Austrian industrialist (1937?2019), head of Volkswagen
Ferdinand Karl Piech
(
German pronunciation:
[?f??dinant
?piː?c]
ⓘ
; 17 April 1937 ? 25 August 2019)
[3]
was an Austrian
business magnate
, engineer and executive who was the chairman of the
executive board
(
Vorstandsvorsitzender
) of
Volkswagen Group
(VW Group) from 1993?2002 and the chairman of the
supervisory board
(
Aufsichtsratsvorsitzender
) of Volkswagen Group from 2002?2015.
[2]
Ferdinand Piech spearheaded technologies such as
TDI
and the
Quattro all-wheel drive system
. His contributions helped
Volkswagen
's success in the car industry. Piech's legacy endures as one of Germany's most esteemed engineers, notably influencing the development of the
MQB platform.
[4]
Under Piech's stewardship, he orchestrated the integration of Volkswagen with an array of mid-size and premium segment vehicles, encompassing renowned brands such as
Audi
,
Bentley
,
Bugatti
,
Ducati
,
Lamborghini
,
Porsche
,
Skoda
,
Seat
,
Scania
, and
MAN
, effectively consolidating them under the umbrella of the VW Group. According to Piech, the rationale behind this strategy was to elevate the reputation and status of these automotive marques by integrating them into the VW Group through strategic acquisitions. This approach ensured that VW could leverage its German engineering prowess, design expertise, and commitment to quality to support and enhance the brands within its portfolio.
[5]
A grandson of
Ferdinand Porsche
, Piech started his career at
Porsche
, before leaving for
Audi
after an agreement that no member of the Porsche or Piech families should be involved in the day-to-day operations of the Porsche company. Piech eventually became the head of Audi, where he is credited with evolving and growing Audi into a competitor to equal
Mercedes-Benz
and
BMW
, thanks in part to innovative designs such as the
Quattro
and
100
. In 1993, Piech became the chairman and CEO of Volkswagen Group, which he is credited with turning into the large conglomerate it is today; He oversaw the purchase of
Lamborghini
and
Bentley
, as well as
the founding of
Bugatti Automobiles
, all of which he integrated with the
Volkswagen
,
?koda
,
SEAT
and
Audi
brands into a ladder-type structure similar to that used by
Alfred Sloan
at
General Motors
. Piech was required to retire at age 65 per Volkswagen company policy, but he remained on its supervisory board and was involved in the company's strategic decisions until his resignation on 25 April 2015.
[6]
Piech presided over Volkswagen's board during the
Volkswagen emissions scandal
; he was not implicated in the scandal, but "...he presided over the culture that allowed [the defeat devices] to be installed."
[7]
Educated as an engineer, Piech influenced the development of numerous significant cars including the
Porsche 911
,
Porsche 917
,
Audi Quattro
and notably, the
Bugatti Veyron
, which as of 2012 was the fastest, most powerful and most expensive road legal automobile ever built. Due to his influence on the automobile industry, Piech was named the Car Executive of the Century in 1999
[8]
and was inducted into the
Automotive Hall of Fame
in 2014.
Biography
[
edit
]
Piech was born in Vienna, Austria, to
Louise
(
nee
Porsche; Ferdinand's daughter) and
Anton Piech
, a lawyer. He studied at the
Lyceum Alpinum Zuoz
and graduated from the
ETH Zurich
, Switzerland, in 1962, with a degree in mechanical engineering, having written a master thesis about the development of a
Formula One
(F1) engine. At the same time, Porsche was involved in F1 and developed an 8-cylinder engine for the
Porsche 804
.
From 1963 to 1971, he worked at
Porsche
in
Stuttgart
, on the development of the
Porsche 906
and following models that led to the successful
Porsche 917
. In 1972, he moved to
Audi
in
Ingolstadt
. Starting from 1975, he was manager of technological engineering, being responsible for the concepts of many Audi models from the 1970s and 1980s, including the
Audi 80
,
Audi 100
and the
Audi V8
. He celebrated his 40th birthday on 17 April 1977 with a ball at which guests included
Giorgetto Giugiaro
and at which the staff of the Porsche Hotel presented him with an Audi 80 that was just 40 cm (16 in) long and constructed of
marzipan
.
[9]
In 1977 he also initiated the development of a car for the
World Rally Championship
, resulting in the
four-wheel drive
Audi Quattro
. The engine used in the Quattro model was a
turbocharged
inline-5
cylinder unit.
Piech held a small engineering company in the time between leaving Porsche AG and joining Audi, and while there, he developed a 5-cylinder in-line
diesel engine
for
Mercedes-Benz
. He picked up the concept again after moving to Audi, because there was a market demand for engines with more than 4 cylinders. At the time, Audi (and the Audi-derived VW Passat/Santana model range) used longitudinally mounted inline engines and front wheel drive. More conservative layouts with 6 cylinders were rejected because of engineering and production costs (
V6 engine
) or packaging requirements (
straight 6
did not fit because front wheel drive required that it be mounted in front of the axle).
In 1993, Piech moved to
Volkswagen AG
, parent company of the Volkswagen Group, where he became
Chairman
of the Board of Management, succeeding
Carl Hahn
. At that time Volkswagen was only three months from bankruptcy, and he was central to orchestrating its dramatic turnaround.
[10]
He retired from the Board of Management in 2002, but still served in an advisory capacity as Chairman of the
Supervisory Board
.
In 2000, he was named chairman of
Scania AB
.
[11]
He retired from the management board in 2002 and was succeeded as chairman by
Bernd Pischetsrieder
.
While head of Volkswagen Group, Piech was known for his aggressive moves into other markets. He drove the Volkswagen and Audi brands upmarket with great success. Piech also pursued other
marques
, successfully acquiring
Lamborghini
for Audi, and establishing
Bugatti Automobiles SAS
. His purchase of British
Rolls-Royce
and
Bentley
was more controversial. After successfully buying the
Crewe
, England, car building operation, including the vehicle designs, nameplates, administrative headquarters, production facilities,
Spirit of Ecstasy
and Rolls-Royce grille shape trademarks, VW was denied the use of the Rolls-Royce brand name, which had been licensed to
BMW
by
Rolls-Royce Holdings
, and was thought to be the most valuable part of the division. After tensions had formed between the two companies, VW later sold the Spirit of Ecstasy and Rolls-Royce grille shape trademarks to BMW, which allowed them to found
Rolls-Royce Motor Cars
, and produce a new line of cars that were unrelated to their predecessors, with all of the traditional Rolls-Royce styling cues. Although Piech later claimed that he only really wanted the Bentley brand, as it was the higher volume brand, out-selling the equivalent Rolls-Royce by around two to one, the loss of the intellectual property rights for Rolls-Royce to rival BMW was widely seen as a major failure.
What was not a failure, however, was his effort to revitalize Volkswagen in North America. Hahn's previous efforts to regain market share in North America ? which he had built up as the head of
Volkswagen of America
from 1958 to 1965 ? were unsuccessful, but Piech helped reverse VW's fortunes by the decision to manufacture the
Volkswagen New Beetle
, the introduction of which in 1998 gave Volkswagen of America a much needed impulse, after years of selling competent, but bland offerings in the US.
Due to his continued influence in the auto industry,
Automobile Magazine
announced that Piech has won their Man of the Year award for 2011.
[12]
Engineering
[
edit
]
At Porsche, Piech triggered significant changes in the company's policy. For example, the position of drivers in
race cars
was moved from the left to the right, as this gives advantages on the predominantly clockwise race tracks. After making mainly small 2,000 cc (120 cu in) race cars that were supposed to be closely related to road cars, Porsche made a risky investment by unexpectedly building twenty-five 5,000 cc (310 cu in)
Porsche 917
, surprising the rule makers at the
FIA
. Even
Ferrari
had needed to sell his company to
Fiat
before making such a move. Always thinking big, Piech started development of a
16-cylinder engine
for the
Can-Am
series. It is probably no coincidence that his grandfather had developed a famous supercharged 16-cylinder engine for the
Auto Union
racing cars in the 1930s. Piech was denied the chance to complete it, as a turbocharged version of the existing 12-cylinder was simpler, more powerful and very successful. Three decades later as CEO of Volkswagen Group, Piech insisted on the very ambitious
Bugatti Veyron
, with a
turbocharged
W16
-cylinder, 1,001 horsepower (746 kW) and 407 km/h (253 mph) top speed. Some of these figures are still not higher than those of the Porsche 917/30, but higher than most current racing cars. Piech was also behind the
Volkswagen Phaeton
luxury saloon, which was intended as a rival to other German luxury cars, but the sales of the model have been disappointing.
Porsche ownership
[
edit
]
Piech owned a significant share of Porsche, exactly 10%. In order to prevent discussions among the many family members, a policy was established in early 1972 that no
Porsche family
member is allowed to be involved in the management of the company. Even company founder
Ferry Porsche
, Piech's uncle, only held a seat on the supervisory board of Porsche after the company's legal form was changed from a limited partnership to a private legal company. This made Piech move to Audi after the foundation of his engineering bureau.
Personal life
[
edit
]
Piech reportedly had
12 children
from four different women,
[12]
though an obituary published by
The Detroit News
mentioned him having
13 children
.
[13]
He was married to his second wife Ursula Piech from 1984 to his death, he lived with her in retirement in
Salzburg, Austria
.
[13]
One of his sons, Toni Piech, is the founder of car company
Piech Automotive
. He was
dyslexic
,
[12]
and had a vast car collection that included two
Bugatti Veyrons
regularly driven by him and his wife.
Piech collapsed suddenly on 25 August 2019 while having dinner with his wife in Aschau near
Rosenheim
,
Oberbayern
. He was rushed to hospital, where he was pronounced dead shortly thereafter. A specific cause of death wasn't released.
[14]
Personality and management style
[
edit
]
An engineer by trade, Ferdinand Piech was both known for his intricate involvement in product development from a technical standpoint, as well as his domineering personality. Piech has been behind the development of multiple significant and influential automobiles, including the
Porsche 911
, Third generation (C3)
Audi 100
,
Audi Quattro
and
Bugatti Veyron
. Automotive blog
Jalopnik
said of Piech, "He is the mad genius behind much of Porsche and Audi's racing successes as well as VW's all-out engineering and luxury push from the early 2000s. That's what gave us cars like the Bugatti Veyron and the 12-cylinder VW Phaeton."
[15]
Piech is both noted for turning the
Audi
brand from an also-ran economy car builder to one of the most respected luxury brands in the world, as well as rescuing Volkswagen as a whole from near-bankruptcy and overseeing its transformation into the massive conglomerate it is today.
[16]
Fellow automotive executive
Bob Lutz
described Piech as "one of the most successful leaders in the automotive business"
[17]
and "the greatest living product guy" in the automobile industry.
[18]
Automotive News
described Piech as "a world-class eccentric but a figure of transcendent importance in the history of cars and car companies" who has had "The strangest and possibly most significant automotive industry career this side of
Henry Ford
".
[19]
In their obituary,
The Guardian
said of Piech, "His stewardship of VW has been indisputably successful. Piech will go down in history as an automotive legend, in the same class as
Gottlieb Daimler
, Henry Ford and
Kiichiro Toyoda
."
[20]
Piech has been described as being socially awkward and having an abrasive personality; some automotive journalists who have encountered Piech described him as being uncomfortable to be around.
[21]
[12]
Automotive News
once noted, "Many of his CEO peers said they could not hold a normal conversation with him. Discussions could be punctuated with long stretches of unexplained silence."
[22]
Piech himself has acknowledged that he occasionally struggles to relate to other people and understand their feelings.
[23]
As Piech rose to the top of Volkswagen in the late 1980s and early 1990s, then-CEO
Carl Hahn
took notice of Piech's poor social skills and tried to position him as a
technocrat
kept behind closed doors.
[24]
Hahn was particularly bothered by how Piech behaved during a visit to the
Yasukuni Shrine
; while a
Shinto
priest was showing the shrine's collection of vintage
swords
, Piech examined one and told the priest that it was a fake.
[24]
[a]
Subsequently, Hahn presented the
Audi Avus quattro
concept car
himself at the 1991
Tokyo Motor Show
and didn't allow Piech to take part, which infuriated Piech due to his extensive personal involvement in the Avus quattro's creation.
[24]
Piech was widely interested in pushing technological boundaries in automotive development, especially as the head of Audi.
Automotive News
noted of this, "The company's slogan "Vorsprung durch Technik" was the personification of Piech ? the belief that technology was the answer to all problems in the auto business. Audi was the test bed to prove his theory and the springboard for his ambition."
[19]
Piech often spearheaded the development of audacious vehicles or oversaw business decision and strategies that baffled analysts, but still proved beneficial for the company as a whole.
[16]
In recounting some of the extraordinary vehicles Volkswagen put in production under Piech's watch,
Wired
noted that he alone pushed the
Bugatti Veyron
supercar into production, despite objection from other executives as well as the fact that Volkswagen lost what is believed to be millions on every Veyron sold:
[25]
"Consider that for a moment. Long past the average retirement age, this gent greenlit one of the largest automotive losses in history and managed to keep his job. Moreover, he was hailed as a hero."
[25]
An aggressive and demanding manager, Piech was known for setting both lofty and extremely specific goals and standards for projects. An example of this is with the development of the
Volkswagen Phaeton
luxury car
, in which Piech laid out ten parameters the car had to meet, amongst them being that the Phaeton should be capable of being driven all day at 300 km/h (186 mph) with an exterior temperature of 50
°C
(122
°F
) whilst maintaining the interior temperature at 22 °C (72 °F).
[26]
Piech requested this even though the Phaeton's top speed was electronically limited to 250 km/h (155.3 mph).
[27]
Another requirement was that the car should possess torsional rigidity of 37,000
N·m
/
degree
. Piech would often become personally involved in vehicle development, such as how he oversaw the development of the
Audi 100
's aerodynamics himself, keeping it secret from even Audi's top engineers to prevent any crucial details of the car's aerodynamic capabilities from leaking to competitors.
[20]
Piech often liked to ride along with automotive journalists during press test drives and would consider their critiques to improve Volkswagen's vehicles.
Car and Driver
writer John Phillips recounted how when he test drove the
Volkswagen New Beetle
during its launch in 1997, Piech rode along and asked for his opinion on how its chassis and driving dynamics could be improved.
[21]
Similarly, Piech once demanded that an
Automobile
reviewer take the Volkswagen Phaeton up to its top speed while he rode along in the back seat.
[12]
With a leadership style described as "old fashioned",
[17]
Piech was known for his prolific firing of subordinates throughout his career, particularly how he engineered the ousting of former Volkswagen CEO
Bernd Pischetsrieder
and Porsche CEO
Wendelin Wiedeking
.
[12]
According to Piech, he fired any subordinate who "makes the same mistake twice".
[12]
The Guardian
noted, "Piech was known for his ability to outmanoeuvre competitors by stoking internal rivalries to his own advantage, even if it resulted in turning against his own managers, including the VW chief executive Bernd Pischetsrieder, to side with VW's labour leaders."
[20]
Piech leveraged this reputation to use threats and intimidation to get subordinates to meet his lofty goals; during Piech's induction into the
Automotive Hall of Fame
in 2014, fellow automotive executive Bob Lutz recounted a conversation he had with Piech at the
Frankfurt Auto Show
in the early 1990s, in which he remarked how he was impressed with the fit and finish and tight body tolerances on Volkswagen's new models. Piech told Lutz that he achieved this by assembling Volkswagen's top body engineers in his office and telling them they would all be fired if all of Volkswagen's vehicles didn't have body tolerances of 3
millimeters
within six weeks.
[17]
Wired
described Piech as "Machiavellian" and "an autocrat's autocrat".
[25]
Bob Lutz said of his management style, "It's what I call a reign of terror and a culture where performance was driven by fear and intimidation[...]That management style gets short-term results, but it's a culture that's extremely dangerous. Look at dictators. Dictators invariably wind up destroying the very countries they thought their omniscience and omnipotence would make great. It's fast and it's efficient, but at huge risk."
[28]
He would also describe Piech as a "mad genius" that while he respected, he would never want to work for or with at any capacity.
[18]
Lutz,
CNBC
, the American
documentary
TV series
Dirty Money
, among others, have claimed that the
Volkswagen diesel emissions scandal
is the result of the ruthless and tyrannical corporate culture Piech installed at the company.
[29]
[28]
[23]
Although Piech had tried a hostile takeover against
Suzuki
in 2010 and threatened its management, Suzuki won the case to terminate its partnership with Volkswagen at the
International Court of Arbitration
of the
International Chamber of Commerce
after Piech fell from power, and could dissolve the capital tie-up until September 2015.
[30]
Awards
[
edit
]
Notes
[
edit
]
- ^
Piech was correct; The Emperor would later have the sword examined by experts and they confirmed that it was fake.
References
[
edit
]
- ^
"Ferdinand Piech resigns, ending an era at Volkswagen"
.
Reuters
. 25 April 2015.
Archived
from the original on 15 November 2015
. Retrieved
1 July
2017
.
- ^
a
b
"DGAP-Ad hoc: Volkswagen AG Vz. (VW AG)"
.
finanzen.net
.
Archived
from the original on 27 April 2015
. Retrieved
25 April
2015
.
- ^
"Ehemaliger VW-Chef Ferdinand Piech ist tot"
.
FOCUS Online
(in German).
Archived
from the original on 26 August 2019
. Retrieved
26 August
2019
.
- ^
Piech, Ferdinand.
"Ferdinand Piech"
.
- ^
Piech, Ferdinand.
"Volkswagen mourns death of Ferdinand Piech"
.
- ^
"Volkswagen chairman Ferdinand Piech quits in power struggle"
.
BBC News
. 25 April 2015.
Archived
from the original on 26 April 2015
. Retrieved
25 April
2015
.
- ^
Auerbach, David (1 October 2015).
"Volkswagen's Villains"
. Slate.com
. Retrieved
7 June
2024
.
- ^
Cobb, James G. (24 December 1999).
"This Just In: Model T Gets Award"
.
The New York Times
.
Archived
from the original on 6 March 2009
. Retrieved
8 May
2008
.
- ^
"Personalien: Ferdinand Piech".
Auto, Motor und Sport
. Heft 9 1977: Seite 7. 27 April 1977.
- ^
Kapoor, Rahul (27 August 2019).
"Former VW head, Ferdinand Piech passes away: Here's how he turned the company from rags to riches"
.
The Financial Express
. Retrieved
30 August
2019
.
- ^
Ferdinand Piech new chairman of the Scania Board
Archived
27 September 2007 at the
Wayback Machine
24 May 2000, Scania.com.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
Ferdinand Piech ? 2011 Man of the Year ? Automobile Magazine
Archived
19 November 2010 at the
Wayback Machine
Retrieved 16 November 2010.
- ^
a
b
"Ferdinand Piech, Longtime Volksawgen Patriarch Dies"
. Archived from
the original
on 27 August 2019
. Retrieved
28 August
2019
.
- ^
Ferdinand Piech, Long Time VW Patriarch Dies at 82
- ^
Orlove, Raphael (8 February 2017).
"This Latest Revelation About Dieselgate Is Kind Of Insane"
.
Jalopnik
.
Archived
from the original on 16 July 2017
. Retrieved
20 May
2019
.
- ^
a
b
George, Patrick (28 April 2015).
"The Mad Genius Of VW's Former Chairman And His Legacy Of Audacious Cars"
.
Jalopnik
.
Archived
from the original on 2 August 2019
. Retrieved
20 May
2019
.
- ^
a
b
c
"Ferdinand K. Piech 2014 Induction Video"
.
Archived
from the original on 4 May 2016
. Retrieved
20 May
2019
– via www.youtube.com.
- ^
a
b
"Bob Lutz on Ferdinand Piech - "An Autocrat's Autocrat"
"
.
Archived
from the original on 12 December 2021 – via www.youtube.com.
- ^
a
b
"A bitter end for Ferdinand Piech"
.
Automotive News
. 27 March 2017.
- ^
a
b
c
Ferdinand Piech, Porche Partiarch and VW Saviour Dies at 82
- ^
a
b
John Phillips: We're Not Done With You Yet, Piech
- ^
A Bitter End For Ferdinand Piech
- ^
a
b
Dirty Money
Season 1, episode 1, "Hard NOx". Released January 26, 2018.
- ^
a
b
c
Keller, Maryann (1 September 1993).
Collision: GM, Toyota, Volkswagen and the Race to Own the 21st Century
. Currency Doubleday.
ISBN
978-0385467773
.
- ^
a
b
c
Smith, Sam (23 April 2015).
"The Crazy Schemes of the World's Most Surprising Car Exec"
.
Wired
.
Archived
from the original on 23 December 2016
. Retrieved
20 May
2019
– via www.wired.com.
- ^
"Volkswagen 2009 Phaeton - Beijing show: VW facelifts Phaeton ? again"
.
GoAuto
. GoAutoMedia. 23 April 2010.
Archived
from the original on 1 April 2012
. Retrieved
4 October
2010
.
- ^
Top Gear
Series 2 Episode 10, July 20, 2003
- ^
a
b
One Man Established the Culture That Led to VW's Emissions Scandal
- ^
Volkswagen's Uniquely Awful Governance At Fault in Emissions Scandal
- ^
Takaki Nakanishi (21 January 2016).
"スズキの?運、宿敵の失脚を?てVWに逆?勝訴"
[Good luck of Suzuki: Reverse victory after the enemy Piech fell from power].
The Nikkei
(in Japanese)
. Retrieved
18 March
2021
.
- ^
Editor, OGV. (2015). Wilhelm Exner Medal. Austrian Trade Association. OGV. Austria.
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