Ford and General Motors fight it out to electrify
The switch to battery power is the latest showdown between Detroit’s heavyweights
IN 1909 THE founder of General Motors (GM), William Crapo Durant, offered to buy Ford for $8m. Henry Ford spurned the advance, making way for one of the fiercest and most multifaceted rivalries in corporate history. Does Ford’s harnessing of mass production with the one-size-fits-all Model T in 1908 trump the marketing genius of GM’s Alfred Sloan, who promised a “car for every purse and purpose” in the 1920s? Which is Detroit’s finest V8 engine: Ford’s “flat head” or the “small block” from Chevrolet, GM’s main brand? Did the looks of the Ford Thunderbird outshine the Corvette in the 1950s? Did the Chevrolet Camaro outmuscle the Mustang a decade later?
This article appeared in the Business section of the print edition under the headline “Electric Motor City”
From the October 2nd 2021 edition
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