Category: Automotive

Midnight in Chernobyl, The Untold Story of the World’s Greatest Nuclear Disaster by Adam Higginbotham Recommendation The USSR expanded its nuclear power program in the 1970s as its economy stagnated. The first new nuclear plant opened in 1975 in Chernobyl, Ukraine. As journalist Adam Higginbotham masterfully reports, after a failed safety test on a Friday night in April 1986, Reactor Four…

Electrify, An Optimist’s Playbook for Our Clean Energy Future by Saul Griffith Recommendation You may feel hopeless in the face of ever more dire predictions about the effects of rising global temperatures and catastrophic climate change. At the same time, many people fear that aiming for a carbon-free future means unpleasant changes in lifestyle. Engineer, entrepreneur…

From Big Oil to Big Green, Holding the Oil Industry to Account for the Climate Crisis by Marco Grasso Recommendation Big Oil must step up and take responsibility for the climate crisis threatening life on Earth today, argues political geography professor Marco Grasso. He urges the oil and gas industry to embrace decarbonization and make reparations, while making a moral…

American Icon, Alan Mulally and the Fight to Save Ford Motor Company by Bryce G. Hoffman Recommendation It isn’t often that an insightful business history qualifies as a great beach read. Journalist Bryce G. Hoffman’s chronicle of the Ford Motor Company’s post-2008 turnaround transforms corporate restructuring into a sweeping drama, full of cliffhangers and vibrant characters.…

Janesville, An American Story by Amy Goldstein Recommendation Pulitzer Prize–winning Washington Post journalist Amy Goldstein earned wide recognition for this important entry in a new, sad American genre: stories of loss among the manufacturing middle-class. When General Motors closed its Janesville, Wisconsin, assembly plant in late 2008, the loss nearly ripped the town apart. Writing with grace and skill, Goldstein combines empathy with objectivity in her coverage…

Guts, The Seven Laws of Business that Made Chrysler the World’s Hottest Car Company by Robert A. Lutz Recommendation Former Chrysler president and vice-chairman Robert A. Lutz proves that sometimes a corporate leader can write a terrific book (it just doesn’t happen very often). If Lutz ever decides to get out of the corporate arena…

The Future of the Automotive Industry, The Disruptive Forces of AI, Data Analytics, and Digitization by Inma Martínez Recommendation As the world becomes increasingly digitalized, conceptions of the car are undergoing a profound shift, says AI scientist Inma Martínez. Artificial intelligence and 5G are disrupting an entire industry, triggering innovations that can transform cities of the future, provided that…

The Toyota Way Fieldbook, A Practical Guide for Implementing Toyota’s 4Ps by David Meier and Jeffrey K. Liker Recommendation Jeffrey Liker and David Meier first explored lean methodology in The Toyota Way (2003). This companion book goes further, providing the wisdom, practical tools and examples you need to smooth your organization’s transition to lean operations. Toyota’s success as one of the…

The Machine That Changed the World, The Story of Lean Production – Toyota’s Secret Weapon in the Global Car Wars That Is Revolutionizing World Industry by James P. Womack, Daniel T. Jones and Daniel Roos Recommendation This management classic, taught in business schools worldwide, has remained relevant since the day of its first publication in 1990.…

Toyota Production System, Beyond Large-Scale Production by Taiichi Ohno Recommendation Taiichi Ohno wrote this seminal book in 1978. As one of Toyota Motor Company’s first mechanical engineers, he was inspired by the principles developed by Toyota’s founder Toyoda Kiichir?. Part manual and part philosophical treatise on efficiency, Ohno’s guide honors the Japanese automotive pioneer’s innovations in manufacturing. This 1988 edition translates the original Japanese version into…