Crash Course: The American Automobile Industry's Road to Bankruptcy and Bailout-and Beyond

"A definitive account . . . It's hard to imagine anyone better than Paul Ingrassia to 'ride shotgun' on a journey through the sometimes triumphant, often turbulent, history of U.S. automaking. . . . [A] wealth of amusing, astonishing and enlightening nuggets."-Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

This is the epic saga of the American automobile industry's rise and demise, a compelling story of hubris, 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. With unprecedented access, Pulitzer Prize winner Paul Ingrassia takes us from factory floors to small-town dealerships to Detroit's boardrooms to the White House. Ingrassia answers the big questions: Was Detroit's self-destruction inevitable? Why did Japanese automakers manage American workers better than the American companies themselves did? Complete with a new Afterword providing fresh insights into the continuing upheaval in the auto industry-the travails of Toyota, the revolving-door management and IPO at General Motors, the unexpected progress at Chrysler, and the Obama administration's stake in Detroit's recovery-Crash Course addresses a critical question: America bailed out GM, but who will bail out America?

With an updated Afterword by the author

Praise for Crash Course

"In order to understand just how much of a mess it was-not to mention how it got that way and how, if at all, it can be cleaned up-you really need to read Crash Course."-The Washinton Post

"Ingrassia tells Detroit's story with economy, vigour and restrained fury."-The Economist

"A delightful mix of history and first-person reporting . . . Employing superb storytelling skills, Ingrassia explains in head-shaking detail the elements of a wholly avoidable collision."-Kirkus Reviews (starred review)