Premium Power: The Secret of Success of Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Porsche and Audi [Hardcover]

Philipp G. Rosengarten (Author), Christoph B. Stuermer (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 1403998833 | ISBN-13: 978-1403998835 | Publication Date: February 16, 2006

At the beginning of the 1990s the German car industry had its back to the wall. Japanese competitors were demonstrating significant advantages in terms of quality and productivity. Consultants warned that only a few global car groups would survive. Instead of following the Japanese concepts of lean production, Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Porsche and Audi developed a new innovative premium brand strategy and initiated a revolution in the industry by setting innovative benchmarks. This book analyzes the story.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"'Premium Power' sets out to show why German upmarket car manufacturers have been so hugely successful around the world, and particularly in North America."

--Detroit News

Product Details

• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan (February 16, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1403998833
• ISBN-13: 978-1403998835
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.4 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,308,120 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Book Review, November 20, 2007

By 

Christopher L. Tharp "Dante" (Puerto Rico) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Premium Power: The Secret of Success of Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Porsche and Audi (Hardcover)

This book is written b Philipp G. Rosengarten and Christoph B. Stuermer. Both are Automotive Anayyst at the Global Insight Automotive Group. What that means is that they know all there is to know abut cars and also the Automotive Industry. This book deals with the four major German car brands: Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Porsche, and Audi. The book mainly talks about their history, how they managed to get to where they are today, and they also mention some of their marketing strategies. These premium car brands are continuously setting the bar higher and higher and they are the envy of the industry. The authors deeply analyze the secret to their success. One example of how they compare the cars to something else for us to understand is how they compare BMW to Callaway. They mention how Callaway has become one of the world's best golfing equipment after they started expanding from woods to irons and even golf-balls. The similarities between BMW and Callaway are that both expanded from one thing. BMW started with motorcycles then they went on to making cars.

What makes this book interesting is how well organized everything is, making this book extremely easy to read and understand. The book explains step by step how each of these companies became the success that they are today. Various examples are also used to compare and explain some of the many concepts used in this book. For example Nike and their Nike air. Nike had a great success with "Nike Air" but they still managed to change into the "Nike Shox" and still be successful. Just like the cars talked about in the book they are always successful with every new invention. This is a single example from the book, but there are many others. The authors writing keeps you reading from page to page since they make their writing entertaining. Another reason why this book is so easy to read is because that authors use terms that anyone with some knowledge of economics can understand, since this book does talk a whole lot about economic. I personally know that the economics mentioned in this book are very precise. One example is the supply and demand. They explain how the car industry measures the demand in order to get the most profit by supplying the right amount of cars. I extremely recommend this book to anyone who loves cars or economics. After reading this book I felt like I learned a lot about strategizing and managing business. I also recommend this book to the people who are very curious to how these amazing car brands achieved success. This book made appreciate even more these tremendous brands.

3.0 out of 5 stars Motor Mania, November 3, 2007

By 

Benny Thomas "Journeyman" (Los Angeles, California, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Premium Power: The Secret of Success of Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Porsche and Audi (Hardcover)

This book is a great introduction to the obsessiveness of the German automobile companies and offers great insight into their dominance of the luxury segment.
The marketing segmentation is interesting as well - takes the usual methods and makes them auto-specific.
Some lack of objectivity perhaps, but overall, worth it for anyone interested in cars.