Business: Thomson Sounds Good

Of postwar Europe's many economic miracles, one of the most notable has been wrought by a Paris-based firm improbably known as La Compagnie Françhise Thomson-Houston.* Within barely a decade, Thomson- Houston has not only risen from relative obscurity to the top rank of French industry, but also has succeeded in persuading Frenchmen that its name is as Gallic as De Gaulle. "Thomson sonne bien" (Thomson sounds good) is the company's slogan.

Thomson sounds not only good but loud in every phase of electrical and electronic production in France. Still outranked in the rest of Europe by such rival electrical giants as Holland's...