Plain and simple, the message is that Daimler-Benz and Chrysler were too different to merge. The management and corporate structures were incompatable, evidenced by the rapid departures of Eaton and Stallkamp. Jurgen Schrempp is also portrayed as a boistrous spirit; brash and difficult to work with. No wonder Eaton and Stallkamp wouldn't stand up to him when it would've mattered.
As much as I'm in favor of keeping a publicly held business that way, I almost wish Kerkorian and Iacocca had pulled off their buyoff. Disturbing as it was, it would've kept an 80+ year old company in American hands.
If you're even the least bit curious about this merger, Taken For a Ride is a fascinating book. It's an education lesson about all sorts of capitalistic business: corporate mergers, leveraged buyouts, business culture, and world cultures. Experienced businessmen could even learn from this book, and I'm sure Iacocca, Eaton, Kerkorian, Lutz, Schrempp, and Stallkamp would read a few things they didn't know about (and didn't want the world to know about, either).
"Taken for a Ride" shows how Kirk Kerkorian put Chrysler into play; how Daimler played cat and mouse with Chrysler; how Chrysler Chairman Bob Eaton froze out detractors of a merger; how Daimler chief Juergen Schrempp got every concession he wanted and was able to wriggle out of concessions he made at the last minute with Eaton's blessing. It shows how Eaton fired Tom Stallkamp (apparently with pressure from Schrempp) in order to get his own heir in charge of Chrysler operations. And it shows how the Germans have bungled things with the new company.
I don't know how the Boston reader decided there is nothing new in the book. He should trying telling this to current and former Chrysler Corp. executives and workers who have been champing at the bit to read this book and get more insights into this fiasco. It has been the subject of many automotive boardroom discussions in Detroit, after excerpts were published in The Detroit News.
"Taken for a Ride" is a book without any agendas. Chrysler has not contradicted its contents, and neither has the Daimler end of DaimlerChrysler. It lays out the details as best the authors could get them and lets readers decide for themselves what lessons on corporate governance, merger policy, management style and other issues can be drawn. I found the book more than worth my time in reading.