American Icon

by Bryce G. Hoffman

  NOTES

  PROLOGUE

  1. five of every six vehicles: James M. Rubenstein, Making and Selling Cars: Innovation and Change in the U.S. Automotive Industry (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2001), p. 188.

  1. THE HOUSE THAT HENRY BUILT

  1. “Business men go down with their businesses”: Henry Ford, with Samuel Crowther, My Life and Work (Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1922), p. 43.

  2. the company’s billboards: Douglas Brinkley, Wheels for the World (New York: Viking, 2003), p. 115.

  3. the average time: Paul Ingrassia, Crash Course: The American Automobile Industry’s Road from Glory to Disaster (New York: Random House, 2010), p. 17.

  4. nearly 200,000 fewer: James M. Flammang and David L. Lewis, Ford Chronicle: A Pictorial History from 1893 (Lincolnwood, IL: Publications International, 2000), pp. 54–57.

  5. peaked in 1921: Ibid., p. 52.

  6. demand had fallen: Brinkley, Wheels for the World, p. 351.

  7. Thousands placed orders: Ibid., pp. 356–57.

  8. Within two years: Flammang and Lewis, Ford Chronicle, p. 64.

  9. He even rehired: Brinkley, Wheels for the World, p. 256.

  10. “Mr. Couzens said”: Charles E. Sorensen, with Samuel T. Williamson, My Forty Years with Ford (Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 2006), pp. 43, 153.

  11. leading it past Ford: Ford R. Bryan, Henry’s Lieutenants (Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 1993), pp. 154–56.

  12. “Mr. Knudsen was”: Norman Beasley, Knudsen: A Biography (New York: Whittlesey House, 1947), p. 109.

  13. largest private police force: Ibid., p. 30.

  14. “a dark, almost gothic place”: Brinkley, Wheels for the World, p. 421. 10 But in September: Ibid., pp. 464–501.

  15. a new openness: Ibid., p. 504.

  16. “Henry Ford II’s”: Alex Taylor III, Sixty to Zero: An Inside Look at the Collapse of General Motors—and the Detroit Auto Industry (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2010), pp. 71–72.

  17. Iacocca as a threat: Brinkley, Wheels for the World, p. 676.

  18. “I’m not a caretaker”: Alex Taylor III, “Fords for the Future,” Fortune, January 16, 1989.

  19. more than $87 million: Brinkley, Wheels for the World, p. 271.

  20. more than 61 percent: Flammang and Lewis, Ford Chronicle, p. 52.

  21. lost $120 million: Ibid., pp. 69–72.

  22. without losing a cent: William Pelfrey, Billy, Alfred, and General Motors: The Story of Two Unique Men, a Legendary Company, and a Remarkable Time in American History (New York: AMACOM, 2006), p. 265.

  23. “I frankly don’t see”: Jerry Flint, “Henry Ford Pessimistic on Foreign Autos; Doubts Detroit Can Compete,” New York Times, May 14, 1971.

  24. more than a hundred deaths and nearly 2,000 injuries: Brinkley, Wheels for the World, pp. 670–74.

  25. more than all of the Japanese and European carmakers: Ibid., pp. 715–16.

  26. “the perfect complement”: Ingrassia, Crash Course, p. 100.

  27. “Everything we did”: David Magee, Ford Tough: Bill Ford and the Battle to Rebuild America’s Automaker (Hoboken, NJ: Wiley, 2005), p. 3.

  28. Ford’s fondest childhood memories: Ibid., p. 4.

  29. managing to get himself elected: Ibid., p. 6.

  30. “rich dilettantes”: Ingrassia, Crash Course, p. 144.

  31. “So now you have your monarchy back”: Alex Taylor III, “The Fight at Ford: Behind Bill’s Boardroom Struggle,” Fortune, April 3, 2000.

  32. board saw him: Mark Truby, “Nasser Out: Chairman Bill Ford Assumes CEO Post,” Detroit News, October 30, 2001.

  33. “a guilt-ridden rich kid”: Keith Bradsher, High and Mighty: The Dangerous Rise of the SUV (Cambridge, MA: PublicAffairs, 2002), p. 284.

  34. asked for their support: Mark Truby and Bill Vlasic, “How Ford Family Saved Dynasty,” Detroit News, June 2, 2003.

  2. BROKEN

  1. “The internal ailments”: Henry Ford, with Samuel Crowther, My Life and Work (Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1922), p. 158.

  2. the company’s jets: Mark Truby, “Ford Cuts Advisers, Exec Perks,” Detroit News, January 24, 2002.

  3. climbed two slots: Kathleen Kerwin, “Bill Ford’s Long, Hard Road,” BusinessWeek, October 7, 2002.

  4. “I can’t say I’m having fun”: Ibid.

  5. took nearly 36 hours: 2006 Harbour Report.

  6. youngest person ever: Daren Fonda, Toko Sekiguchi, and Joseph R. Szczesny, “Ford’s Young Gun,” Time, July 1, 2002.

  7. axed 20 percent: Garry Emmons, “Mazda’s Main Man Eases into the Fast Lane,” Harvard Business School Alumni Bulletin, April 2002.

  8. dressed as a boy: Dee-Ann Durbin, “Gearhead Has the Drive,” Houston Chronicle, April 8, 2006.

  9. “devastating news”: Bill Vlasic and Bryce G. Hoffman, “Painful,” Detroit News, January 24, 2006.

  10. $3 a gallon: U.S. Energy Information Administration.

  11. required a separate vote: This is established in Ford’s certificate of incorporation.

  12. “The stock price”: Betsy Morris, “Driven to the Brink,” Portfolio, April 16, 2007.

  3. THE MAN ON THE WHITE HORSE

  1. “Coming together is a beginning”: Attributed. The source is unknown.

  2. “Mr. Nice Guy”: Kyung M. Song, “Boeing’s Mr. Nice Guy: Alan Mulally Steps into the Limelight,” Seattle Times, April 8, 2001.

  3. Alan grew up: Rick Montgomery, “Under Kansas Native Alan Mulally, Ford Has Not Only Survived, but Thrived,” Kansas City Star, November 13, 2010.

  4. Kappa Sigma fraternity: Ibid.

  5. school’s annual engineering exposition: Song, “Boeing’s Mr. Nice Guy.”

  6. $500 million under budget: James P. Lewis, Working Together: 12 Principles for Achieving Excellence in Managing Projects, Teams, and Organizations (Washington, DC: Beard Books, 2006), p. 3.

  7. an estimated $5 billion: Karl Sabbagh, producer and director, 21st Century Jet: The Building of the 777, PBS, 1996.

  8. “There was resistance”: Ibid.

  9. At about $100 million a plane: Ibid.

  10. new production records: Song, “Boeing’s Mr. Nice Guy.” 64 “a crime”: Quoted from an article by the author that appeared in the Detroit News on September 7, 2006.

  11. “Let me take a crack”: Bill Vlasic, Once Upon a Car: The Fall and Resurrection of America’s Big Three Auto Makers—GM, Ford, and Chrysler (New York: William Morrow, 2011), p. 153.

  12. “Alan, you’ve done everything”: Ibid.

  13. “It’s not over”: Ibid., p. 154.

  4. THE BOLDEST MOVE YET

  1. “Failure is simply an opportunity”: Henry Ford, with Samuel Crowther, My Life and Work (Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1922), p. 19.

  2. “Ford and the Detroit auto industry”: Daniel Howes, “Bold Gamble on Outsider Is Risky Move,” Detroit News, September 6, 2006.

  5. THE REVOLUTION BEGINS

  1. “We do not make changes”: Henry Ford, with Samuel Crowther, Today and Tomorrow (Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1926), p. 51.

  2. “I look at that as nothing but opportunity”: Bryce G. Hoffman, “Mulally’s Job One: Global Overhaul,” Detroit News, November 11, 2006.

  3. for the third quarter: Ford press release, October 23, 2006.

  6. THE PLAN

  1. “Progress is not made”: Henry Ford, with Samuel Crowther, My Life and Work (Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1922), p. 134.

  2. “It is disappointing”: Alex Taylor III, “Consumer Reports Engineers Are No Test Dummies,” Fortune, June 13, 2007.

  3. on the fast track: Paul Ingrassia, Crash Course: The American Automobile Industry’s Road from Glory to Disaster (New York: Random House, 2010), p. 138.

  4. “An outsider could never”: Alex Taylor III, Sixty to Zero: An Inside Look at the Collapse of General Motors—and the Detroit Auto Industry (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2010), p. 156.

  5. “They make products that people
want”: Bryce G. Hoffman, “Mulally’s Job One: Global Overhaul,” Detroit News, November 11, 2006.

  6. it would reduce: Ford press release, September 15, 2006.

  7. closer to 3 million units: This according to comments made by Chief Financial Officer Don Leclair during Ford’s January 25, 2007, earnings call.

  8. Some 70 percent: Ford press release, September 15, 2006.

  9. similar to the one used by Toyota: This according to Jeffrey Liker, an engineering professor at the University of Michigan and author of The Toyota Way, quoted in a story by the author that appeared in The Detroit News on June 21, 2006.

  10. “There’s not one Ford”: The quotes from this interview are taken from a story by the author that appeared in The Detroit News the following day.

  11. had grown organically: Douglas Brinkley, Wheels for the World (New York: Viking, 2003), pp. 201–3.

  12. foreign subsidiaries: Ibid., pp. 369–73.

  13. no longer made sense: Ibid., pp. 545–49.

  14. tried to eliminate these regional organizations: Ibid., pp. 726–27.

  15. drove costs higher: Alex Taylor III, “Ford’s Fight for Survival,” Fortune, January 20, 2006.

  7. BETTING THE FARM

  1. Borrowing for expansion: Ford, My Life and Work (Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1926), p. 158.

  2. “to address near- and medium-term negative operating-related cash flow”: Ford press release, November 27, 2006.

  3. “This is Ford’s one last shot”: Bryce G. Hoffman, “Ford Bets the House,” Detroit News, November 28, 2006.

  4. “overwhelming support by lenders”: Ford letter to prospective lenders, December 6, 2006.

  8. ASSEMBLING THE TEAM

  1. “If everyone is moving forward”: Attributed. The source is unknown.

  2. “sacrifices at every level”: This quote is from Fields’ speech announcing his first Way Forward plan on January 23, 2006.

  3. he was tapped: Ford press release, March 24, 2005.

  4. “the Energizer Bunny”: Luis Perez, “Bay Ridge Boy West-Wings It,” New York Daily News, January 10, 2003.

  5. “I have the utmost confidence”: Daniel Howes, “Mulally Shows Faith in Fields,” Detroit News, January 12, 2007.

  6. carried an ace of hearts: Mark Truby, “Ford Leans on Suppliers,” Detroit News, July 11, 2002.

  7. only General Motors scored worse: This according to the influential annual survey conducted by Planning Perspectives Inc. of Birmingham, Michigan.

  9. THE BEST AND WORST OF TIMES

  1. “It is failure”: Henry Ford, with Samuel Crowther, My Life and Work (Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1922), p. 220.

  2. “vision for how technology”: This is from an e-mail exchange I had with the Microsoft chairman in December 2006. It was originally quoted in the Detroit News article by the author titled “How the Two Bills Got in Sync,” which ran on January 8, 2007. Much of this information also appeared in that piece.

  3. had been 60 percent: Bryce G. Hoffman, “Ford Fix-It Plan Off Track,” Detroit News, February 16, 2007.

  4. A perky salesman: Amy Wilson, “Mulally Drops by Dealership, Sells Some Cars,” Automotive News, March 27, 2007.

  5. “We want people”: From an interview with the author during the Detroit auto show in 2007.

  10. FAMILY STRIFE

  1. “A business which exists”: Henry Ford, with Samuel Crowther, Today and Tomorrow (Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1992), p. 38.

  2. only about $578 million: Bill Vlasic and Bryce G. Hoffman, “Ford Family Unity Tested,” Detroit News, May 8, 2007.

  3. generated $130 million: Ibid.

  4. “undemocratic”: Vlasic and Hoffman, “Ford Family Unity Tested.”

  5. joined the Hare Krishnas: Mark Truby and Bill Vlasic, “How Ford Family Saved Dynasty,” Detroit News, June 2, 2003.

  6. “boutique investment bank”: Jenny Anderson and Landon Thomas Jr., “Boutique Bank Lands Ex-Goldman Star,” New York Times, January 14, 2006.

  7. “mergers and acquisitions pioneer”: Adrian Cox, “Perella Weinberg Raises More Than $1B for Boutique,” Bloomberg, June 15, 2006.

  8. “sage counsel”: Andrew Ross Sorkin, “The Pressure of Great Expectations,” New York Times, April 27. 2007.

  11. WATERSHED

  1. “You’ve been fighting”: Quoted in William C. Richards, The Last Billionaire (New York: Bantam Books, 1951), pp. 285–86.

  2. “Labor unions are the worst”: Douglas Brinkley, Wheels for the World (New York: Viking, 2003), p. 426.

  3. “Detroit’s auto industry”: Paul Ingrassia, Crash Course: The American Automobile Industry’s Road from Glory to Disaster (New York: Random House, 2010), p. 8.

  4. “I am absolutely not”: This was on WWJ-950 on September 6, 2006.

  5. convinced 38,000 hourly workers: Bryce G. Hoffman, “How 38,000 Were Enticed to Leave Ford,” Detroit News, December 4, 2006.

  6. a discount of about 70 cents: Bryce G. Hoffman and Daniel Howes, “Ailing Ford Gets a Deal That Fits Its Needs,” Detroit News, November 5, 2007.

  12. SELLING IT LIKE IT IS

  1. “You can’t build a reputation”: Attributed. The source is unknown.

  2. “I’ve seen him roll up his sleeves”: Quoted in a piece by the author that appeared in the Detroit News on October 12, 2007.

  3. “This is a big deal”: Ibid.

  13. RIPE FOR THE PICKING

  1. “A business which can bring itself”: Henry Ford, with Samuel Crowther, Today and Tomorrow (Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1992), p. 32.

  2. did it thirty-three times: Dial Torgerson, Kerkorian: An American Success Story (New York: Dial Press, 1974), p. 65.

  3. “We are fiscally conservative”: Quoted in an article by the author that appeared in the Detroit News on January 25, 2008.

  4. “It’s pretty damn clear”: Bill Vlasic, Once Upon a Car: The Fall and Resurrection of America’s Big Three Auto Makers—GM, Ford, and Chrysler (New York: William Morrow, 2011), p. 269.

  14. STORM WARNING

  1. “Every depression is a challenge”: Henry Ford, with Samuel Crowther, My Life and Work (Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1922), p. 136.

  2. in a recession since December: Emily Kaiser, “Recession Started in December 2007: Panel,” Reuters, December 1, 2008.

  3. rumors were spreading: Bryan Burrough, “Bringing Down Bear Stearns,” Vanity Fair, August 2008.

  4. one out of every nine: Eric Dash, “Auto Industry Feels the Pain of Tight Credit,” New York Times, May 27, 2008.

  5. about 11 percent: This information was provided by Ford during a briefing on May 22, 2008.

  6. “Ford has shown”: Quoted in an article by the author that appeared in the Detroit News on June 5, 2008.

  7. “That’s right, I said it”: Quoted in an article by the author that appeared in the Detroit News on August 12, 2008.

  8. over $4 a gallon: U.S. Energy Information Administration.

  9. “You know, I think it’s really time”: Bill Vlasic, Once Upon a Car: The Fall and Resurrection of America’s Big Three Auto Makers—GM, Ford, and Chrysler (New York: William Morrow, 2011), p. 286.

  10. “We’re doing it faster”: Bryce G. Hoffman, “Ford Revs Up Big Move to Smaller Cars,” Detroit News, July 25, 2008.

  15. THE SUM OF ALL FEARS

  1. “Bankers play far”: Henry Ford, with Samuel Crowther, My Life and Work (Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1922), p. 176.

  2. biggest bankruptcy in U.S. history: Sam Mamudi, “Lehman Folds with Record $613 Billion Debt,” MarketWatch, September 15, 2008.

  16. MR. MULALLY GOES TO WASHINGTON

  1. “When you get a whole country”: Henry Ford, with Samuel Crowther, My Life and Work (Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1922), p. 7.

  2. “For years, while foreign competitors”: This quote is taken from the official text of Obama’s speech.

  3. GM was trying to blackmail: Steven Rattner, Overhaul: An Insider’s Account of the Obama Administration’s Emergency Rescue o
f the Auto Industry (New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2010), pp. 20–24.

  17. BREAKING WITH DETROIT

  1. “Our help does not come”: Henry Ford, with Samuel Crowther, My Life and Work (Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1922), p. 7.

  2. emergency funding: Dan Milmo, “Bush Sanctions Last-Ditch Rescue Plan for General Motors and Chrysler,” Guardian, December 12, 2008.

  3. The president gave: Jeremy Pelofsky and John Crawley, “Bush Throws Lifeline to Auto Industry,” Reuters, December 19, 2008.

  18. BY THEIR OWN BOOTSTRAPS

  1. “Then why flounder”: Henry Ford, with Samuel Crowther, My Life and Work (Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1922), p. 136.

  2. “This has turned out”: Quoted in a story by the author that appeared in the Detroit News on December 31, 2008.

  3. “It would be really helpful”: Steven Rattner, Overhaul: An Insider’s Account of the Obama Administration’s Emergency Rescue of the Auto Industry (New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2010), p. 47.

  4. reporters on Air Force One: Ibid., p. 64.

  5. “We feel like we’re over a barrel”: Quoted in a story by the author that appeared in the Detroit News on February 26, 2009.