Autos: Ford's German Woes

When Henry Ford II recently took his company's new president, ex-General Motorsman Semon ("Bunkie") Knudsen, on an inspection tour of European operations, the worst was saved for last. Landing at Cologne, Ford and Knudsen needed only to look out the window of their private plane to see lots filled with Ford-made cars—part of the 45,000 that presently account for 56% of all West Germany's unsold autos. Ford sales for last January were off 35% and production schedules have been cut by one-third. Finally, arriving at the company's Cologne headquarters, Ford and Knudsen found half a dozen empty executive suites;...

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