Driven: Inside BMW, the Most Admired Car Company in the World

Written by David Kiley

Narrated by Jay Snyder

David Kiley, who chronicled the engaging history of Volkswagen in Getting the Bugs Out, now focuses on BMW, a luxury brand and coveted car. Excellent management at BMW has consistently turned out a superior product, and their image worldwide has remained one of elegance, while other car companies fluctuate with each new model. By gaining unprecedented access to the development of the new 1-Series, which will be BMW's lowest price vehicle to date, Kiley will profile not only the company's legendary product development center, but the mysterious Quandt family, who hold 49% of BMW's stock and have maintained it as an independent company in the face of constant mergers throughout the industry.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Ascent Audio
• Release date: Jul 20, 2020
• ISBN: 9781663703934

Reviews for Driven

[dylandavis · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I'm not sure if Kiley is a new fan to BMW or if he simply wanted to give equal weight to all facets of the company history. I felt, as a lifelong Bimmerhead, that he sometimes skimmed over major turning points and dates that true fans would have dedicated entire chapters to. The read was, by all accounts, well thought out and covered what Kiley deemed the "major points" very well, even, it seemed, with some bias towards BMW. However, on the whole, the book misses the point. He skims over some of the major design ideas and evnts that have galvanized BMW, in many minds, as the Ultimate Driving Machine. If you know nothing about BMW, or you just want to learn more about the company or how to stay succesful in the auto world, then by all means pick up the book and educate yourself. If you already know alot about the company, you will learn some great trivia, but you will come away feeling that you need to write a response to other readers, if only to let them know that they have not heard the entire story. In fact, they have missed what makes a BMW a BMW besides the Roundel.