An American Icon

Reading a book about Ford at the moment and I would heartily recommend it to anyone interested in the finer workings of the car industry. It’s called ‘American Icon’ by Bryce Hoffman. He’s clearly had access to Ford people and communications, and while the finished product has been endorsed by the company – it was given to me on a Ford event – that doesn’t mean he’s avoided the issues. The book tells the story of the repeated US management failings to address over-capacity, the long-standing lacklustre model line-up and union issues, plus an amazingly reckless attitude to all of the above. It’s essentially the story of Alan Mullaly’s arrival in 2006 from Boeing and the turnround that followed. Mullaly made it work because he wasn’t a Ford family man – he took over as CEO from Bill Ford – and made the decisions that were needed. That included the closure of 17 North American factories with the loss of thousands of jobs. The book charts the company’s dogged fight to stay solvent during the 2008 financial collapse – a scenario that rivals GM and Chrysler couldn’t avoid – and the return to profitability. It’s an excellent read.