Great Race (eBook)

The Great Race recounts the story of a century-long battle between automakers for market share, profit, and technological dominance—and a race to build the car of the future.
The world’s great manufacturing juggernaut—the $3 trillion automotive industry—is in the throes of a revolution. Its future will include cars Henry Ford and Karl Benz could scarcely have imagined. They will drive themselves, won’t consume oil, and will come in radical shapes and sizes. But the path to that future is fraught. The top contenders are two traditional manufacturing giants, the United States and Japan, and a newcomer, China.

Team America has a powerful and little known weapon in its arsenal: a small group of technology buffs and regulators from California. The story of why and how these men and women could shape the future—how you move, how you work, how you live on earth—is an unexpected tale filled with unforgettable characters: a scorned chemistry professor, a South African visionary who went for broke, an ambitious Chinese expat, a quixotic Japanese nuclear engineer, and a string of billion-dollar wagers by governments and corporations.

Tillemann’s account is incisive and riveting. It explains how America bounced back in this global contest and what it will take to command the industrial future.

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The Great Race recounts the exciting story of a century-long battle among automakers for market share, profit, and technological dominanceand the thrilling race to build the car of the future.The worlds great manufacturing juggernautthe $3 trillion automotive industryis in the throes of a revolution. Its future will include cars Henry Ford and Karl Benz could scarcely imagine. They will drive themselves, wont consume oil, and will come in radical shapes and sizes. But the path to that future is fraught. The top contenders are two traditional manufacturing giants, the US and Japan, and a newcomer, China. Team America has a powerful and little-known weapon in its arsenal: a small group of technology buffs and regulators from California. The story of why and how these men and women could shape the futurehow you move, how you work, how you live on Earthis an unexpected tale filled with unforgettable characters: a scorned chemistry professor, a South African visionary who went for broke, an ambitious Chinese ex-pat, a quixotic Japanese nuclear engineer, and a string of billion-dollar wagers by governments and corporations. To explain the scramble for the next-generation autoand the roles played in that race by governments, auto makers, venture capitalists, environmentalists, and private inventorscomes Levi Tillemanns The Great RaceMr. Tillemann seems ideally cast to guide us through the big ideas percolating in the worlds far-flung workshops and labs (The Wall Street Journal). His account is incisive and riveting, explaining how America bounced back in this global contest and what it will take to command the industrial future.