Taken for a Ride : How Daimler-Benz Drove off with Chrysler [Hardcover]

Bill Vlasic (Author), Bradley A. Stertz (Author), Bradley A. Stertz (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 30, 2000

It was the deal heard round the world. In May 1998, a stunning $36 billion merger was announced by Chrysler, the all-American automaker, and Daimler-Benz, the German manufacturer of Mercedes-Benz luxury sedans. The Wall Street Journal christened the deal "the biggest industrial merger of all time." The marriage of Daimler and Chrysler promised to rock the global auto industry and draw up a blueprint for international consolidation on an epic scale.

But the union of Chrysler, the blue-collar maker of Jeeps and minivans, with Daimler, the crown jewel of German industry, didn't turn out to be a merger made in heaven. When the dust settled, Daimler had bought Chrysler, and the shock waves reverberated on both sides of the Atlantic. An American icon lost its independence, and a German giant grew in power and influence.

The DiamlerChrysler deal brough together two automotive superpowers and triggered a chain reaction among competitors seeking partners around the world. In a gripping narrative ripped from the daily headlines, Bill Vlasic and Bradley A. Stertz of the Detroit News go behind the scenes of the defining corporate drama of the decade. With groundbreaking reporting, they reveal the untold story behind the unsuccessful attempt to take over Chrysler by its biggest shareholder, the reclusive billionaire Kirk Kerkorian, and its legendary retired CEO, Lee Iacocca. Their startling grab for the smallest of Detroit's Big Three automakers sparked secret talks between Chrysler and Daimler on a massive joint venture. The first deal collapsed, but it set the stage for the final, intense negotiations between Chrysler chairman Robert Eaton and Daimler chairman Jürgen Schrempp. It was hailed as a historic "merger of equals," but the euphoria evaporated amid a clash of cultures, identities, and personalities.

The action moves feverishly around the world with larger-than-life characters in the high-stakes arena of international automaking. Taken for a Ride follows the twists and turns in the road to DaimlerChrysler and, in the end, emerges as a cautionary tale of the risks and rewards of going global.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

It all started with a misunderstanding. Kirk Kerkorian, the Las Vegas wheeler-dealer, thought Chrysler's management would back him up if he tried to take the company private. Chrysler's management thought they'd made it clear they had no interest in such a deal. As the two sides faced off--Kerkorian and legendary Chrysler chairman Lee Iacocca on one side, current Chrysler boss Bob Eaton and his top executives on the other--Mercedes-Benz CEO Helmut Werner stepped in. The result is the company now known as DaimlerChrysler. But Vlasic and Stertz make clear no one really knows the result of the deal. It's far too early to tell if blending the manufacturer of sleek German luxury sedans with the Detroit-based progenitor of the minivan will succeed in the global marketplace. Instead, they show in riveting detail how the deal came to be, and the immediate aftermath. They give us private moments with the major players and show us the multilayered considerations that crop up when two gigantic companies merge. Another book will have to judge the ultimate success of the merger, but the immediate results aren't exactly promising. By late 1999, a share of the original Chrysler was worth a few pennies less than it had been before the merger was announced, and only about a dollar more than before Kerkorian made his move back in April 1995. --Lou Schuler

From Publishers Weekly

"We are in German merger hell," moaned a Chrysler lawyer during the negotiations that would create a new global mega-entity, Daimler-Chrysler, out of the union of Daimler-Benz, the standard-bearer of luxury sedans and Germany's largest company, and Chrysler Corp., the quintessentially American maker of Jeeps and minivans. Yet Daimler-Benz's $36-billion buyout of Chrysler in 1998 was widely hailed as a paradigm-busting leap forward in the cost-efficient manufacture and development of cars and trucks. Now, Detroit News reporter Vlasic and Stertz, the paper's Washington bureau chief, draw on more than 200 interviews conducted in Detroit, Stuttgart and elsewhere for a riveting, behind-the-scenes account of the transformation of an American icon. Even though newly acquired Chrysler racked up record sales and profits in 1999, the authors find that the dynamism of the erstwhile Big Three automaker is being smothered under German control. They record the growing pains of a marriage of opposites, pairing a German conglomerate that embraces formality and hierarchy with scrappy, patriotic Chrysler, whose informal cross-functional teams favored open collars and free-form discussions. The first third of the book details the abortive 1995-1996 takeover attempt of Chrysler by Lee Iacocca, its former chairman and one-time savior, and his partner, casino tycoon Kirk Kerkorian; the portraits of both men are etched in acid. The rest of the book is a fast-paced ride through oversize egos, raw tempers, secret meetings, titanic clashes and power plays of the cross-cultural corporate merger of two automotive behemoths. (July)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 384 pages
• Publisher: William Morrow; First Edition edition (May 30, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0688173055
• ISBN-13: 978-0688173050
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 5.8 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (42 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #187,242 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #50 in Books > Business & Investing > Management & Leadership > Consolidation & Merger

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

28 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Book Is Worth the Ride, June 14, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Taken for a Ride : How Daimler-Benz Drove off with Chrysler (Hardcover)

Bill Vlassic and Brad Stertz provide many startling revelations in their book about the takeover of Chrysler by Daimler-Benz. It is exactly the rip-roaring read that noted automotive columnist Brock Yates says it is.

"Taken for a Ride" shows how Kirk Kerkorian put Chrysler into play; how Daimler played cat and mouse with Chrysler; how Chrysler Chairman Bob Eaton froze out detractors of a merger; how Daimler chief Juergen Schrempp got every concession he wanted and was able to wriggle out of concessions he made at the last minute with Eaton's blessing. It shows how Eaton fired Tom Stallkamp (apparently with pressure from Schrempp) in order to get his own heir in charge of Chrysler operations. And it shows how the Germans have bungled things with the new company.

I don't know how the Boston reader decided there is nothing new in the book. He should trying telling this to current and former Chrysler Corp. executives and workers who have been champing at the bit to read this book and get more insights into this fiasco. It has been the subject of many automotive boardroom discussions in Detroit, after excerpts were published in The Detroit News.

"Taken for a Ride" is a book without any agendas. Chrysler has not contradicted its contents, and neither has the Daimler end of DaimlerChrysler. It lays out the details as best the authors could get them and lets readers decide for themselves what lessons on corporate governance, merger policy, management style and other issues can be drawn. I found the book more than worth my time in reading.

33 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Changing the status quo, July 13, 2000

By 

Dave Killeffer (Cookeville, TN USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Taken for a Ride : How Daimler-Benz Drove off with Chrysler (Hardcover)

It's clear to me that Vlasic and Stertz have good insight into how the merger occured and why. They show carefully researched in-depth knowledge of who, how, and why. I purchased this book because, clearly, they believe that the merger was bad for Chrysler, and ultimately that means it was bad for DaimlerChrysler. I wanted to understand why (a look at the declining stock price is a good clue).

Plain and simple, the message is that Daimler-Benz and Chrysler were too different to merge. The management and corporate structures were incompatable, evidenced by the rapid departures of Eaton and Stallkamp. Jurgen Schrempp is also portrayed as a boistrous spirit; brash and difficult to work with. No wonder Eaton and Stallkamp wouldn't stand up to him when it would've mattered.

As much as I'm in favor of keeping a publicly held business that way, I almost wish Kerkorian and Iacocca had pulled off their buyoff. Disturbing as it was, it would've kept an 80+ year old company in American hands.

If you're even the least bit curious about this merger, Taken For a Ride is a fascinating book. It's an education lesson about all sorts of capitalistic business: corporate mergers, leveraged buyouts, business culture, and world cultures. Experienced businessmen could even learn from this book, and I'm sure Iacocca, Eaton, Kerkorian, Lutz, Schrempp, and Stallkamp would read a few things they didn't know about (and didn't want the world to know about, either).

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars By far the best book I've read all year, September 25, 2000

By A Customer

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Taken for a Ride : How Daimler-Benz Drove off with Chrysler (Hardcover)

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!