Nissan's Carlos Ghosn, Chrysler's Dieter Zetsche, BMW's Helmut Panke, and GM's Robert Lutz, as well as car designers, engineers, test drivers and owners, Maynard presents a stark picture of the culture of arrogance and insularity that led American car manufacturers astray. Maynard predicts that, by the end of the decade, one of the American car makers will no...