Getting the Bugs Out: The Rise, Fall, & Comeback of Volkswagen in America

by David Kiley

Book Overview

The fascinating story of Volkswagen's raging success and near collapse in America After a wild ride of ups and downs for almost three decades, Volkswagen has regained its stature as one of America's most beloved auto makers. In Getting the Bugs Out, journalist and auto industry expert David Kiley tells the complete story of the rise, fall, and comeback of Volkswagen. Kiley traces the company's rise from Ferdinand Porsche's original design for the...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0471403938
• ISBN13: 9780471403937
• Release Date: October 2001
• Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
• Length: 320 Pages
• Weight: 1.30 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 6.3" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

an excellent account of successes and various failures

This book gives an excellent account of the successes and various failures of Volkswagen. Though I enjoyed reading the story behind their creative and revlutionary advertising in the 90's with the Golf, the Beetle, the Jetta, and the Passat, I loved getting the inside track on such disasters as FAHRVERGNUGEN (that's a mouthful), the Rabbit, and the Thing (I've actually SEEN one of these vile machines!). Strongly recommended for car lovers, history buffs, and gossip queens...

Massage the Data

This is an inside look at a company with a unique history, ably rendered by Kiley, a fine journalist who covers the auto beat for USA Today. By taking readers deep within Volkswagen, and sharing the foibles, triumphs and tribulations of the famed automaker, Kiley has written an entertaining book.

Highly Recommended!

David Kiley's insightful tome is as charmingly idiosyncratic as his subject, the VW Beetle or "Bug." Beginning with the Bug's nasty political genesis as Hitler's "people's car," Kiley follows the methods marketers used to shape its 1960s and 1990s commercial identities. Kiley covers the Bug's marketing history, from the obtuse (managers didn't understand that it was essential to VW's U.S. identity) to the brilliant (its sales renaissance). We [...] recommend this book for its fascinating history, but also for its examples of marketing strategy and internal corporate knife-fighting that just might teach you a trick or two.

Kiley KO's the Subject

This author from New Jersey not only brings his literary skills and auto expertise to his first publication, but a concise history that is easily understood by all. Any true VW fan should have this book in their home library. Accolades!

Not just a book about the "Bug"

This was really an interesting read on the comeback of Volkswagen in America. What drew me to this book was the cover itself. Once I started to randomly read pages of the book, I found this to be a book about marketing, advertising and branding--hence the Adweek logo on the cover. I would recommend this to any "Bug" enthusiast as well as people within the advertising/marketing industry.