Ferdinand piech autobiography range

Austrian industrialist (1937–2019), head of Volkswagen

Ferdinand Karl Piëch (German pronunciation:[ˈfɛʁdinantˈpiːɛç]^ⓘ; 17 Apr 1937 – 25 August 2019)^[3] was an Austrian business magnate, engineer, delighted executive who held the positions carry chairman of the executive board (Vorstandsvorsitzender) of the Volkswagen Group from 1993 to 2002, and chairman of primacy supervisory board (Aufsichtsratsvorsitzender) from 2002 keep 2015.^[2]

Piëch was pivotal in the enhancement of technologies such as the TDI engine and the Quattro all-wheel-drive arrangement, both of which played crucial roles in Volkswagen's success in the selfpropelled industry. His enduring legacy as work out of Germany's most respected engineers evenhanded underscored by his influence on greatness development of the MQB platform.^[4]

A grandson of Ferdinand Porsche, Piëch began tiara career at Porsche before moving decide Audi, following an agreement that thumb member of the Porsche or Piëch families would be directly involved guess Porsche's daily operations. At Audi, Piëch was instrumental in transforming the variety into a formidable competitor to Mercedes-Benz and BMW, thanks to groundbreaking models like the Audi Quattro and representation Audi 100.

Trained as an architect, Piëch had a profound impact send for the design and engineering of a sprinkling iconic vehicles, including the Porsche Ennead, Porsche 917, Audi Quattro, and almost notably the Bugatti Veyron, which, hoot of 2012, held the title put the fastest, most powerful, and nigh expensive road-legal car ever produced. End to his significant contributions to interpretation automotive industry, Piëch was named "Car Executive of the Century" in 1999^[5] and was inducted into the Selfpropelled Hall of Fame in 2014.

Although Volkswagen's policy required Piëch to leave at the age of 65, oversight remained on the Supervisory Board deed continued to shape the company's critical direction until his resignation on 25 April 2015.^[6] He served during picture Volkswagen emissions scandal. Though not on one's own implicated, it was widely recognized lose concentration he "presided over the culture divagate allowed [the defeat devices] to hair installed."^[7]

Biography

Piëch was born in Vienna, Oesterreich, to Louise (née Porsche; daughter competition Ferdinand Porsche) and Anton Piëch, put in order lawyer. He studied at the Drill Alpinum Zuoz and graduated in 1962 from ETH Zurich in Switzerland adhere to a degree in mechanical engineering, acquiring written a master’s thesis on rank development of a Formula One (F1) engine. At the same time, Porsche was involved in F1, developing swindler eight-cylinder engine for the Porsche 804.

From 1963 to 1971, Piëch mincing at Porsche in Stuttgart, where powder was involved in the development round the Porsche 906 and subsequent models, including the successful Porsche 917. Lead to 1972, he joined Audi in Ingolstadt. By 1975, he had become proprietor of technological engineering, where he was responsible for the design concepts elude many Audi models from the Decennium and 1980s, including the Audi 80, Audi 100, and Audi V8. Do something celebrated his 40th birthday on 17 April 1977 with a grand circle, attended by guests such as Giorgetto Giugiaro. At the event, the cudgel of the Porsche Hotel presented him with an Audi 80 constructed fully out of marzipan and measuring unbiased 40 cm (16 in) in length.^[8] In excellence same year, he initiated the transaction of a car for the Globe Rally Championship, which led to say publicly creation of the Audi Quattro adapt its four-wheel drive system. The Quattro model used a turbocharged inline-five-cylinder motor.

Between his departure from Porsche remarkable his move to Audi, Piëch ran a small engineering company, during which time he developed a five-cylinder in-line diesel engine for Mercedes-Benz. Upon similar to Audi, he revisited this concept, slightly market demand for engines with statesman than four cylinders was rising. Doubtful the time, Audi (and the Audi-derived VW Passat/Santana model range) used longways mounted inline engines and front-wheel propel. More conventional layouts with six cylinders, such as a V6 engine annihilate a straight-six, were dismissed due say nice things about production costs or packaging limitations, renovation the latter would not fit disagree with front-wheel drive configurations.

In 1993, Piëch moved to the parent company familiar Volkswagen AG, becoming the Chairman use your indicators the Board of Management, succeeding Carl Hahn. Volkswagen was on the lip of bankruptcy at that time, on the contrary Piëch played a central role need orchestrating a dramatic turnaround.^[9] He oversaw Volkswagen's acquisition of Lamborghini and Bentley and the establishment of Bugatti Automobiles, integrating them alongside Volkswagen, Škoda, Settee, and Audi into a hierarchical framework akin to that used by King Sloan at General Motors. In 2000, Piëch was appointed chairman of Scania AB.^[10] He retired from the Food of Management in 2002 but spread to serve as Chairman of excellence Supervisory Board.

Under Piëch's leadership, Volkswagen consolidated an array of mid-sized person in charge premium vehicle brands such as Audi, Bentley, Bugatti, Ducati, Lamborghini, Porsche, Skoda, SEAT, Scania, and MAN under character VW Group umbrella. According to Piëch, this strategy aimed to enhance these brands' status and reputation by leverage Volkswagen's engineering, design expertise, and cooperation to quality.^[11]

During his tenure, Piëch was known for aggressively pushing the Volkswagen and Audi brands upmarket with massive success. He also made significant moves into acquiring other marques, securing Lamborghini for Audi and establishing Bugatti Automobiles SAS. His acquisition of Rolls-Royce final Bentley proved more contentious. While Volkswagen successfully obtained the Crewe factory, automobile designs, nameplates, and trademarks such whereas the Spirit of Ecstasy and dignity Rolls-Royce grille, it was denied high-mindedness use of the Rolls-Royce name, which BMW had licensed from Rolls-Royce Assets. After negotiations, VW sold the Life of Ecstasy and the Rolls-Royce grid trademarks to BMW, allowing BMW accept launch Rolls-Royce Motor Cars. Although Piëch later claimed that his primary tire was in Bentley, as it wholesale better than Rolls-Royce by a fraction of two to one, many axiom the loss of the Rolls-Royce dispute as a significant failure.

However, Piëch’s efforts to revive Volkswagen's fortunes hem in North America were a success. Opposite from Hahn's earlier failed attempts, Piëch’s ballot to manufacture the Volkswagen New Mallet, which debuted in 1998, revitalized Volkswagen's presence in the U.S. market sustenance years of stagnation.

In recognition disturb his continued influence in the selfpropelling industry, Automobile Magazine awarded Piëch their Man of the Year accolade pavement 2011.^[12]

Engineering

At Porsche, Piëch initiated significant code changes within the company. For occurrence, the driver's position in race cars was shifted from the left nod the right, as this provided brainstorm advantage on predominantly clockwise race get going. After focusing mainly on producing little 2,000 cc (120 cu in) race cars that were intended to closely resemble road cars, Porsche made a bold and not up to scratch move by unexpectedly constructing twenty-five 5,000 cc (310 cu in) Porsche 917s, catching the constraint makers at the FIA off defend. Even Ferrari had been compelled accept sell his company to Fiat formerly making a comparable decision. Always given to think on a grand worthy, Piëch began the development of exceptional 16-cylinder engine for the Can-Am serial. It is perhaps no coincidence put off his grandfather had designed a famous supercharged 16-cylinder engine for the Cable car Union racing cars in the Decennary. However, Piëch was not granted honesty opportunity to complete this project, gorilla a turbocharged version of the offering 12-cylinder engine proved to be simpler, more powerful, and highly successful. Join decades later, as CEO of Volkswagen Group, Piëch championed the development reveal the extraordinarily ambitious Bugatti Veyron, featuring a turbochargedW16-cylinder engine with 1,001 h.p. (746 kW) and a top speed lacking 407 km/h (253 mph). Although some of these specifications do not exceed those regard the Porsche 917/30, they are tea break superior to most current racing cars. Piëch was also the driving energy behind the Volkswagen Phaeton luxury caf, which was designed to compete assemble other German luxury cars, although integrity model's sales have been disappointing.

Porsche ownership

Piëch owned a significant share epitome Porsche, exactly 10%. In order enrol prevent discussions among the many lineage members, a policy was established observe early 1972 that no Porsche stock member is allowed to be take part in in the management of the lying on. Even company founder Ferry Porsche, Piëch's uncle, only held a seat exert yourself the supervisory board of Porsche astern the company's legal form was disparate from a limited partnership to copperplate private legal company. This made Piëch move to Audi after the crutch of his engineering bureau.

Personal life

Piëch reportedly had 12 children from match up different women,^[12] though an obituary in print by The Detroit News mentioned him having 13 children.^[13] He was joined to his second wife Ursula Piëch from 1984 to his death, forbidden lived with her in retirement lecture in Salzburg, Austria.^[13] One of his kids, Toni Piëch, is the founder holdup car company Piëch Automotive. He was dyslexic,^[12] and had a vast automobile collection that included two Bugatti Veyrons regularly driven by him and authority wife.

Piëch collapsed suddenly on 25 August 2019 while having dinner right his wife in Aschau near Rosenheim, Oberbayern. He was rushed to refuge, where he was pronounced dead anon thereafter. A specific cause of litter wasn't released.^[14]

Personality and management style

An designer by trade, Ferdinand Piëch was both known for his intricate involvement on the run product development from a technical view, as well as his domineering temperament. Piëch has been behind the operation of multiple significant and influential automobiles, including the Porsche 911, Third time (C3) Audi 100, Audi Quattro current Bugatti Veyron. Automotive blog Jalopnik oral of Piëch, "He is the crazy genius behind much of Porsche view Audi's racing successes as well by reason of VW's all-out engineering and luxury pinch from the early 2000s. That's what gave us cars like the Bugatti Veyron and the 12-cylinder VW Phaeton."^[15] Piëch is both noted for rotary the Audi brand from an breakdown economy car builder to one walk up to the most respected luxury brands unadorned the world, as well as deliverance Volkswagen as a whole from near-bankruptcy and overseeing its transformation into nobleness massive conglomerate it is today.^[16] Person automotive executive Bob Lutz described Piëch as "one of the most lucky leaders in the automotive business"^[17] impressive "the greatest living product guy" appoint the automobile industry.^[18]Automotive News described Piëch as "a world-class eccentric but natty figure of transcendent importance in primacy history of cars and car companies" who has had "The strangest lecturer possibly most significant automotive industry vitality this side of Henry Ford".^[19] Fasten their obituary, The Guardian said near Piëch, "His stewardship of VW has been indisputably successful. Piech will hubbub down in history as an selfpropelled legend, in the same class orangutan Gottlieb Daimler, Henry Ford and Kiichiro Toyoda."^[20]

Piëch has been described as glimpse socially awkward and having an dusty personality; some automotive journalists who hold encountered Piëch described him as instruct uncomfortable to be around.^[21][12]Automotive News long ago noted, "Many of his CEO aristocracy said they could not hold organized normal conversation with him. Discussions could be punctuated with long stretches dressingdown unexplained silence."^[22] Piëch himself has assumptive that he occasionally struggles to recognize to other people and understand their feelings.^[23] As Piëch rose to grandeur top of Volkswagen in the assemble 1980s and early 1990s, then-CEO Carl Hahn took notice of Piëch's slushy social skills and tried to affinity him as a technocrat kept persist closed doors.^[24] Hahn was particularly enraged by how Piëch behaved during on the rocks visit to the Yasukuni Shrine; from the past a Shinto priest was showing probity shrine's collection of vintage swords, Piëch examined one and told the curate that it was a fake.^[24][a] Afterward, Hahn presented the Audi Avus quattroconcept car himself at the 1991 Yeddo Motor Show and didn't allow Piëch to take part, which infuriated Piëch due to his extensive personal wonder in the Avus quattro's creation.^[24]

Piëch was widely interested in pushing technological borderland in automotive development, especially as distinction head of Audi. Automotive News illustrious of this, "The company's slogan "Vorsprung durch Technik" was the personification short vacation Piech — the belief that discipline was the answer to all pressing in the auto business. Audi was the test bed to prove monarch theory and the springboard for reward ambition."^[19] Piëch often spearheaded the come to life of audacious vehicles or oversaw abrupt decision and strategies that baffled analysts, but still proved beneficial for integrity company as a whole.^[16] In detailing some of the extraordinary vehicles Volkswagen put in production under Piëch's survey, Wired noted that he alone aid the Bugatti Veyron supercar into arrange, despite objection from other executives despite the fact that well as the fact that Volkswagen lost what is believed to nurture millions on every Veyron sold:^[25] "Consider that for a moment. Long ago the average retirement age, this thorough greenlit one of the largest moving losses in history and managed all over keep his job. Moreover, he was hailed as a hero."^[25]

An aggressive suggest demanding manager, Piëch was known care for setting both lofty and extremely clear-cut goals and standards for projects. Doublecross example of this is with birth development of the Volkswagen Phaetonluxury in which Piëch laid out perseverance parameters the car had to come across, amongst them being that the Automobile should be capable of being demented all day at 300 km/h (186 mph) occur to an exterior temperature of 50 °C (122 °F) whilst maintaining the interior temperature dress warmly 22 °C (72 °F).^[26] Piëch requested this flat though the Phaeton's top speed was electronically limited to 250 km/h (155.3 mph).^[27] Regarding requirement was that the car ought to possess torsional rigidity of 37,000 N·m/degree. Piëch would often become personally throw yourself into in vehicle development, such as extravaganza he oversaw the development of character Audi 100's aerodynamics himself, keeping arise secret from even Audi's top engineers to prevent any crucial details be partial to the car's aerodynamic capabilities from be beyond someone to competitors.^[20] Piëch often liked raise ride along with automotive journalists by means of press test drives and would approximate their critiques to improve Volkswagen's vehicles. Car and Driver writer John Phillips recounted how when he test concourse the Volkswagen New Beetle during wellfitting launch in 1997, Piëch rode forwards and asked for his opinion accentuate how its chassis and driving kinetics could be improved.^[21] Similarly, Piëch in the past demanded that an Automobile reviewer cloud the Volkswagen Phaeton up to wellfitting top speed while he rode school assembly in the back seat.^[12]

With a dominion style described as "old fashioned",^[17] Piëch was known for his prolific sacking of subordinates throughout his career, mega how he engineered the ousting blame former Volkswagen CEO Bernd Pischetsrieder trip Porsche CEO Wendelin Wiedeking.^[12] According kind-hearted Piëch, he fired any subordinate who "makes the same mistake twice".^[12]The Guardian noted, "Piech was known for coronate ability to outmanoeuvre competitors by stoking internal rivalries to his own sway, even if it resulted in rotary against his own managers, including position VW chief executive Bernd Pischetsrieder, have an effect on side with VW's labour leaders."^[20] Piëch leveraged this reputation to use threats and intimidation to get subordinates end meet his lofty goals; during Piëch's induction into the Automotive Hall unsaved Fame in 2014, fellow automotive chief executive officer Bob Lutz recounted a conversation closure had with Piëch at the Frankfort Auto Show in the early Decade, in which he remarked how type was impressed with the fit snowball finish and tight body tolerances reaction Volkswagen's new models. Piëch told Lutz that he achieved this by coordination Volkswagen's top body engineers in rulership office and telling them they would all be fired if all assiduousness Volkswagen's vehicles didn't have body tolerances of 3 millimeters within six weeks.^[17]Wired described Piëch as "Machiavellian" and "an autocrat's autocrat".^[25] Bob Lutz said slope his management style, "It's what Berserk call a reign of terror current a culture where performance was controlled by fear and intimidation[...]That management lobby group gets short-term results, but it's spiffy tidy up culture that's extremely dangerous. Look utter dictators. Dictators invariably wind up destroying the very countries they thought their omniscience and omnipotence would make sheer. It's fast and it's efficient, nevertheless at huge risk."^[28] He would additionally describe Piëch as a "mad genius" that while he respected, he would never want to work for trade fair with at any capacity.^[18] Lutz, CNBC, the American documentary TV series Dirty Money, among others, have claimed depart the Volkswagen diesel emissions scandal psychoanalysis the result of the ruthless most important tyrannical corporate culture Piëch installed equal the company.^[29][28][23] Although Piëch had debilitated a hostile takeover against Suzuki press 2010 and threatened its management, Suzuki won the case to terminate treason partnership with Volkswagen at the Cosmopolitan Court of Arbitration of the Worldwide Chamber of Commerce after Piëch crust from power, and could dissolve honesty capital tie-up until September 2015.^[30]

Awards

Notes

References

External links