The Critical Path: Inventing an Automobile and Reinventing a Corporation

by Brock W. Yates

Book Overview

The story of how Chrysler's minivan team created an automobile that captured the 1995 Motor Trend Car of the Year and other major awards - and reinvented a perilously entrenched corporation in the process - is as dramatic and inspiring a story as any in business today. Brock Yates, one of the most respected writers in the auto world, was given unprecedented access to Chrysler - every planning session, presentation, budget review, test drive, assembly line start-up, and marketing launch. The result is a book that unveils the mysteries of modern car-making, revealing how cars are shaped through countless interlinked decisions ranging from size and power to door configurations, color selections, and innumerable other interconnected details. It also captures the complex process by which the thousands of separate pieces that make up a car are designed, tested, manufactured, and marshaled into place at the exact moment they are needed. For any reader who cares about cars, this is the most intriguing look inside the mysteries of their creation ever written. At the same time, The Critical Path recounts an extraordinary drama of all-too-human managers attempting to make something new, in a new way, inside a corporate culture that resists them at every turn. The story of how Chrysler's minivan platform team kept their commitment to quality, schedule, and budget - with a $3 billion investment and the company's fate palpably in the balance - is as encouraging a tale as has emerged from American business in years. The unprecedented triumph and Chrysler's resultant comeback is a lesson in successful management that will be savored by any reader interested in how great companies make breakthroughproducts.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0316967084
• ISBN13: 9780316967082
• Release Date: August 1996
• Publisher: Little Brown and Company
• Length: 320 Pages
• Weight: 0.15 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 6.2" x 9.5"

Customer Reviews

A Interesting view of the Auto Industry

We've owned four Caravan / Voyagers, so I had a distinct curiosity about the book's subject. The book was interesting when describing the design issues involved with "the vehicle that saved Chrysler/Plymouth/Dodge". The book gives a good feel for the business end of the big bucks car industry, trying to guess what world economy and whim of the American buyer will sell cars five years down the road.Brock Yates' writing style lends itself better to one page editorial writing or brief commentary within specifications laden car articles. He KNOWS the subject but has a boring style. Overall, though the subject to me was worth finishing the book.John Row

Fascinating, Well written, Informed

As the owner of a 2000 Dodge Caravan I feel it is a special treat to learn the story of my car's design and creation, from conception to labor and delivery. The book is well written, and the story is told in such a way that it riveted my attention from beginning to end. Mr. Yates is highly qualified having spent an entire career as an automotive journalist, and in my opinion it shows. In cases where I was familiar with the facts being discussed, his story agrees with the facts I was familiar with. This book is top notch in my opinion - 5 stars.

Interesting book that could've been penned by Rush Limbaugh

I really enjoyed reading this book. An interesting look into the automobile industry, although slightly repetative at times and with some lax editing. Unfortunately, Yates takes pot shots at liberals, Clinton, Gore, etc instead of sticking to the subject. If I want political commentary I'll read P.J. O'Rourke. Also incredible is his dismisal of the problem with Chrysler rear latches as if it's the no-good liberals sticking their nose where it doesn't belong. I really thought it was a very good book when Yates ccould keep his political views to himself and come down off his highhorse.

A Look Into the Birth of the New Chrysler MiniVan.

Not as interesting to read as the "The Reckoning", but more current in subject matter. Yates is repetitious at times, and it seems some chapters contain material rewritten from an earlier chapter, just to fill up pages. Despite this, topics are brought up and never resolved -- how was the problem of the radio antenna finally settled anyway? I thought the book was kind of cheap with the photos, also -- the creation of an automobile deserves more pictures than the few thrown in, in this book! Dispite all of these complaints, this is still a very readable book, and if you haven't read "The Reckoning" or "The Machine That Changed the World", then you might as well start with this one, if you are interested in cars. Also if you are thinking of buying a new Chrysler minivan (as we were, and did) then this book is highly recommended, you will buy with confidence, knowing that some of the best and brightest and most dedicated automotive engineers spent thousands of hours of their lives to put together a truely impressive machine.

This is a must read for anyone interested in the Auto Indust

Brock captures the sole of the Chrysler Corporation through his book. The book reads like a Grisham novel but displays the hard facts of designing and developing a successful vehicle such as the Chrysler NS. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in the "Platform Strategy" that Chrysler has undertaken. Chrysler certainly is the one to model your corporation after.