Quotes
Gordon Buehrig on Ford’s attitude about small cars circa 1960
“Fred Hooven was a very good friend of mine and had a much bigger job at Ford than I did. He worked for Mike Ference. Henry Ford asked Ference — this was in 1960. He […]
Management culture
Letters to the Editor
Richard Langworth responds to our ‘making excuses for GM’ story
Richard Langworth stopped by to respond to our story, “Langworth and Norbye made excuses for General Motors’ big-car fixation.” What follows is his full missive: It’s nice to be remembered, even critically, for something we […]
Media Analysis
Peter DeLorenzo draws questionable lessons from automotive history
Peter DeLorenzo (2023) recently raised a useful point: Too many of today’s auto industry executives “have no concept of historical perspective at all.” His full column is worth a read, but here’s a key passage: […]
Current Events
Will history repeat itself by punishing automakers for their big SUV binge?
It’s an old trick in the U.S. auto industry to blame consumers for bad corporate behavior. Automotive News (2022) recently lent a helping hand by playing the victim card to justify the lack of improvement […]
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Editor's Note
Wherein we bid farewell to Twitter under Elon Musk
Indie Auto has posted its last tweet . . . at least as long as Elon Musk rules Twitter. Those of you who have followed us on that platform are invited to do so on […]
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Quotes
Halberstam: Big Three’s ‘shared monopoly’ held back innovation for years
“The Big Three in the auto industry stood virtually alone, possessors of what was in effect a shared monopoly, for the price of entry was too great for any start-up company. In an environment like […]
Editor's Note
Reader says design critique of 1966 Studebaker is ‘simplistic’ and ‘unkind’
Readers can communicate with Indie Auto either by submitting a comment or sending a message to the editor (go here). The other day I received a message from a displeased reader. What follows is his […]
Quotes
Bill Mitchell on how he wielded power like Harley Earl at GM
“Oh, he was powerful. God, I admired [him]. He just knocked the tar out of anybody. He’d get it fixed. If he couldn’t, he’d call New York and say, ‘Fix these…[.]’ Then, I inherited some […]