Autos: Why Knudsen Was Fired

Can the son of a General Motors president find happiness running Ford? For 19 months, Semon E. ("Bunkie") Knudsen thought so. Disappointed at having been passed over for the G.M. presidency once held by his father, William S. Knudsen, he quit G.M. after a 29-year career early last year and jumped at an offer to become president of Ford. But Bunkie Knudsen's take-charge attitude brought no happiness to other Ford executives. Last week, in one of the auto industry's most bizarre episodes, Knudsen and Ford disclosed that he had been fired outright....

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