Riding the Roller Coaster

Riding the Roller Coaster
Author: Charles K. Hyde
Publisher: Wayne State University Press
Total Pages: 410
Release: 2003-02-01
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 0814337813

The first comprehensive history of the Chrysler Corporation, this book is intended for readers interested in the history of automobiles and of American business, and for fans and critics of Chrysler’s products. From the Chrysler Six of 1924 to the front-wheel-drive vehicles of the 70s and 80s to the minivan, Chrysler boasts an impressive list of technological "firsts." But even though the company has catered well to a variety of consumers, it has come to the brink of financial ruin more than once in its seventy-five-year history. How Chrysler has achieved monumental success and then managed colossal failure and sharp recovery is explained in Riding the Roller Coaster, a lively, unprecedented look at a major force in the American automobile industry since 1925. Charles Hyde tells the intriguing story behind Chrysler-its products, people, and performance over time-with particular focus on the company's management. He offers a lens through which the reader can view the U.S. auto industry from the perspective of the smallest of the automakers who, along with Ford and General Motors, make up the "Big Three." The book covers Walter P. Chrysler's life and automotive career before 1925, when he founded the Chrysler Corporation, to 1998, when it merged with Daimler-Benz. Chrysler made a late entrance into the industry in 1925 when it emerged from Chalmers and Maxwell, and further grew when it absorbed Dodge Brothers and American Motors Corporation. The author traces this journey, explaining the company's leadership in automotive engineering, its styling successes and failures, its changing management, and its activities from auto racing to defense production to real estate. Throughout, the colorful personalities of its leaders-including Chrysler himself and Lee Iacocca-emerge as strong forces in the company's development, imparting a risk-taking mentality that gave the company its verve.

Mopar Minivans

Mopar Minivans
Author: David Zatz
Publisher:
Total Pages: 78
Release: 2019-02-04
Genre:
ISBN: 9781793800312

In the early 1970s, Chrysler started working on a "magic wagon" -- a completely new passenger van that would fit into a normal garage. It was a daring project for a company that was strapped for cash. This book taps the people who created the minivans, with previously unpublished photos of the original clay models. It is not just a story of a vehicle, but of the people who pushed it through the development process, brought it to life, and refreshed it in the face of intense competition. Engineers, planners, and designers started arguing over alternatives ten years before the first van left the factory. This book dives into the reasons behind their decisions, and some of the ways minivans could have been very different; it also covers electric and CNG minivans, engines and transmissions, concept cars, and the assembly plants. The paperback is generously illustrated with full-color design studies and photos of the final product; the Kindle version has fewer photos, but still covers the original clay models and the concepts. "It's incredibly rare when the auto industry creates an entirely new class of vehicle, and rarer still when that innovation is an unqualified success story, but such was the case with Chrysler and the development of the minivan. "In Mopar Minivans, Zatz uses the people who were there to retell in vivid detail the largely forgotten story of how this innovative people mover evolved into a quintessential piece of American family life for two generations. It's a story that showcases not only how the automotive industry can work at its best, but also the ways that the industry's prevalent groupthink mentality can stifle innovation." -- Larry Vellequette, Automotive News "I am amazed how complete you are, having not been on-site in the front trenches during agreements, disagreements, and, yes, even skirmishes, at times." -- Chrysler employee David Zatz founded Chrysler-focused web site allpar.com; he also holds a Ph.D. in social and organizational psychology from Columbia University, and has been a business consultant for 20 years.

Brand Relevance

Brand Relevance
Author: David A. Aaker
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
Total Pages: 400
Release: 2011-01-25
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 0470613580

Branding guru Aaker shows how to eliminate the competition and become the lead brand in your market This ground-breaking book defines the concept of brand relevance using dozens of case studies-Prius, Whole Foods, Westin, iPad and more-and explains how brand relevance drives market dynamics, which generates opportunities for your brand and threats for the competition. Aaker reveals how these companies have made other brands in their categories irrelevant. Key points: When managing a new category of product, treat it as if it were a brand; By failing to produce what customers want or losing momentum and visibility, your brand becomes irrelevant; and create barriers to competitors by supporting innovation at every level of the organization. Using dozens of case studies, shows how to create or dominate new categories or subcategories, making competitors irrelevant Shows how to manage the new category or subcategory as if it were a brand and how to create barriers to competitors Describes the threat of becoming irrelevant by failing to make what customer are buying or losing energy David Aaker, the author of four brand books, has been called the father of branding This book offers insight for creating and/or owning a new business arena. Instead of being the best, the goal is to be the only brand around-making competitors irrelevant.

The Complete Book of Ford Mustang

The Complete Book of Ford Mustang
Author: Mike Mueller
Publisher: Complete Book Series
Total Pages: 327
Release: 2022-01-25
Genre: Sports & Recreation
ISBN: 0760372888

The Complete Book of Ford Mustang, 4th Edition details the development, technical specifications, and history of America’s original pony car, now updated to cover cars through the 2021 model year.

TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY'S FUEL SUFFICIENCY ROADMAP

TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY'S FUEL SUFFICIENCY ROADMAP
Author: STEVE ESOMBA, Dr.
Publisher: Lulu.com
Total Pages: 661
Release: 2012-06-06
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1471734315

We badly need new sources of clean energy to generate electricity, heat and power our industries, homes and workplaces. Up to now, we have relied on and used only fossil fuels to power our industrial and domestic activities. The byproducts of fossil fuels include: irreversible pollution and contamination of our Earth, climate change, global warming, and increase in pathogenic and medication-resistant diseases. Exhaustible fossil fuels are expensive to produce and distribute, and not everybody can afford them. Why not switch to natural, non-polluting, inexpensive, inexhaustible fuels such as solar, wind, water, etc., fuels? This is the timely message contained in TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY'S FUEL SUFFICIENCY ROADMAP. You can make this message realisable. Go on reading! Thanks.

National Policy, Global Giants

National Policy, Global Giants
Author: John Wormald
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 350
Release: 2020-01-02
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 9781108486064

What can we tell about the future of automobiles and the industries that make them by examining their past? Wormald and Rennick trace the history of powered land transport, the rise and fall of the railways, the spectacular rise of the automobile, and what might come next. Delving into the mighty and complex automotive industry, following the growth of the markets and production, this book illustrates the globalization of vehicle manufacturers and component suppliers, giving form to the development of the industry's business model. A key factor in an auto-industry's successes and failures is the often-difficult relationship it has with government, which varies in nature from country to country. As an illustrative case, Wormald and Rennick present and analyse the entire lifecycle of Australia's automotive history - including its birth, growth, functioning and death - and its shifting relationship with the government that supported it.

Managerial Economics

Managerial Economics
Author: James R. McGuigan
Publisher: South Western Educational Publishing
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2005
Genre: Manaerial economics
ISBN: 9780324259230

With its emphasis on real world, manager-oriented applications, this text shows students how managers apply theories and techniques to analyse and solve real-world business problems.