My Forty Years With Ford (Great Lakes Books Series)

His precious volume, which was the foundation of his position, was fast disappearing. He could not continue losing sales and maintain his profits. And so, for engineering and market reasons, the Model T fell. And yet not many observers expected so catastrophic and almost whimsical a fall as Mr. Ford chose to take in May 1927 when he shut down his g

So strongly did I feel about the situation that, when someone proposed making changes in Buick’s management, where Harry Bassett was successfully carrying on Walter Chrysler’s old policy, I wrote to Mr. du Pont: “It is far better that the rest of General Motors be scrapped than any chances taken with Buick’s earning power.”

The old master had failed to master change. Don’t ask me why. There is a legend cultivated by sentimentalists that Mr. Ford left behind a great car expressive of the pure concept of cheap, basic transportation. The fact is that he left behind a car that no longer offered the best buy, even as raw, basic transportation.

The fundamental conception of the advantage to be secured in this business, we said, was expressed by cooperation and coordination of our various policies and divisions.