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Driven: Inside BMW, the Most Admired Car Company in the World
An exclusive look at one of the world's most successful and controversial companies, and the mysterious family behind it. BMW is arguably the most admired carmaker in the world. It's financial performance is the envy of its competitors, and BMW products inspire near-fanatical loyalty. While many carmakers struggle with falling sales, profits and market share, demand for BMWs continues to grow, frequently outpacing production. Now, David Kiley-Detroit Bureau Chief at USA Today and author of Getting the Bugs Out, which covered Volkswagen's demise and rebirth, goes inside the fabled German automaker to see how it does what it does so well. With unprecedented access to BMW executives, Kiley goes behind the walls of BMW's famed "Four Cylinders" headquarters in Munich at a time when the company is in its most aggressive, and some say riskiest, expansion in its history and when some of the company's new products, like the 7 Series sedan and Z4 roadster, are for the first time drawing as many barbs from critics as bouquets. Kiley covers intimate details of the boardroom drama surrounding the company's nearly disastrous acquisition and subsequent sale of the British Rover Group and its expansion into selling MINI and Rolls Royce cars. Besides being a world-class carmaker, BMW is also considered one of the smartest consumer marketing companies and Kiley explores the extraordinary value and management of the BMW brand mystique. He also takes a revealing look at the mysterious and ultra-private Quandt family of Bad Homburg Germany, which owns a controlling stake in Johanna and Susanne Quandt, two of the wealthiest women in Europe and Stefan Quandt, one of the wealthiest bachelors on the continent. David Kiley (Ann Arbor, MI) is the Detroit Bureau Chief at USA Today who has covered the auto industry for 17 years. He has been featured on Nightline, CNBC, CNN, MSNBC, NPR and the Today show. He is also the author of Getting the Bugs The Rise, Fall, and Comeback of Volkswagen in America (0-471-26304-4), also available from Wiley.
328 pages, Hardcover
First published April 2, 2004
7 people are currently reading
111 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
October 31, 2011
I just finished this audio book and by the end I was confused about whether I was reading a book detailing the history of BMW or a promotional release by the PR agency for BMW and the Quandts.
The first few chapters of the book were interesting and informative as the author detailed the origins of BMW, the pre and post war challenges, the Nazi affiliations and the rise of BMW as a premier automobile manufacturer. As the middle of the book was reached the story began to read more like an automobile magazine reviewing various BMW releases and finally descended into a litany to the wonders of BMW. From there the author wandered into the quagmire of the Rover take over and a chapter dedicated to an in depth review of the new Mini. This section left me wondering if the author was receiving a kick back for every Mini sold.
In the last couple of chapters the author went through the histories of both Rover and Rolls Royce, which were appropriate as BMW purchased both companies even if it was all rather over done. Finally there was a chapter on hydrogen fueled cars and how BMW is leading the way in preparing for a a future where fossil fuels will be scarce as we all drive hydrogen powered cars that have audio files inserted to simulate the sound of a revving engine. When I had completed the book I was left with the impression that the author was angling for a PR role with the company or as the in-house biographer.
If you are a fan of BMW cars then the book is worth reading keeping in mind the authors love affair with the cars, otherwise I would pass on this book and read the Wikipedia article on BMW, you will gain as much insight into the history of the company in much shorter time.
The first few chapters of the book were interesting and informative as the author detailed the origins of BMW, the pre and post war challenges, the Nazi affiliations and the rise of BMW as a premier automobile manufacturer. As the middle of the book was reached the story began to read more like an automobile magazine reviewing various BMW releases and finally descended into a litany to the wonders of BMW. From there the author wandered into the quagmire of the Rover take over and a chapter dedicated to an in depth review of the new Mini. This section left me wondering if the author was receiving a kick back for every Mini sold.
In the last couple of chapters the author went through the histories of both Rover and Rolls Royce, which were appropriate as BMW purchased both companies even if it was all rather over done. Finally there was a chapter on hydrogen fueled cars and how BMW is leading the way in preparing for a a future where fossil fuels will be scarce as we all drive hydrogen powered cars that have audio files inserted to simulate the sound of a revving engine. When I had completed the book I was left with the impression that the author was angling for a PR role with the company or as the in-house biographer.
If you are a fan of BMW cars then the book is worth reading keeping in mind the authors love affair with the cars, otherwise I would pass on this book and read the Wikipedia article on BMW, you will gain as much insight into the history of the company in much shorter time.
May 23, 2020
If you can manage to get through the first 50 or so dreadful pages which are entirely about how brilliant BMWs are, its not a bad book.
It does cover a lot of interesting history about the company, the very private owners (the Quandt family), the Rover group purchase debacle, Rolls-Royce purchase, creating a new Mini, senior management in-fighting, its all here. If you like BMWs, you will learn a lot.
What is not so good, the book is presumably written my an American and is most likely targeted at an American audience, nothing wrong with that, but the history is biased towards BMW selling into the US, rather than an unbiased history covering all territories. The narrative seems to jump around more than necessary rather than follow a clear timeline of events. As the book was released in 2004, the latest cars discussed are clearly pretty old now, this would not be such a problem if the book ends with the what was then latest 2004 models, but as they are discussed heavily in the first 50 "marketing" pages, it does age the book. The final chapter covers hydrogen and how this is the future fuel for BMW (and all) cars which (by now) we should all be driving. Whilst this clearly has not taken off, it was an interesting subject to have included.
Final point, the author keeps referring wrongly to the BMW logo representing a propeller. It is not, it is intended to represent the Bavarian flag, the propeller tie-in with the badge was only used in some early advertising.
It does cover a lot of interesting history about the company, the very private owners (the Quandt family), the Rover group purchase debacle, Rolls-Royce purchase, creating a new Mini, senior management in-fighting, its all here. If you like BMWs, you will learn a lot.
What is not so good, the book is presumably written my an American and is most likely targeted at an American audience, nothing wrong with that, but the history is biased towards BMW selling into the US, rather than an unbiased history covering all territories. The narrative seems to jump around more than necessary rather than follow a clear timeline of events. As the book was released in 2004, the latest cars discussed are clearly pretty old now, this would not be such a problem if the book ends with the what was then latest 2004 models, but as they are discussed heavily in the first 50 "marketing" pages, it does age the book. The final chapter covers hydrogen and how this is the future fuel for BMW (and all) cars which (by now) we should all be driving. Whilst this clearly has not taken off, it was an interesting subject to have included.
Final point, the author keeps referring wrongly to the BMW logo representing a propeller. It is not, it is intended to represent the Bavarian flag, the propeller tie-in with the badge was only used in some early advertising.
March 22, 2020
If BMW is your favourite car company, reading this book will make you want to own a BMW someday. Despite those scary grilles seen in the latest BMWs. So how does a car company, after surviving two world wars and narrowly missed acquisition by Daimler in the 1950s become the arch nemesis of the latter? This and much more are elucidated by the author, which just increases respect for the company. There are a lot of fun facts about the company to make ‘Driven’ an interesting read.
April 27, 2018
This book is not about BMW cars. IT's also about the leaders. It's about the brand. And also about other brands, takeovers, mergers. Writing style is too "American" for my taste though...
May 8, 2025
Learned a ton about why BMW has a reputation as one of the most beloved companies in the world.
February 23, 2015
This was a difficult read for me. It starts as a long and painful advertisement for BMW. At the point I nearly stopped reading the book shifted gears and started to get into the subject matter of the inner workings of BMW.
The book did a fair job speaking to the subject matter. There were details about the ownership, a small treatment of the history of BMW, a short deviation into the World War Two history of BMW, and even some intimate details about the personalities that own, run and contribute to BMW’s success. Mr. Kiley did an excellent job of making sure the readers understood how highly he holds BMW.
The book is constantly punctuated with text that reads like a BMW sponsored advertisement. I got the feeling that BMW must have underwritten the book, because there is heavy on the accolades that I was at my limit of reading tolerance.
This book is truly a disappointment to me. I had so much hope for learning about BMW, and I received only superficial tidbits of what the book title promises. I think the worst part is that the book is dated by the constant advertisements and so much of it isn't even relevant now. If it weren't for the fact that I am such a BMW fan I would not have been able to finish the book.
The book did a fair job speaking to the subject matter. There were details about the ownership, a small treatment of the history of BMW, a short deviation into the World War Two history of BMW, and even some intimate details about the personalities that own, run and contribute to BMW’s success. Mr. Kiley did an excellent job of making sure the readers understood how highly he holds BMW.
The book is constantly punctuated with text that reads like a BMW sponsored advertisement. I got the feeling that BMW must have underwritten the book, because there is heavy on the accolades that I was at my limit of reading tolerance.
This book is truly a disappointment to me. I had so much hope for learning about BMW, and I received only superficial tidbits of what the book title promises. I think the worst part is that the book is dated by the constant advertisements and so much of it isn't even relevant now. If it weren't for the fact that I am such a BMW fan I would not have been able to finish the book.
March 20, 2010
Since most of publications on BMW I've found on the market mostly cover stuff you can learn from garage talks and internet, I was very happy to find a book that tells stories not only about machines, but the people behind the business.
It's a kind of book you don't have to be the brand's fan to enjoy. Various aspects of the corporation's life, from enjoyable subjects like cars, design and advertising, to deeply dark like Third Reich connections, are well covered and I feel the stories are really complete. Most importantly, they focus on people and their ideas - managers, designers, customers, and the Quandt dynasty.
If you are a Bimmer fan, this is a must-read. If you're not, and like exploring world's leader companies, you'll still like it.
However, 'Driven' is far from being a masterpiece, mostly because it's written in a chaotic way. There are lots of digressions and constant jumping between subjects and decades, it annoyed me. While I find the author did a decent research, he didn't really think over the order of topics inside the chapters.
Still, 4/5, the -1 for the chaos.
I'm a BMW fanatic owner, petrolhead, and I love these cars since childhood, so YMMV.
It's a kind of book you don't have to be the brand's fan to enjoy. Various aspects of the corporation's life, from enjoyable subjects like cars, design and advertising, to deeply dark like Third Reich connections, are well covered and I feel the stories are really complete. Most importantly, they focus on people and their ideas - managers, designers, customers, and the Quandt dynasty.
If you are a Bimmer fan, this is a must-read. If you're not, and like exploring world's leader companies, you'll still like it.
However, 'Driven' is far from being a masterpiece, mostly because it's written in a chaotic way. There are lots of digressions and constant jumping between subjects and decades, it annoyed me. While I find the author did a decent research, he didn't really think over the order of topics inside the chapters.
Still, 4/5, the -1 for the chaos.
I'm a BMW fanatic owner, petrolhead, and I love these cars since childhood, so YMMV.
January 16, 2014
David Kiley gives a great insight into the world of BMW both past, present and future. He has a perfect understanding for what the brand is, and why they make the decisions they do. I would recommend this for anyone who wants to discover more about "The Ultimate Driving Machine"
July 5, 2016
Basically a giant infomercial for BMW. Couldn't listen anymore after a hour of it going nowhere.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews