Business History · Episode 18 · March 11, 2026 · 36 min
How GM Beat Ford: The Character Flaw That Cost Henry Ford His Crown
Ford was the pre-eminent American car maker and Henry Ford was the king of modern manufacturing, until a Michigan cigar salesman decided to consolidate a bunch of small auto companies into a single firm to defeat the Colossus of Detroit. General Motors united the likes of Oldsmobile, Buick, Cadillac and decided to live by "the laws of Paris dressmakers" to make cars that were more stylish and fashionable than the austere, black-painted Model T that was coming out of the Ford plant. Write to us at [email protected] See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.