• The Detroit News, Friday, July 22, 2011 10:30 AM

Bill Vlasic, the New York Times' Detroit Bureau writer who penned Taken For a Ride about Chrysler's "merger of equals" with Daimler Benz, has written a new one that digs into the fall and resurrection of Detroit's automakers. The book officially goes on sale Oct. 4, but the buzz is big about the sniping among auto brass in the book.

The book reveals a lot about the companies' efforts during a mounting crisis starting in 2005. In the 382-page manuscript, Ford Motor Co.'s vice president for global marketing, sales and service, James Farley, uses an expletive to describe GM. "I'm going to beat Chevrolet on the head with bat. And I'm going to enjoy it," Farley says.

"F--- GM. I hate them and their company and what they stand for," he says. "And I hate the way they're succeeding. Ford is back because people trust us. And that is a powerful message."

As is well known now, GM Chairman and CEO Dan Akerson had some words for Ford last month, saying, "You might as well sprinkle holy water [on Lincoln.] It's over."

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