Guts
Book

Guts

The Seven Laws of Business that Made Chrysler the World's Hottest Car Company

Robert A. Lutz
Wiley, 1998
First Edition: 1998

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Editorial Rating

10

Qualities

  • Innovative
  • Applicable

Recommendation

Former Chrysler president and vice-chairman Robert A. Lutz proves that sometimes a corporate leader can write a terrific book (it just doesn’t happen very often). If Lutz ever decides to get out of the corporate arena entirely, he would make a fabulous comedian. Known as a colorful and brilliant leader ever since he turned Chrysler around in the early ’90s, he shares the ideas that saved the company as well as others he believes could help any organization succeed. Lutz is direct, holds nothing back and points out the lunacy behind most corporate decisions. getAbstract thinks of him as the Dennis Miller of corporate honchos. He fills his how-to book with plenty of examples from his Chrysler days, making it a provocative page-turner that any businessperson can relish.

Summary

Chrysler’s Second Turnaround

In the early 1990s, Chrysler recovered from its second near-death experience and not only enjoyed record profits, but it was also named Forbes Magazine’s "Company of the Year." The man who was at the forefront of the car company’s historic renaissance was its product-development genius and iconoclastic leader, Robert A. Lutz, who was then Chrysler’s president and vice-chairman.

He credits the firm’s turnaround to its embrace (at his urging) of a deliberately schizophrenic corporate culture. He wanted tough financial controls coupled with a rock-the-boat, provocative, highly creative product development process. This strategy resulted in a large family of successful products, beginning with the radical and enormously popular Dodge Viper sports car.

On May 7, 1998, Chrysler and Germany’s Daimler Benz (owner of Mercedes) shocked the international business world when they announced the merger of their companies, the largest industrial merger to date. Chrysler had turned itself around to become the world’s most profitable car company, one that Daimler - the gold standard of European car makers - sought as a partner.

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About the Author

Robert A. Lutz is the former president and vice-chairman of Chrysler Corporation. He has held senior management positions in four of the world’s top car companies: Ford, General Motors, BMW and Chrysler. Automotive News calls him "The towering figure in the American automobile industry in the last three decades."

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