First published in 1992. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

In recent years car production in the United States has undergone changes on a scale unknown since the pioneering era prior to World War I. New plants have been opened in the interior of the country, while most of those located along the east and west coast have been closed. "The Changing U.S. Auto Industry" uses concepts drawn from geography, such as access to markets and shipments of parts, to understand some of the reasons for the recent changes. Also critical is the changing role of labour in the production process, including the search by Japanese firms for a union-free environment, the re-location of some production to Mexico and the debate over the appropriate level of union-management cooperation. This book should be of interest to lecturers and students of geography and economics.

Originally published in 1978. At the time this book was published, new towns were cropping up as a matter of public policy in "advanced industrial countries," yet the United States abandoned this project and deemed new towns "inappropriate and impractical for the American situation." The purpose of this book is to inform planners and policy makers around the world about French new towns. It analyzes what French new towns tried to accomplish; the administrative, financial, and political reforms needed to secure implementation of the program; and the achievements of the new towns. The author's evaluation of French new towns is undertaken with an eye to international applicability. In the United States, new towns have been proposed as a means for integrating low-income families into suburbs that are otherwise closed to them. The French experience demonstrates that socially heterogeneous new communities can be developed, even within the framework of a market system, if a sufficiently high priority is placed on the effort.

The motor vehicle industry is one of the worlds largest. More than 1 billion vehicles are in use around the world, and 80 million are produced and sold annually. Motor vehicles including passenger cars, trucks, and commercial vehicles such as buses and taxis are the principal means by which people and goods are transported within and between most communities in the world. The motor vehicle industry includes corporations that design, develop, and manufacture cars and trucks. These carmakers, such as Ford and Toyota, are among the world's most-familiar corporate brands. The motor vehicle industry also encompasses less well-known businesses including several thousand parts makers, tens of thousands of retailers, and specialized lending agencies. The importance of the motor vehicle industry transcends even its central role in the global economy. The industry was responsible for many of the fundamental innovations of twentieth-century production, such as corporate organization, manufacturing processes, and labor relations, as well as sales innovations, such as product branding and consumer financing. In the twenty-first century, the motor vehicle industry has been a leader in adopting new production strategies and expanding into new markets. This book will cover the history, operations and manufacturing processes, organization, supply chain, key competitors, market and ultra-market forces, regulation, recent innovations and challenges, and the future of the industry.

From the creation of fast food, to the design of cities, to the character of our landscape, the automobile has shaped nearly every aspect of modern American life. In fact, the U.S. motor vehicle industry is the largest manufacturing industry in the world. James Rubenstein documents the story of the automotive industry...which despite its power, is an industry constantly struggling to redefine itself and assure its success. Making and Selling Cars: Innovation and Change in the U.S. Automotive Industry shows how this industry made adjustments and fostered innovations in both production and marketing in order to remain a viable force throughout the twentieth-century. Rubenstein builds his study of the American auto industry with care, taking the reader through this quintessentially modern history of production and consumption. Avoiding jargon while never over simplifying, Rubenstein gives a detailed and straightforward account of both the production and merchandising of cars. We learn how the industry began and about its methods for building cars and the modern American marketplace. Along the way there were many missteps and challenges-the Edsel, the fuel crisis, and the ascendancy of Japanese cars in the 1980s. The industry met these types of problems with new techniques and approaches. To demonstrate this, Rubenstein gives the reader examples of how the auto industry used to work, which he alternates with chapters showing how the industry has reinvented itself. Making and Selling Cars explains why the U.S. automotive industry has been and remains a vigorous shaper of the American economy.

For courses in Composition and Literature, Introduction to Literature, and Writing About Literature. This concise, spiral bound, easy-to-read book highlights the practical aspects of writing about literature while avoiding theoretical and interpretive discussion about the literature itself. It enables students to develop the necessary skills related to 1)reading and annotating, 2)the focus and development of an argument, 3)the organization of ideas (including introduction and conclusion), and 4)some mechanical issues regarding the use of primary and secondary sources in college essays.