You can learn a lot by watching smart people in giant organizations wrestle with the most profound changes to hit their business in 50 years. That's exactly what's happening today in the auto industry. In just a few short years, the Web has become an indispensable part of daily life for tens of millions of people around the world. It has reshaped the logic of countless industries, from personal computing to travel. But within the next few years, the Web is expected to make its greatest impact yet. That's because one of the most powerful and most important industries on the planet -- the design, assembly, and sale of automobiles -- is finally ready to get with the digital program.

Lee Sage, 50, global leader of the automotive-industry consulting practice at Ernst & Young LLP, the world's leading consultant to auto companies, puts it this way: "The Internet is going to have as much of an impact on the automobile industry as Henry Ford's mass-merchandising and production methods did in the 1920s."

The digitally driven transformation of the automobile business is a fascinating story in itself. But what makes it truly compelling is that the lessons being learned in Detroit, Tokyo, and Wolfsburg are relevant to people making Web-driven change in virtually every industry. Put simply, the Web has become the most potent laboratory for business experimentation ever devised; the auto industry, meanwhile, is where many of the most high-stakes experiments are now being conducted.

Thor Ibsen, chief (and first) Internet activist at Ford, is leading an all-out campaign to change the game at the company. "We want to use the Internet to give consumers total choice, whether that means finding the vehicle they want -- new or used -- on a dealer's lot, on the way to a dealer's lot, or in production at one of our many factories, or specifying exactly what they want and having us build it. Our vision is one of total choice. Our job is to help bring that total-choice model to market."

Peter Dames, whose electronic-commerce strategy team practices a sort of intellectual viral marketing to win Web converts at Toyota, offers this glimpse of the future: "We use the Internet as an enabling technology to sell community, collaboration, loyalty, time to market, and better information delivered sooner. We have to convince the rest of the company that those things have an impact on everything else -- our budget, our strategy, our margins. Half the work we do here is evangelizing."

The Volkswagen Group also doesn't deny the importance of the Net. Indeed, Volkswagen built one of the first auto Web sites to offer owners an online community in which they could swap opinions and spare parts. But the company is putting more of its resources behind strengthening its relationships with customers. In June, VW will open the gates to Autostadt, a nearly $500 million theme park next to its headquarters in Wolfsburg, Germany. Here, customers will be able to take delivery of new cars -- or simply stroll the grounds, watch 360-degree films, and experience high-intensity driving simulations. The focus is on "high touch" rather than high tech. "In the past, Volkswagen sold four wheels and an engine," says Jack Rouse, an American theme-park designer who has played a leadership role in the German project. "With Autostadt, the company wants us to bring emotion to the customer. We bring customers to Wolfsburg, where they can see the source of their cars and make the link between the product and themselves."

What follows, then, are three profiles of cutting-edge reinvention set in one of the world's most powerful industries. The profiles are rich with ideas and practices for rethinking strategy, winning converts, and making change.