At the beginning of the 1990s the German car industry had its back to the wall. Japanese competitors were demonstrating significant advantages in terms of quality and productivity. Consultants warned that only a few global car groups would survive. Instead of following the Japanese concepts of lean production, Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Porsche and Audi developed a new innovative premium brand strategy and initiated a revolution in the industry by setting innovative benchmarks. This book analyzes the story.