Customer Reviews

Getting the Bugs Out: The Rise, Fall, and Comeback of Volkswagen in America (Adweek Books)

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David Kiley's insightful tome is as charmingly idiosyncratic as his subject, the VW Beetle or "Bug." Beginning with the Bug's nasty political genesis as Hitler's "people's car," Kiley follows the methods marketers used to shape its 1960s and 1990s commercial identities. Kiley covers the Bug's marketing history, from the obtuse (managers didn't understand that it was essential to VW's U.S. identity) to the brilliant (its sales renaissance). We [...] recommend this book for its fascinating history, but also for its examples of marketing strategy and internal corporate knife-fighting that just might teach you a trick or two.

This is an inside look at a company with a unique history, ably rendered by Kiley, a fine journalist who covers the auto beat for USA Today. By taking readers deep within Volkswagen, and sharing the foibles, triumphs and tribulations of the famed automaker, Kiley has written an entertaining book.

This is a top of the line book. It takes the reader through the history of Volkswagon in America. It speaks of the successes and failures and takes the reader behind the scenes to see how the company was/is run. Due to the history of Volkswagon, the book is entertaining and hard to put down. Kiley does a wonderful job of telling the facts in an interesting way. At times though, it does focus a lot on advertising which is both interesting and tedious. Although it can be hard to keep all the dates and people straight throughout the book, the experience of reading the book is fantastic. This is a great book for those who know a lot about cars and for those who are just merely curious.

One fine Autumn day in the late '70's I got my driver's license, cashed every savings bond I'd received since my first birthday, and bought my first vehicle . . . a split-pea soup green/yellow Rabbit I named Kermit. I loved it! Similar to their warm furry namesake, this Rabbit was succeeded by multiple versions in pumpkin orange, powder-puff blue, then eventually I "upgraded" to a Scirocco. All terrific machines. I received David Kiley's book as a holiday gift and found it to be a wonderful read, as well as super insight into a brand that so many of us can count as part of our own "not-so-long-ago" personal histories. Kiley's writing style is familiar and flows along at a riveting pace. I highly recommend this book to anyone whose path has crossed that of a VW!

This book gives an excellent account of the successes and various failures of Volkswagen. Though I enjoyed reading the story behind their creative and revlutionary advertising in the 90's with the Golf, the Beetle, the Jetta, and the Passat, I loved getting the inside track on such disasters as FAHRVERGNUGEN (that's a mouthful), the Rabbit, and the Thing (I've actually SEEN one of these vile machines!). Strongly recommended for car lovers, history buffs, and gossip queens...

This author from New Jersey not only brings his literary skills and auto expertise to his first publication, but a concise history that is easily understood by all. Any true VW fan should have this book in their home library. Accolades!

This was really an interesting read on the comeback of Volkswagen in America. What drew me to this book was the cover itself. Once I started to randomly read pages of the book, I found this to be a book about marketing, advertising and branding--hence the Adweek logo on the cover. I would recommend this to any "Bug" enthusiast as well as people within the advertising/marketing industry.

I love the Volkswagen story. My family had nothing but Volkswagens growing up. It was my first car like so many others. I have a collection of Volkswagen books that are lovely pictorial salutes to the cars. And I loved reading another book, Small Wonder, about the Beetle from conception to about 1970. Kiley does a very good job of covering ground that has been gone over before in order to get you to the early 70s when the company really began to fall apart. Then, he is the first to really go into inner workings of the company from that point on to where the company almost went out of business in the early 1990s. And then into the fabulous comeback more recently. I work in the marketing field, and have been a student of VW's marketing story. So, besides loving the subject, I learned a lot here too. Extremely worthwhile book for VW lovers as well as for anyone with something to sell to the public.

I'm an avid VW driver, and when I saw this book I had to read it. It's great! The VW story is incredible, I never would have guessed that there was so much interesting history there.

The references to the advertising brought back some good memories. I remember each ad and how great they were.

A dfinite must read!

J.

Thanks for your interest in my book, which received the International Motor Press Association 2001 Ken Purdy Award for Excellence in Automotive Journalism.
You may learn more about the book, and can read excerpts, [on the web]...