Crash course

Detroit's automakers, once the engine of American prosperity, slid into crisis, and this book traces how that happened. Ingrassia tells the story of the industry's decline as a chain of arrogance, refusal to face facts, lost chances, and mistakes the companies brought on themselves. It ends with the White House steering two of the Big Three through bankruptcy, a process that cost American taxpayers more than $100 billion, an amount equal to the price of every car and truck sold in the country during the first half of 2009.

Drawing on extensive access, the author moves between assembly plants, small-town dealerships, corporate headquarters in Detroit, and the West Wing. He explains why President Barack Obama chose to rescue Chrysler over the objections of many advisers. He also recounts how Obama pushed out General Motors chief executive Rick Wagoner, and how GM's board responded with anger, even though its members had done little while the company sank toward ruin.

The book takes on the central questions: Was the collapse of Detroit unavoidable, and which moments mattered most? Why did Japanese carmakers get more out of their American workforce than the domestic companies did? Ingrassia examines corporate cultures that kept GM running as usual while its market share kept falling, and a union practice of "inverse layoffs" that let workers use seniority to avoid doing their jobs. He also introduces the reformers who fought from inside these companies and the painful choices Ford's leaders faced in order to avoid GM's fate.

Written by a journalist who spent twenty-five years covering the auto industry for The Wall Street Journal, the book is aimed at readers interested in business, government, and the wider effect Detroit has had on American society and culture.