Monthly Archives: March 2014

Diego Rivera’s Henry Ford Production System Murals

Panoramic View

From time to time at Asymcar, we have discussed the Henry Ford production system, made plain via River Rouge.

“In 1932 Edsel Ford, the son of Henry Ford and president of the car company that bears the family name, and William Valentiner, the director of the Detroit Institute of Arts, commissioned Rivera to paint two murals for the museum’s Garden Court.

Soon thereafter Rivera and his wife, painter Frida Kahlo, arrived in Detroit and began studying and photographing the Ford automotive plant on the Rouge River. The factory so fascinated and inspired Rivera that he soon suggested painting all four walls of the Garden Court. Ford and Valentier agreed and soon Rivera’s commission was expanded.”

Don Gonyea: Detroit Industry: The Murals of Diego Rivera

Diego Rivera’s Detroit Industry Murals

Wikipedia: Detroit Industry Murals.

Wikipedia: River Rouge.

A Detroit visitor will enjoy a slow walk through the Institute of Arts and nearby Greenfield Village.

The emerging electric car supply chain looks rather different.

The Thin Red Line

We explore the strategic and tactical considerations behind BMW’s i sub-brand. Why did BMW attach a new BMW sub-brand to a new powertrain rather than using another brand, like Mini? The answer helps explain how innovations and brands inter-relate and how incumbents can attempt to absorb what is potentially non-sustaining.

We consider the pros and cons of innovation within an operating business – “intrepreneurship” – compared with creating an autonomous enterprise for the “new new thing”. Horace contrasts BMW i with General Motors’ failed Saturn experiment and notes that today, GM offers a mainstream plug-in car through the long serving Chevrolet brand and sales channel.

We consider the burden that regulation, girth, cycle times, legacy practices, financialization and strategy taxes place on incumbents.

Finally, we look at what it takes to cross over the line which separates the device-based nice-to-have infotainment options from the must-have driver and ownership assistants that will inevitably find home in these devices.

32mb mp3 about 64 minutes.

Subscribe to Asymcar podcasts via iTunes or RSS.

The i3 Long Bet

Saturn

intrepreneurship

The “new new thing”

BMW i Philosophy

Chevrolet Volt

Nissan Leaf