The missing link to long-term Lean success! Despite the fact that companies worldwide have adopted Lean production, none has sustained the same levels of excellence as Toyota. Why? Leadership. In The Toyota Way to Lean Leadership, Jeffrey Liker and Gary L. Convis, a former executive V.P. and managing officer of Toyota, help executives and senior managers get employees to refocus their efforts - from simply performing their singular function to continuously improving in collaboration across the organization. Case studies from Toyota clearly illustrate the methods that create powerful, effective Lean leadership. Jeffrey Liker, author of the popular Toyota Way books, is the acknowledged expert on Toyota processes. He is professor of Industrial and Operations Engineering at the University of Michigan. After his executive leadership at Toyota, Gary L. Convis became the CEO of Dana Holding Corporation, a $6.1 billion supplier to the global automotive, commercial vehicle, and off-highway markets, and helped lead it to a successful turnaround from bankruptcy. Read more

Muscle & Chrome: Classic American Cars captures all the wonder and excitement of a truly beloved era in automotive history.Informative profiles of 70 vehicles serve to chronicle the burst of design and engineering innovations that followed the end of World War II, the exuberant styling and the "horsepower race" of the Fifties, and the rise of the youth market and the muscle car in the Sixties.Hardcover, 144 pages. Read more

Now an Apple TV+ limited series, Wanted: The Escape of Carlos GhosnThe unprecedented rise and catastrophic fall of one of the world’s most feared and admired business executives—Carlos Ghosn—a remarkable story of innovation, hubris, alleged crimes, and daring international escape, as chronicled by two Wall Street Journal reporters.Carlos Ghosn always wanted more. Born in the Amazon, raised by a well-off—if scandalized—family in Beirut, and educated in Paris, Ghosn rose to prominence at Michelin in the United States, Renault in France, and Nissan in Japan. Along the way he earned monikers of Le Cost Killer, for his incisive business savvy, and Mr. 7-Eleven, for the hours he devoted to his work.Initially Ghosn thrived, becoming a poster boy for globalization and multinational corporations. Employees believed him to be among the greatest business minds of his generation, and the press hailed him a financial genius. The trouble started when Ghosn began to believe them. His power rose in tandem with an increasing certainty that he was underpaid and undervalued at his multiple posts. Executives grew unhappy with Ghosn’s talk of a merger with Renault, calling his loyalty to Nissan into question. Resentments brewed, enough so that a group of Nissan executives set out to uncover the truth about the man who many throughout Nissan and Japan perceived as a savior. Eventually, Ghosn was accused of financial misconduct and arrested for a bevy of alleged crimes—all of which he vehemently denied.Yet even as he insisted his financial transactions were above board, Ghosn was planning an astounding escape, one that would either smuggle him out of Tokyo and back to his ancestral homeland of Lebanon; or land him in a Japanese prison for life.Drawning from intensive investigative reporting, and including never-before-seen insider details from key players in Ghosn’s life and the investigations into him, Nick Kostov and Sean McLain piece together this fallen icon’s life and actions across the globe. Their sensational globetrotting adventure reveals the complexity of a man who watched for decades as contemporaries with far less talent amassed far greater wealth, and who took drastic measures to ensure he would finally get his due.Supplemental enhancement PDF accompanies the audiobook.PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio. Read more

Multiple Shingo Award-winning management and operations expert Jeffrey K. Liker provides a deep dive into Toyota's world-changing processes, showing how you can learn from it to develop your own improvement program that fits your conditions. Thanks in large part to this book, managers across the globe are creating workforces and systems that produce the highest-quality products and services, establish and retain customer loyalty, and drive business profitability and sustainability. Now, Liker has thoroughly updated his classic guide to include: completely revised data and updated information about Toyota's approach to competitiveness in the new world of mobility and smart technology; illustrative examples from manufacturing and service organizations that have learned and improved from the Toyota Way; a fresh approach to leadership models; the brain science and skills for learning to think scientifically; and how Toyota applies Hoshin Kanri, a planning process that aligns objectives at all levels and marries them to business strategy.Organized into thematic sections covering the various aspects of the Toyota Way - including "Philosophy", "Processes", "People", and "Problem Solving" - this unparalleled guide details the 14 key principles for building the foundation of a powerful improvement system and managing it for ultimate competitive advantage. Read more

The official, no-holds-barred inside story of the Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS Formula 1 Team“This book lifts the lid on what life is really like inside our team and it has been based on unprecedented access—nobody has ever been this close to what happens behind the scenes.”—Toto WolffWith exclusive access to the Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team, award-winning writer Matt Whyman charts the journey of the Silver Arrows as they face their greatest challenge: the race back to the front of the grid. Once untouchable, the winner of seven Drivers’ World Championships and eight consecutive Constructors’ World Championships confront the reality of no longer being F1’s top dog. Whyman, fully embedded across the 2023 and 2024 seasons, follows decorated drivers Lewis Hamilton and George Russell, Team Principal Toto Wolff, and the extraordinary men and women who design, build, and race the team’s cars as they fight back—on and off the track.From the tension of pre-season testing to the thrill and glamour of race weekends—including Austin, Miami, and the first-ever Las Vegas Grand Prix—the book provides fascinating insight into the world of the fastest sport on earth and one of its most successful teams. Whyman reveals the pressure cooker environment of elite competition, shares the secrets of teamwork and high performance, and foregrounds the remarkable individuals who push to the limits in their quest for victory. Read more

How a Michigan farm boy became the richest man in America is a classic, almost mythic tale, but never before has Henry Ford’s outsized genius been brought to life so vividly as it is in this engaging and superbly researched biography. The real Henry Ford was a tangle of contradictions. He set off the consumer revolution by producing a car affordable to the masses, all the while lamenting the moral toll exacted by consumerism. He believed in giving his workers a living wage, though he was entirely opposed to union labor. He had a warm and loving relationship with his wife, but sired a son with another woman. A rabid anti-Semite, he nonetheless embraced African American workers in the era of Jim Crow. Uncovering the man behind the myth, situating his achievements and their attendant controversies firmly within the context of early 20th century America, Watts has given us a comprehensive, illuminating, and fascinating biography of one of America’s first mass-culture celebrities. Read more

The inside story of the epic turnaround of Ford Motor Company under the leadership of CEO Alan Mulally. At the end of 2008, Ford Motor Company was just months away from running out of cash. With the auto industry careening toward ruin, Congress offered all three Detroit automakers a bailout. General Motors and Chrysler grabbed the taxpayer lifeline, but Ford decided to save itself. Under the leadership of charismatic CEO Alan Mulally, Ford had already put together a bold plan to unify its divided global operations, transform its lackluster product lineup, and overcome a dys­functional culture of infighting, backstabbing, and excuses. It was an extraordinary risk, but it was the only way the Ford family—America’s last great industrial dynasty—could hold on to their company. Mulally and his team pulled off one of the great­est comebacks in business history. As the rest of Detroit collapsed, Ford went from the brink of bankruptcy to being the most profitable automaker in the world. American Icon is the compelling, behind-the-scenes account of that epic turnaround.In one of the great management narratives of our time, Hoffman puts the reader inside the boardroom as Mulally uses his celebrated Business Plan Review meet­ings to drive change and force Ford to deal with the painful realities of the American auto industry.  Hoffman was granted unprecedented access to Ford’s top executives and top-secret company documents. He spent countless hours with Alan Mulally, Bill Ford, the Ford family, former executives, labor leaders, and company directors. In the bestselling tradition of Too Big to Fail and The Big Short, American Icon is narrative nonfiction at its vivid and colorful best. Read more

The classic, nationally best-selling book that first articulated the principles of lean production, with a new foreword and afterword by the authors.When The Machine That Changed the World was first published in 1990, Toyota was half the size of General Motors. Twenty years later Toyota passed GM as the world’s largest auto maker. This management classic was the first book to reveal Toyota’s lean production system that is the basis for its enduring success.Authors Womack, Jones, and Roos provided a comprehensive description of the entire lean system. They exhaustively documented its advantages over the mass production model pioneered by General Motors and predicted that lean production would eventually triumph. Indeed, they argued that it would triumph not just in manufacturing but in every value-creating activity from health care to retail to distribution.Today The Machine That Changed the World provides enduring and essential guidance to managers and leaders in every industry seeking to transform traditional enterprises into exemplars of lean success. Read more

How to sell more cars, make more money, and have more fun by building better, stronger, more authentically human customer relationships—online and in real life.If you’re an “average” car salesperson, pretty good at your job, you’re probably not going to have a job for much longer. There are plenty of order takers and delivery clerks who are willing to do it cheaper, and there are robots who can do it pretty much for free. You’ll never beat them at their game. Carvana is projecting the annual sales of two million vehicles, without a single car salesperson on staff.If you want to be in the car business long-term, you’re going to need to get really good at doing the one thing that the robots can’t do. The one thing that Wall Street, Madison Avenue, and Silicone Valley won’t do. And, ironically, the one thing that every good salesperson in the history of the car business did before the internet got us all discombobulated. The one thing that the world’s greatest salespeople are doing still today: building better, stronger, more authentically human customer relationships online and in real life.Being you is your superpower. Today’s successful salesperson has to take on much more responsibility for marketing themselves, creating their own network of buyers, building relationships earlier in the buying process, and maintaining those relationships longer. If you get in front of enough people, you’ve got people in the store to help you close deals.Closing deals ain’t the problem. Opening deals is the problem.This book will help you open more deals, generate your own leads, and get in front of more people so you can sell more cars, make more money, and have more fun!Terry Lancaster has worked with thousands of dealer principals, managers, and salespeople, providing proven strategies for making the cash register ring. I conduct sales and marketing training through online sales meetings, in-store training, and coaching for your salespeople and managers to provide the personalization and accountability to make big things happen. Whether it's radio and TV ads for your store to video interviews and blog posts featuring employees, customers, and community partners, I'll help you create the content you need to tell the story you want to tell. My #1 best-selling books have received glowing reviews from around the world thanking me for the actionable, life-changing ideas they present. I’ve been featured in Forbes and Automotive News, spoken from the TedX stage and at the NADA national convention, and came in second place at my eighth grade debate championship. In my personal life, I've survived cancer...twice. I've had a gun held to my head and a knife held to my throat. Read more

"Most successful leaders are mentally and emotionally askew. There’s a good side, which gets the job done. There’s often also a downside that makes them hard to understand or difficult to work for. It’s precisely that they are impatient, stubborn, opinionated, unsatisfied, and domineering that makes them successful."When Bob Lutz retired from General Motors in 2010, after an unparalleled 47-year career in the auto industry, he was one of the most respected leaders in American business. He had survived all kinds of managers over those decades: tough and timid, analytical and irrational, charismatic and antisocial, and some who seemed to shift frequently among all those traits. His experiences made him an expert on leadership, every bit as much as he was an expert on cars and trucks. Now Lutz is revealing the leaders - good, bad, and ugly - who made the strongest impression on him throughout his career. Icons and Idiots is a collection of shocking and often hilarious true stories and the lessons Lutz drew from them. From enduring the sadism of a Marine Corps drill instructor, to working with a washed-up alcoholic, to taking over the reins from a convicted felon, he reflects on the complexities of all-too-human leaders. No textbook or business school course can fully capture their idiosyncrasies, foibles and weaknesses - which can make or break companies in the real world. Lutz shows that we can learn just as much from the most stubborn, stupid, and corrupt leaders as we can from the inspiring geniuses. He offers fascinating profiles of icons and idiots such as... Eberhard von Kuenheim. The famed CEO of BMW was an aristocrat-cum-street fighter who ruled with secrecy, fear, and deft maneuvering. Harold A. "Red" Poling: A Ford CEO and the ultimate bean counter. If it couldn’t be quantified, he didn’t want to know about it. Lee Iacocca: The legendary Chrysler CEO appeared to be brillant and bold, but was often vulnerable and insecure behind the scenes. G. Richard "Rick" Wagoner: The perfect peacetime CEO whose superior intelligence couldn’t save GM from steep decline and a government bailout. As Lutz writes: "We’ll examine bosses who were profane, insensitive, totally politically incorrect, and who 'appropriated' insignificant items from hotels or the company. We’ll visit the mind of a leader who did little but sit in his office. We’ll look at another boss who could analyze a highly complex profit-and-loss statement or a balance sheet at a glance, yet who, at times, failed to grasp the simplest financial mechanisms - how things actually worked in practice to create the numbers in the real world." The result is a powerful and entertaining guide for any aspiring leader. Read more

A WALL STREET JOURNAL BUSINESS BESTSELLER The riveting inside story of Elon Musk and Tesla's bid to build the world's greatest car—from award-winning Wall Street Journal tech and auto reporter Tim Higgins. “A deeply reported and business-savvy chronicle of Tesla's wild ride.” —Walter Isaacson, New York Times Book ReviewTesla is the envy of the automotive world. Born at the start of the millennium, it was the first car company to be valued at $1 trillion. Its CEO, the mercurial, charismatic Elon Musk has become not just a celebrity but the richest man in the world.But Tesla’s success was far from guaranteed. Founded in the 2000s, the company was built on an audacious vision. Musk and a small band of Silicon Valley engineers set out to make a car that was quicker, sexier, smoother, and cleaner than any gas-guzzler on the road. Tesla would undergo a hellish fifteen years, beset by rivals—pressured by investors, hobbled by whistleblowers. Musk often found himself in the public’s crosshairs, threatening to bring down the company he had helped build.Wall Street Journal tech and auto reporter Tim Higgins had a front-row seat for the drama: the pileups, breakdowns, and the unlikeliest outcome of all, success. A story of impossible wagers and unlikely triumphs, Power Play is an exhilarating look at how a team of innovators beat the odds—and changed the future. Read more

★ Monster Truck Coloring Book for Kids Aged 2 to 8 ★Get ready for an exciting adventure with our Monster Truck Coloring Book! This fun-filled book is designed especially for children aged 2 to 8 years old, offering hours of creative entertainment. Inside, young artists will discover a vibrant collection of illustrations featuring their favorite vehicles, including:Monster Trucks: huge, powerful trucks with oversized tires that can crush anything in their path! Children can bring these thrilling vehicles to life with their own colorful designs.Pickup Trucks: versatile and practical, pickup trucks are perfect for any adventure. Kids can imagine taking these sturdy vehicles on road trips or camping excursions.Each page is filled with unique designs that encourage creativity and imagination. The thick outlines make it easy for little hands to color inside the lines while exploring different shades and hues.Children can use crayons, watercolor paints or gouache, markers, or colored pencils—whatever they prefer—to express themselves as they color. This activity not only enhances fine motor skills but also fosters a love for art and creativity!!!Let your child's imagination run wild as they embark on this colorful journey through the world of monster trucks, pickups and more. Get your coloring supplies ready; it's time to create some amazing artwork!Perfect as a gift or a fun activity at home or on the go—this Monster Truck Coloring Book promises endless fun and excitement for young vehicle enthusiasts!Features of this Monster Truck Coloring Book:Large pages measuring 8.5 by 11 inches;Single-sided pages to prevent markers or pens from bleeding through to the next image;High-quality printing;Unique original designs;Big variety of different types of trucks;Sturdy, vibrant cover. Read more

A journey of discovering and correcting a hole in the used car universe.Dale Pollak, innovator and leader of the automotive sales and management industry, will once again, have you rethinking how to manage the used car business. More than a how-to business book, Gross Deception is a story of finding a problem in the reliance on gross profit and the trials to create a solution. This thoughtfully written book not only shows you the trial and error of potential answers, but also how to apply the answer that culminated from years of work.Referred to as ProfitTime, Dale's solution includes both the ''New Math of Used Vehicles'' and the ''Investment Score'' system, helping you to know the ROI and net profit potential of every vehicle.With Dale's ProfitTime solution you will: Invigorate your cash flow Increase your sales volume Introduce new metrics Initiate value-based management Identify market shiftsThrough metric and methodology, Gross Deception will restructure how you view a car's time on the lot. Read more

What’s the secret to wowing your customers while maintaining a loyal and dedicated workforce? No one knows better than Enterprise, the nation’s #1 car rental company. Drawing upon the time-tested strategies that have propelled Enterprise from a single location in St. Louis into a $9 billion global powerhouse, EXCEEDING CUSTOMER EXPECTATIONS reveals how to:• Actively seek out unsatisfied customers and quickly turn them into loyal fans • Hire smart people and train them from the ground up•Develop methods to reduce costs and add value for your customers in every interaction.• Grow your business by rewarding employees with financial incentives, forming strong partnerships, and focusing on the long-term • Thrive during tough economic times by bringing new advantages to the market• Cultivate a fun and friendly workplace where teamwork rulesIn EXCEEDING CUSTOMER EXPECTATIONS, noted business author Kirk Kazanjian reveals how your company can consistently outperform and outsmart the competition by following a simple philosophy espoused by Enterprise founder Jack Taylor: “Take care of your customers and employees first, and the profits will follow.” Winning customer loyalty is like running a marathon–not a 100-yard dash. By mastering this principle, Enterprise has earned not only record profits, but also received numerous awards for customer service and earned an enviable reputation as one of the world’s best companies to work for. EXCEEDING CUSTOMER EXPECTATIONS imparts timeless lessons on satisfying both customers and employees that you can put to use right away, no matter what your business or industry. Read more

A 2017 Michigan Notable Book After World War II, the American automobile industry was reeling. Having spent years building tanks and airplanes for the army, the car companies would need years more to retool their production to meet the demands of the American public, for whom they had not made any cars since 1942.    And then in stepped Preston Tucker. This salesman extraordinaire from Ypsilanti, Michigan, had built race cars before the war, and had designed prototypes for the military during it. Now, gathering a group of brilliant automotive designers, engineers, and promoters, he announced the creation of a revolutionary new car: the Tucker '48, the first car in almost a decade to be built fresh from the ground up. Tucker's car would include ingenious advances in design and engineering that other car companies could not match. With a rear engine, rear-wheel drive, a safety-glass windshielf that would pop out in case of an accident, a padded dashboard, independent suspension, and automatic transmission, it would be more attractive and aerodynamic—and safer—than any other car on the road.    But as the public eagerly awaited Tucker's car of tomorrow, powerful forces in Washington were trying to bring him down. An SEC commissioner with close ties to Detroit's Big Three automakers deliberately leaked information about an investigation the agency was conducting, suggesting that Tucker was bilking investors with a massive fraud scheme. Headlines accused him a perpetrating a hoax and claimed that his cars weren't real and his factory was a sham.  In fact, the Tucker '48 sedan was genuine, and everyone who saw it was impressed by what this upstart carmaker had achieved. But the SEC's investigation had compounded the company's financial problems and management conflicts, and a superior product was not enough to keep Tucker's dream afloat.  Here, Steve Lehto tackles the story of Tucker's amazing rise and tragic fall, relying on a huge trove of documents that has been used by no other writer to date. It is the first comprehensive, authoritative account of Tucker's magnificent car and his battles with the government. And in this book, Lehto finally answers the questions automobile aficionados have wondered about for decades: Exactly how and why was the production of such an innovative car killed? Read more

Henry Ford was an American industrialist, the founder of the Ford Motor Company, and the sponsor of the development of the assembly line technique of mass production."My Life and Work" is the autobiography of Henry Ford. Written in conjunction with Samuel Crowther, "My Life and Work" chronicles the rise and success of one of the greatest American entrepreneurs and businessmen. Henry Ford and the Ford Motor Company will forever be identified with early 20th century American industrialism. The innovations to business and direct impact on the American economy of Henry Ford and his company are immeasurable. His story is brilliantly chronicled in this classic American biography. Read more

“Vintage Iacocca . . . He is fast-talking, blunt, boastful, and unabashedly patriotic. Lee Iacocca is also a genuine folk hero. . . . His career is breathtaking.”—Business Week He’s an American legend, a straight-shooting businessman who brought Chrysler back from the brink and in the process became a media celebrity, newsmaker, and a man many had urged to run for president. The son of Italian immigrants, Lee Iacocca rose spectacularly through the ranks of Ford Motor Company to become its president, only to be toppled eight years later in a power play that should have shattered him. But Lee Iacocca didn’t get mad, he got even. He led a battle for Chrysler’s survival that made his name a symbol of integrity, know-how, and guts for millions of Americans. In his classic hard-hitting style, he tells us how he changed the automobile industry in the 1960s by creating the phenomenal Mustang. He goes behind the scenes for a look at Henry Ford’s reign of intimidation and manipulation. He recounts the miraculous rebirth of Chrysler from near bankruptcy to repayment of its $1.2 billion government loan so early that Washington didn’t know how to cash the check. Read more

Magnus Walker is one of life’s originals. Serial entrepreneur, fashion designer, TV presenter, motivational speaker and one of the world’s most prolific Porsche collectors, the dreadlocked, tattooed hoarder of individual creativity is a very modern incarnation of success. Raised in the urban decay of Thatcher’s Britain, Sheffield-born Magnus Walker left school with just two O levels and drifted for several years before buying a one-way ticket to America. Now, 30 years and three successful businesses later, by following his instincts, rejecting convention and pursuing his passions Magnus has succeeded against all the odds. Here, for the first time, is the full story of his journey from a boy with little hope to an anti-establishment hero. Along the way we’ll witness his potent combination of inspiration and graft, discover his motivations and his ambitions, and come to understand his philosophy and the keys to his success. Read more

This book was written for anyone currently selling or contemplating selling cars. Whether you’re an Old Car Dog or a Green Pea, these ridiculously short chapters are intended to help you sell more vehicles and make more money than you ever thought possible.We wrote this book to be ridiculously simple to understand and made it ridiculously simple for you to implement the lessons immediately. In just 125 pages, you’ll learn virtually everything you need to know before, during, and after the sale to sell more vehicles for more money, and all without spending an extra minute in the dealership.This ridiculously short book will teach you:What it takes to close more deals with less effort.How to leverage your store’s CRM to find and sell more opportunities.The impact of attitude and activity on your success.How to set proper goals that you’ll actually achieve.How to grab and maintain control with every buyer.How to avoid most objections and overcome the ones you do receive.How to move prospects through your road-to-the-sale.How to avoid getting caught in a negotiation.How to expand and leverage your network of buyers.How to use social media to sell more vehicles.How to fill your day with moneymaking activities.How to effectively handle Fresh Ups, Phone Ups, and Internet Leads.How to set and sell more appointments.How to generate more referral business.How to sell more Be-Backs.And so much more!As a famous quote from Henry Ford tells us, “Whether you think you can, or you think you can't – you're right.” However, if you think you can't become one of the top automotive sales professionals in the world by simply reading a book and implementing the ridiculously simple lessons, you're wrong! Selling cars isn't hard, it just takes work. And the work starts by learning how to sell more vehicles for more money without spending an extra minute in the dealership. Read more

The Chevrolet car and truck business traces its roots back to Michigan�s lumber industry in the middle of the 19th century. Lumber mills gave way to carriage and wagon manufacturing and the claim, before motorcars burst on the scene, that Flint was the �vehicle capital of the world.� This is the story of how those wagon makers quickly converted to producing automobiles, overtaking automotive pioneer and archrival Ford in sales, and building the Chevrolet brand into the global powerhouse entity it is today. This volume traces the first half (1911�1960) of Chevrolet�s 100-year history in photographic detail and provides an unparalleled spotter guide for long-forgotten (or never-known) Chevrolet cars and trucks. Read more