Crash Course: The American Automobile Industry's Road from Glory to Disaster

An Average book

I read and reread a book co-authored by Mr. Ingrassia called Comeback, The Fall and Rise of the American Auto Industry which I thought to be a fascinating behind the scenes look at the decline of the American auto companies in the 1980s and their upturn in the 1990s. It's depth really made sense in explaining why GM was near bankruptcy in 1992, or why Chrysler was in a world of hurt by 1990.

I have found Crash Course to be lacking in the depth of scope that was covered by Comeback, and the writing style somewhat subpar to that in Comeback. In a particular lacking area is the saga of General Motors. While some points are very valid (half-measures and reluctancy to get tough with the UAW) much is just simply left out.

Cases in point:

- GM CEO Jack Smith: Achieved a miraculous financial turnaround at GM in the early 1990s. However, this was done largely by cutting costs at all levels, including R&D and product development. While the short term numbers generated by this cost cutting were good, it turned people off to GM cars as feeling cheap. The overly bland styling of most GM cars of the 1990s did not help. To be sure, all you need to do is look at a 1999 Malibu verses a 2009 Malibu, or a 1999 Suburban vs. a 2009 model. Model years are 10 apart, but interior quality and overall build quality are light years ahead in the 2009 model. The bland, cheap feeling product is a critical fact in explaining GM's fall and is all but ignored in this book.

- GM CEO Rick Wagoner: Much time and energy is spent by the author making him into this terribly incompetent CEO. But by ignoring the fact in the above point, the author essentially ignores the fact that Mr. Wagoner had to rebuild the product lineup from the ground up when he took over, and do it within the constraints of a 85+ year old company with all its financial liabilities, and historical and perceptual liabilities. Not an easy task for anyone, and certainly made even more difficult by the size and complexity of GM itself. But, if you look at the product right now, on November 19, 2010, no one can argue that Rick Wagoner's efforts were not successful in this area. Remember, a car typically takes four years to bring to market. Everything you see GM producing is something Rick Wagoner approved. The Volt, the Camaro, the CTS, the new crop of Buicks (Regal, LaCrosse, and Enclave) to name a few are all wildly successful. All of that is totally ignored by the author.

Adding to the author's lack of credibility is a part of the book where he discusses the auto task force created by President Obama. Surpringly, even here, in the context of 2009, the author knocks GM as having a few standout products (like the new Malibu) stuffed in with many "yawners" like the Pontiac Bonneville. Why is this a credibility issue? Well, the Bonneville production stopped in 2005, four years prior to the writing of this book. Making mention of it as if it was still in the lineup is just not factually correct. In fact, I'm hard pressed to name "many yawners" in the GM lineup today.

In summary, not a book I will be re-reading any time soon, unlike Comeback, which was co-authored with Joseph B White. The writing style is bland, facts omitted, and other points made that are just not factually correct in the first place.

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