The United States of Toyota: How Detroit Squandered Its Legacy and Enabled Toyota to Become America’s Car Company
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The United States of Toyota is many stories in one. First and foremost, it is a business story, detailing the decline of the American automobile industry - and the simultaneous rise of an Asian manufacturer to take its place. It is also a history book, providing an intimate portrait of the larger-than-life personalities and cars that led the American auto industry through its glory days and down the path toward extinction. It is a political/current affairs piece, presenting the rise of a Japanese company - Toyota - not just in terms of its sales success but also in terms of its cultural success, as it works to assimilate into American society. And finally, it is a never-before-seen primer on Detroit - The Motor City - a town and a region dominated by the auto companies, their suppliers and their ad agencies - and by a mindset and culture all its own. In commentary that is as accurate as it is blunt, Peter De Lorenzo presents the players and the action in the auto business in a way not seen before in print. His voice is unique and refreshingly candid. His provocative analyses and assessments - grounded in personal experience and a lifelong immersion in all things automotive - present a compelling picture of the state of the auto business - how it used to be, what it has become and where it is headed. From the arrogance and short-sightedness of the Detroit manufacturers to the acumen and relentlessness of Toyota, The United States of Toyota paints an insightful portrait of an iconic American industry as it struggles for survival in the early years of the 21st century.
Customer Review: A bit too "bloggy" for a book
I became a regular reader of DeLorenzo's Autoextremist blog a few years ago, and looked forward to his weekly rants about the Detroit scene. Unfortunately, this book reads a little too much like a blog. Some of the chapters are just three or four pages, and are written in the style of blog posts. In fact, quite a bit of the prose in the book had already been previously published on the Autoextremist blog, and was immediately recognizable as such.
If you're an Autoextremist reader hoping DeLorenzo will further develop the ideas he presents on his blog, you're going to come away from this at least a little disappointed. Nobody is going to agree with every last thing he says, and some will be put off by his informal style (replete with catchphrases and vulgar language.) His strongest points are probably his dissection of Chrysler's woes and his demonstration of how Toyota's PR department so masterfully manipulates the American media (as he saves his strongest vitriol for New York Times columnist and Toyota apologist Thomas Friedman.)
Customer Review: DeLorenzo--A Visionary Rebel with a Cause
"The United States of Toyota" is a must read for anyone who wants an unbiased perspective of the past, present, and possible future of U.S. auto industry. With a global economy many economists discount the fact that the fall of Detroit will impact the U.S. economy for many generations. While it is now trendy to bash Detroit for its lack of vision and poor management, Peter DeLorenzo has been warning of the demise of Detroit and the U.S. auto industry for dozens of years. Until recently very few have listened to his advice but there is still time to heed his sage advice.
A combination of historical perspective, insider secrets, reality checks, prescient predictions, dire warnings, and tongue-in-cheek irreverence, this book is informative and easy to digest. Auto industry drones, apologists, bean-counters, and "yes men" who have driven Detroit to the edge of disaster should pay special attention--remember the louder they complain the more accurate is DeLorenzo's aim.
DeLorenzo accurately points out that profits of the foreign automakers are returned home and that their respective governments do all in their power to support their own, whether currency manipulation, tax breaks, investment incentives or just plain hard ball politics. This begs the question whether there is such a thing as a truly "free economy" as we are led to believe.
DeLorenzo is a rare breed: an automotive visionary with an automotive family pedigree who has industry depth, analytical skills, automotive expertise, and racing knowledge with significant time on the track. With his "no holds barred" approach, DeLorenzo tells it like it is regardless of who may get sideways in the process.
The words of Niccolo Machiavelli, written almost five centuries ago in The Prince, still hold true for a visionary like DeLorenzo when attacked by his critics:
"It should be borne in mind that there is nothing more difficult to handle, more doubtful of success, and more dangerous to carry through than initiating changes.... The innovator makes enemies of all those who prospered under the old order, and only lukewarm support is forthcoming from those who would prosper under the new. Their support is lukewarm, partly from fear of their adversaries, who have the existing authority on their side and, partly because men are generally incredulous, never really trusting new things unless they have tested them by experience."
DeLorenzo's long-standing advice to GM, Ford, and Chrysler that courage, vision, and significant change are needed can no longer be ignored. One can only wonder what would happen if DeLorenzo had authority for the design, manufacture, and marketing of just one division or just one product line or just one vehicle.