The Car that Saved Ford

In 1985, the automobile giant Ford was teetering on the edge of financial collapse. Faced with internal chaos, an uninspiring product line, and fierce competition from Japanese cars – they needed a sensation. Enter: The Ford Taurus. This breakthrough model didn't just rescue the company, it sparked new life in an industry that represented 3% of the United State's GDP. But how Ford did it is even more surprising. For the first time ever, the venerable carmaker changed how it made cars. It introduced a brand new cross-functional team approach, putting engineering and design together in the same room, and welcoming the contributions of employees across the organization. The Taurus was not just a revolutionary product, it represented a revolution in how to do business. In this episode, host Gabriela Cowperthwaite takes us to the design floor where together creative geniuses from different departments hash out the details of an entirely new American automobile. We hear from John Risk, the Program Director of the Ford Taurus project, and Jack Telnack, then the head of North America design. We also get the insights of Eric Taub, author of "Taurus: The Making of the Car That Saved Ford," and David Cole, former director of the Center For Automotive Research. Teamistry is an original podcast from Atlassian. For more on the series, go to www.atlassian.com/podcast.