Driven: Inside BMW, the Most Admired Car Company in the World by David Kiley

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Synopsis

BMW is perhaps the most admired carmaker in the world--renowned for a level of luxury and performance that inspires near-fanatical loyalty in its customers. While other carmakers struggle with falling sales even with hefty rebates, BMW can’t seem to make cars fast enough. Combining world-class engineering, intelligent management, and a unique corporate culture, BMW produces consistently superior cars that are the most benchmarked vehicles in the industry.

In Driven, David Kiley presents an inside look at the fabled automaker, revealing the business philosophy and practices that make BMW more than just another carmaker, and the unsurpassed quality that makes a "Bimmer" more than just a car. With uncommon access to BMW executives and records, Kiley explains how the company emerged from the wreckage of World War II to become the most respected car producer and one of the most profitable automakers in the world.

Kiley examines the business practices that put BMW on top, and the marketing efforts that keep it there. BMW’s brand strength and knack for developing the most sought-after cars in the world inspire jealousy and admiration among marketers everywhere. Its well-crafted brand message--The Ultimate Driving Machine--is widely admired for its clarity and consistency, just as BMW’s cars are admired for their authenticity and performance.

More than just a company, BMW is an iconic symbol of the successful rebirth of German industry. For the first time in the U.S. media, Kiley introduces readers to the family behind BMW’s success--the mysterious and secretive Quandts. Behind the walls of the family compound in Bad Homburg lives Johanna Quandt, one of Europe’s wealthiest and most reclusive women, and her equally wealthy adult children, Stefan and Susanne, who successfully engineered a management coup in 1999. Driven not only tells the story of BMW, but also the story of one of the most powerful families in Europe.

Excepting the occasional speed bump, BMW has seen more than four decades of steady growth and success. Kiley explores the company’s ups and downs from top to bottom, including the disastrous acquisition and eventual divestiture of the British Rover Group and the controversial hiring of head designer Chris Bangle. For business leaders who want to emulate the company’s excellence, Driven digs deep to reveal the practices that make BMW the king of the road.

Biography

DAVID KILEY is the Detroit Bureau Chief at USA Today and a journalist with fifteen years of experience covering the auto industry. As an automotive and advertising analyst, he has been featured on Nightline, CNBC, CNN, National Public Radio, and the Today show. He is also the author of Getting the Bugs Out: The Rise, Fall, and Comeback of Volkswagen in America, also available from Wiley.