Congressional auto hearings, Federal bail out loans to GM and Chrysler, Chrysler goes into Chapter 11 to reorganize with UAW as largest shareholder, Fiat to be Chryslers dominant partner with no money invested, Chrysler cuts 800 dealers, GM near bankruptcy, GM commits to selling or shutting down Hummer, Saab, Saturn, and Pontiac, and the auto world as we know it is spinning out of control.

The headlines offer a simplistic interpretation. They say that product quality, legacy costs, poor cost control, ill-advised investments in other automakers and in undistinguished products--all of which are serious issues---caused the trouble. That's wrong.  Or, worse, incomplete and myopic ---the same kind of myopia that created the problem in the first place.

Like many a crisis, this one has been brewing for decades. And the cost-cutting quick fixes proposed by many industry “experts” won't solve it.  Why not? Because it's not the root cause. What is killing US automakers is their inability to attract growing numbers of customers to its numerous brands, many of which have been irrelevant for years. All due to atrocious bad brand management. (“Iron” if you're wondering, is what the auto industry calls its products.)

With wit and humor, Branding Iron uses lessons from the car business to guide readers, no matter what their business, on a quest to build a world-beating brand. A brand that leaves a real mark, one made the old-fashioned way---burned in with a red hot iron.  The authors do the tough analysis and ask tough questions that most Boards of Directors should be asking, and they give even tougher answers.