Customer Reviews

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

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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.

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).

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 was without a doubt one of the best books I've ever read. The secret meetings and the billion dollar deals, the corporate struggle that raged over Chrysler, TAKEN FOR A RIDE instantly captivated me and kept my eyes glued to the pages. I just couldn't put it down. You always see the unveiling of the cars and the execs at the auto shows (especially the Detroit Auto Show which I always attend), but you never hear about what and who are behind the cars and the fancy execs with matching sunglasses. TAKEN FOR A RIDE is definately the best book I've read in a long time, I'd probably pay $50 for it!

Taken for a Ride has proven to be one of the most fascinating non-fiction books I've read in a long time. The players, the settings, the politics, the "good guys" who turn out to be bad guys, the "bad guys" who are actually good guys but get fired before they get the chance to be the "good guys"! It made me feel sad that such an American institution could fall so easily! I look at Chrysler and Daimler Benz cars differently now after having read this tale. Kudos to Vlasic and Stertz for giving their readers a glimpse into the boardrooms of these companies and the hearts and minds of these men.

The management of Chrysler right now must be wishing they'd never heard of Bradley Stertz. No one comes off looking like a genius in this account of the DaimlerChrysler merger, but the American executives are the most obviously inept. The Germans look smarter, but end up being hapless integraters and managers, as shown by their recent performance.

Stertz has a fine eye for detail, and his research is exhaustive. In order to keep his book to a reasonable length, he sometimes moves along at an extremely quick pace, and I found myself constantly reviewing earlier sections to make sure I understood what was going on. But none of this detracts from the guilty pleasure most readers will get from watching this slow-motion collision between two completely incompatible corporate cultures.

The authors give an excellent compilation of facts surrounding the Mercedes Benz/Chrysler affair. Their thorough research must be recommended. The book should interest anybody interested in global business as it is promoted these days.

Now that the story of the merger is known, it should be interesting to see the later developments. Share prices are dropping. Chrysler is hemorrhaging money with gigantic quarterly losses. Not a single American remains in a top managerial position. Could this be foreseen?

It all started with an outright lie about "merger amongst equals". As Schrempp later openly admitted, he never sought such a merger but wanted a takeover from the beginning. On this basis, Kerkorian is now suing and, hopefully, be successful. The clash of cultures between American and German - both private and in business - can not be bridged. The authors should have put more emphasis on this.

But, mainly, the authors should have investigated the personality or Jürgen Schrempp more carefully instead of being blinded by this blue-eyed, basso-voiced genius. What do you say about a person who openly declares that he is throwing out his wife of 31 years because work is more important to him? Schrempp drove Fokker into bankruptcy. Schrempp messed up the takeover of Dornier. Schrempp bought a major stake in Mitsubishi, although it keeps losing money and seems close to bankruptcy without redeeming plans. Schrempp is responsible for Adtrans, and they are losing money. Schrempp ran AEG into the ground.

Right on, Mr. Schrempp. You are a genius, as anybody can see. Next on the disaster list is Chrysler.

Learned more interesting facets about the driving forces and personalities behind the Chrysler/Kerkorian/Daimler-Benz saga and how international business deals can be put together. Even though we know how the early phases of this deal happened, it was very revealing to see how the major players' roles played out!