Pagoda SL Group
W113 Pagoda SL Group => General Discussion => Topic started by: Tyler S on March 13, 2017, 16:14:35
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Hi all, Just wanted to share a video from a Youtube channel I subscribe to.
This channel normally focuses on reviews of everyday cars from years past (Regular Car Reviews). However they have put together a half hour narration about the Daimler Chrysler merger. Its pretty in depth with a lot of history and detail of both companies.
Enjoy
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FRmzd1AB4kc
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While interesting, if you really want in-depth (without the cute-sy video stuff like the list of "also founded in 1925" and songs from 1987) of the failed merger, check out this book:
Taken for a Ride: How Daimler-Benz Drove Off With Chrysler
by Bill Vlasic and Brad Stertz
http://a.co/56Eocb1
Bill Vlasic (currently Detroit Bureau Chief of the NYT) and Bradley Stertz (currently Director of Government Affairs at Audi) are both and were both at the time of publication highly respected automotive journalists.
While touted as "Merger of Equals" when it happened, it is now viewed as an abject failure of monumental proportion, and is the topic of many an MBA program's case studies. Nowhere was this felt more deeply than in this locality in Michigan that I call home.
As a lighthearted aside, during the darkest days of this merger--one local teen was driving around in a completely beat up, dented, rusted and abused "K-Car". Normally, the K-car when new had an ersatz crystal Chrysler Pentastar hood ornament. Gone was the Pentastar, replaced with a three point star from an old Mercedes...guess you had to be living here at this time to appreciate the humorous irony.
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I would most definitely agree with my esteemed colleague Mr. Salemi. "Taken for a Ride" is an excellent view and a good read.