Daimler Reviews

Large, expensive, photo packed book covering the history of Daimler Benz from the start (mid 1800s) until 1986. Published by Mercedes Benz of North America. Fairly accurate, interesting historical account of the world's finest cars. Includes info on Ferdinand Porsche who designed many cars for Daimler Benz. The author tends to awkwardly go back and forth between the histories of Benz and Daimler (before their union in 1926) but it is still a very desirable book for those interested in European automobile history.

A very candid, insightful and easy to read accounts of what went on behind the scene of the DaimlerChrysler meger, begining with a good intro on the backgrounds / history of these 2 organisation... A very well written book.

This book is a wonderful and detailed account of how Daimler-Benz took over Chyrsler. If you still believe it was a merger of equals, guess again and read this book.

The authors start out explaining the issues facing Chrysler in the mid-1990's and how Kirk Kerkorian attempted to "remedy" this situation. Vlasic and Stertz go deep into the story to get the motivating forces of all the players (Lee Iaccoca, Jerry York, Bob Eaton, etc.) and what they did and didn't accomplish.

As the situation changes Chrysler is contemplating it's future in the auto industry which leads it to a merger with Daimler-Benz. The authors explain in great detail the business plan of the "merger" and how it is looked at from different angles by each individual and both companies. They delve deeper into the political infighting and different personalities at both Chrysler and Daimler as they attempt to go forward with the merger.

The authors explain the merger well, with the politics and the nationalism the rears its head during the negotiations. The point out clearly how at every turn in the dealings with Daimler that Chrysler ended up on the short side of the stick.

The authors throughout the whole book describe the personalities of all involved but none more so than Eaton and Schrempp. You see quite clearly how Eatons weakness and Schrempps strenghts set the course for this takeover of an American icon. The authors do a wonderful job of contrasting the differences in the corporate cultures of an American and German company. This a great book and must read!

Well researched and sourced, this page-turner is also very well written. As the title intends to imply, Chrysler executives (and shareholders) were out-finessed by Daimler's Jürgen Schrempp, clearly a genius, and his tightly knit and intensely focused Stuttgart executive suite.

Meanwhile, the American side was characterized by politics, back-stabbing and the inexplicable actions and non-actions of CEO Bob Eaton. Left unexplained (perhaps because the authors weren't sure themselves) was Eaton's apparent catatonic state through most of the integration phase. He ceded critical decision-making to Schrempp (much to the delight of Schrempp) while icing out and utterly failing to support his own key executives, in particular Bob Lutz and Tom Stallkamp.

In addition to providing remarkable insights into both the global automotive business and the arcane world of mergers and acquisitions, this book paints compelling portraits of the key players in this mega-merger, including insights into their motives and strategic thinking. I highly recommend this book, even to those not the least bit interested in the car business.

A corporate merger between car companies. Who wouldda thunk that a seemingly prosaic, esoteric topic like that would result in such a fascinating story? Because this is not just a good business book, it's a flat-out great, spellbinding tale. Even if you have zero interest in the car business, you'll devour this book in chunks of 80 to 100 pages a sitting.

The authors strong point is the richly drawn portraits they craft of the meger's main protagonists and the "you are there" blow-by-blow recounting of key events.

Dominating the book by force of oversized personality and leadership skills is Jurgen Schrempp, CEO of (at the start) Daimler Benz. As the authors state "Jurgen Schrempp knew no limits." The book then launches into a fascinating, compelling 18+ page portrait of a complex, multi-facted man. The book is co-written by Detroit News reporters Bill Vlassic and Bradley Stertz, but the writing is *seamless.* Certainly, the portrait of Schrempp is the work of both writers, but it simply flows as a cohesive piece of beauty.

Another example: "The key to Schrempp's authority was not his rank. It lay in his strategic mastery of people, extraordinary sense of timing, and instinct for the right move under the right circumstances. His persona, intimidating one moment and charasmatic the next, only embellished the power of his arguments and strength of his leadership."

That's the essence of the guy. Vlassic and Stertz have captured it magically.

Other standout portraits include -

> Kirk Kerkorian - America's most compelling and quirky billionare is the surprise star of the first third of this book. This was an added bonus for me - I thought I was going to read a car book, and I got 100+ fascinating pages on Kerkorian and his top-notch inner circle, including Alex Yemenidjian and, especially, a great portrait of Jerry York. Reading this book made me understand for the first time what makes York so valuable to America's largest companies.

> Bob Eaton, CEO of Chrysler - At best, this is the portrait of a guy completely overwhelmed, first by Kerkorian, then by Schrempp. At worst, he teeters dangerously close to an emotional breakdown while negoatiating the future of 400,000 workers.

> Bob Lutz, President of Chrysler - When Schrempp targets Chrysler, he does it because he envisions tapping into a swashbuckling crew of cutting edge carmakers. In short, he envisions the essence of Bob Lutz (and, to a lesser extent, Dennis Pawley and Francois Castaing). But the vindictive Eaton freezes Lutz out of any role in DaimlerChrysler, even though the trilingual, Zurich-bred product development master was a hand-in-glove fit for the new DCX board. Today, Lutz is getting the last laugh, as he revs-up GM at DCX's expense. Meanwhile, Eaton is out there somewhere, essentially shamed into obscurity.

One last note: make sure you get the paperback. Things go so disasterously wrong for DaimlerChrysler between the time of the hardback publication and the paperback release. The authors capture that black, foul period perfectly in a 40-page epilogue to the paperback edition, including the impact of Schrempp's disasterous, infamous interview with the Financial Times, in which he admits he never had any intention of completing a merger of equals. "Me being a chess player, I normally don't talk about the second or third move."

As Vlassic and Stertz conclude, it was a "precise and premeditated takeover" all along. A perfect ending to a truly fascinating book.

This book is fine for someone who has no previous knowledge of the subject. However, for anyone who has read other materials on this topic, this book had nothing new to say, even though there was much that could be said, particularly of the post-Iacocca and post-DC merger eras.

For my money, Moritz' and Seaman's "Going For Broke" remains the best book on the history of the old Chrysler Corp., even though that book is now 23 years old.

In many ways the most interesting of the "Big Three" automobile manufacturers, the Chrysler Corporation has seen as many ups and downs as the evocative title of this volume suggests. Charles Hyde, a professor of history at Wayne State University, has produced a thorough, scholarly, yet highly readable book on a company that was the second largest producer of automobiles in North America at several points in its long history and was nearly out of business at others. The main thread of this fascinating story begins with the formation of a new automobile company by Walter P. Chrysler in 1925 and ends shortly after the merger of Chrysler and Daimler-Benz in 1998. However, Hyde has also given us detailed coverage of the developments that led up to the formation.

This is primarily a business history with a focus on corporate management and the marketing of automobiles. It is also a study of Chrysler products and the technology that created them. Hyde is both an economic historian and an industrial archaeologist. His understanding of assembly line production and the architecture of automobile plants is second to none. He says in his preface that "The origins of this book go back to late 1980, when I took on the monumental task of documenting the sprawling Dodge Main factory complex in Hamtramck, Michigan, before its demolition."

Hyde has filled an important need by writing the definitive history of the Chrysler Corporation. This is much more than a synthesis of existing scholarship. Most of his
interpretation is based on original archival research. Among the many significant historical contributions is his coverage of Dodge Brothers, which became a key part of Chrysler in 1928. Also very impressive is Hyde's discussion of the Chrysler Airflow (1934-1937), a major advance in engineering but a failure in style and sales. He even devotes an entire chapter to Chrysler's amazingly effective shift to military production for World War II.

The fascinating characters in this book give it a vitality lacking in most business histories. Hyde provides a new look at Walter P. Chrysler, one that sometimes differs from the image that this dynamic captain of industry tried to project in his autobiography. Those who need another fix of Lee Iacocca stories will not be disappointed. We also learn a great deal about such important but often overlooked figures as Carl Breer and Virgil Exner, who had so much to do
with the form and function of Chrysler products.

Riding the Roller Coaster should be required reading for anyone with an interest in the automobile industry. Serious scholars will welcome the new information and insights that Hyde delivers in every chapter. Those who simply love cars or want to understand the business strategies that produce them will also be pleased by this fine book.

I really like old Chrysler and especially old Dodge cars and trucks and until I read this book I hadn't read the entire company story in one book before. There are other books about Walter Chrysler and the Dodge Bros. and Lee Iacocca and their cars but not everything told together in one big story before. This book starts at the very beginning of Walter Chrysler's career when he worked sweeping the floors at the Chicago & Great Western Railroad and how he was one of the early pioneers that saw the potential of the automobile. Eventually he went to work for Buick and learned the business so well he bought his own car company.

This book also tells the curious history of the Dodge Bros. and how they worked with Henry Ford but then decided to build their own Dodge Bros. cars which Chrysler later bought out. The book covers the Great Depression and how the company managed to get through it when so many other companies failed. The author also tells how Chrysler contributed to WWII by building military equipment. I especially liked the chapters on the '50's and 60's which tells about how Chrysler needed to build dealerships in the suburbs and sun belt states to survive--I hadn't ever read that before--and how they got Virgil Exner to design their cars. I really liked the parts on Carl Kiekhaefer and NASCAR in the mid-'50s.

I kind of get tired of reading about Lee Iacocca so I mostly skipped over that part and I'm not much interested in the later Chryslers except the Viper but I thought this was a really good book about the company. It's got some statistical tables and lots of illustrations. I met the author at my library where he spoke about his book and he was very friendly and signed my book.

The basic premise of this book is that Daimler-Benz, the maker of Mercedes-Benz automobiles, placed profit before principle and committed criminal acts during World War II. The evidence is displayed as if presented by a prosecutor in court. There is little room for doubt or deception. The book is not always easy to read and the story line is at times hard to follow. There are too many abbreviations that require frequent clarification. Maps should have been included that would have assisted the reader in following the location of the many Daimler-Benz plants. The "story" is important and represents an original contribution, however, the book could have been more "user friendly".

This book is a collection of articles, with accompanying advertisements, from "Jaguar Enthusiast" magazine. It covers the major areas from body work, to suspension, to engine, drive train, and exhaust.

I used this book more as a guide to the steps that must be completed. It is not a detailed account of each overhaul. When accompanied by a Jaguar Repair Operation Manual and a Jaguar Parts Catalog, you wind up with almost all of the documentation you need.

Note: This car is most helpful for restoring Jaguar Series I, II, and III cars built from the early '70s through the late '80s. Though some of the information may be useful, this book does not cover newer models of the XJ40 and beyond.

My review is somewhat biased, as the Author is my 2nd Cousin. Yet his work speaks for itself. It is a very detailed account of German automobile factories and the workers during the early part of the 20th century. He does go into detail of how the factories responded during WWI and WWII. The only reason I did not give it 5 stars is that the book, on whole is geared towards the academic community, not for the average person, so it might seem a bit slow and cumbersom to non historians. Despite this it is a great work of history worth reading, especially if you like labor history. My only regret is that Bernard passed away from Lou Gherigs disease shortly after the book was published. The history community lost a great and dedicated historian. Nevertheless, his legacy lives in his work, which I feel you will find very informative.

I was disappointed when going through chapter 2 and 3 after I bought it. In my opinion, it's not a book I want. Maybe it's a good autobiography, but not management referrence. Jurgen Schrempp is a master in seeking power, position or something like that. However, he is not good at making financial success. Maybe he is an effective leader, but not in many other circumstances. Be sure to compare the corporate cultare among different countries when you read this book, or you'll get little because the culture of Germany and the trick is not suitable for many other countries. Finally, I am willing to recommend this book to those desired of power.

Here is an excellent book on the man who heads DaimlerChrysler. The book tracks his systematic rise from an apprentice at DaimlerChrysler to its CEO. The book gives an excellent insight into the experiences, hard work and the lucky breaks that shaped the future of Schrempp.

The book is very informative but at times one feels that the continuity from one chapter to another is rather disjointed. While the book is packed with annecdotes and insights it lacks the page turning ability of the other book on DaimlerChrysler by Bill Vlasic.