Ferdinand Piëch
Encyclopedia
Ferdinand Karl Piëch is an Austrian
business magnate
, engineer and executive who is currently the chairman of the supervisory board of Volkswagen Group
.
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 company. Piech eventually became the head of Audi, where is credited with turning Audi into a credible competitor to Mercedes-Benz
and BMW
thanks in part to innovative designs such as the Quattro
and 5000. 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
, Skoda
, SEAT
and Audi
brands into a ladder-type structure similar to that used by Alfred Sloan at General Motors
. Piech was forced into retirement at age 65 per Volkswagen company policy, but has remained on its supervisory board and is still involved in the company's strategic decisions.
An engineer by trade, Piech has been behind the creation of numerous iconic and influential cars, including the Audi Quattro
, Volkswagen New Beetle
, Audi R8, Lamborghini Gallardo
, Volkswagen Phaeton
, and most notably, the Bugatti Veyron
, which as of 2011 is the fastest, most powerful and most expensive road legal automobile ever built. Due to his influence on the automobile industry, Piëch was named the Car Executive of the Century
in 1999.
, Austria, Piëch 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 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
, Germany. Starting from 1975, he was manager of technological engineering, being responsible for the concepts of the Audi 80
and Audi 100
. 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
. In 1977 he also began 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.
Piëch 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 logitudinally mounted inline engines and front wheel drive. More conservative layouts with 6 cylinders were abolished because of engineering and production costs (v6-engine) and packaging requirements (straight 6 did not fit because front wheel drive required that it be mounted in front of the axis).
In 1993, Piëch moved to Volkswagen AG, parent company of the Volkswagen Group
, where he became Chairman
of the Board of Management, succeeding Dr. Carl Hahn
. He retired from the Board of Management in 2002, but as Chairman of the Supervisory Board
, he still serves in an advisory capacity.
In 2000, he was named chairman of Scania AB. He retired from the management board in 2002 and succeeded as chairman by Bernd Pischetsrieder
.
While head of Volkswagen Group
, Piëch was known for his aggressive moves into other markets. He drove the Volkswagen and Audi brand
s upmarket with great success. Piëch 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
carbuilding operation, VW was denied the use of the Rolls-Royce name. Piëch later claimed that he only really wanted the Bentley brand, but at the time the loss of Rolls to rival BMW
was widely seen as a major failure.
What was not a failure, however, was his effort to rescue Volkswagen in North America
. Dr. Hahn's previous efforts to regain market share in the United States
and Canada
– which he had built up as the head of Volkswagen of America from 1958 to 1965 – were to no avail, but Piech helped reverse VW's fortunes by agreeing to the manufacture of the Volkswagen New Beetle
, the introduction of which in 1998 gave Volkswagen of America a much needed momentum.
Due to his continued influence in the auto industry Automobile Magazine
announced that Piëch has won their Man of the Year award for 2011.
was moved from the left to the right, as this gives advantages on the predominantly clockwise race tracks. After making mainly small 2000 cc race cars that were supposed to be closely related to road cars, Porsche made a risky investment by unexpectedly building twenty-five 5000 cc 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, Piëch 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. Piëch 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, Piëch insisted on the very ambitious Bugatti Veyron
, with a turbocharged W16
-cylinder, 987 hp and 407 kilometre per hour top speed. Some of these figures are still not higher than those of the Porsche 917/30, but higher than most current racing cars. Piëch 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.
, 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, Piëch'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 Piëch move to Audi
after the foundation of his engineering bureau.
, an atheist
and has a vast car collection that includes two Bugatti Veyron
s that are regularly driven by him and his wife. An aggressive and demanding manager, Piech's prolific firing of subordinates throughout his career has been legendary in automotive circles, particularly how he engineered the ouster of former Volkswagen CEO Bernd Pischetsrieder
and Porsche CEO Wendelin Wiedeking
. According to Piech, he fires any subordinate who "makes the same mistake twice".
Austrians
Austrians are a nation and ethnic group, consisting of the population of the Republic of Austria and its historical predecessor states who share a common Austrian culture and Austrian descent....
business magnate
Business magnate
A business magnate, sometimes referred to as a capitalist, czar, mogul, tycoon, baron, oligarch, or industrialist, is an informal term used to refer to an entrepreneur who has reached prominence and derived a notable amount of wealth from a particular industry .-Etymology:The word magnate itself...
, engineer and executive who is currently the chairman of the supervisory board of Volkswagen Group
Volkswagen Group
Volkswagen Group is a German multinational automobile manufacturing group. , Volkswagen was ranked as the world’s third largest motor vehicle manufacturer and Europe's largest....
.
A grandson of Ferdinand Porsche
Ferdinand Porsche
Ferdinand Porsche was an Austrian automotive engineer and honorary Doctor of Engineering. He is best known for creating the first hybrid vehicle , the Volkswagen Beetle, and the Mercedes-Benz SS/SSK, as well as the first of many Porsche automobiles...
, Piech started his career at Porsche
Porsche
Porsche Automobil Holding SE, usually shortened to Porsche SE a Societas Europaea or European Public Company, is a German based holding company with investments in the automotive industry....
, 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 company. Piech eventually became the head of Audi, where is credited with turning Audi into a credible competitor to Mercedes-Benz
Mercedes-Benz
Mercedes-Benz is a German manufacturer of automobiles, buses, coaches, and trucks. Mercedes-Benz is a division of its parent company, Daimler AG...
and BMW
BMW
Bayerische Motoren Werke AG is a German automobile, motorcycle and engine manufacturing company founded in 1916. It also owns and produces the Mini marque, and is the parent company of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars. BMW produces motorcycles under BMW Motorrad and Husqvarna brands...
thanks in part to innovative designs such as the Quattro
Audi Quattro
The Audi Quattro is a road and rally car, produced by the German automobile manufacturer Audi, now part of the Volkswagen Group. It was first shown at the 1980 Geneva Motor Show on 3 March.The word quattro is derived from the Italian word for "four"...
and 5000. In 1993, Piech became the chairman and CEO of Volkswagen Group
Volkswagen Group
Volkswagen Group is a German multinational automobile manufacturing group. , Volkswagen was ranked as the world’s third largest motor vehicle manufacturer and Europe's largest....
, which he is credited with turning into the large conglomerate it is today; He oversaw the purchase of Lamborghini
Lamborghini
Automobili Lamborghini S.p.A., commonly referred to as Lamborghini , is an Italian car manufacturer. The company was founded by manufacturing magnate Ferruccio Lamborghini in 1963, with the objective of producing a refined grand touring car to compete with established offerings from marques like...
and Bentley
Bentley
Bentley Motors Limited is a British manufacturer of automobiles founded on 18 January 1919 by Walter Owen Bentley known as W.O. Bentley or just "W O". Bentley had been previously known for his range of rotary aero-engines in World War I, the most famous being the Bentley BR1 as used in later...
, as well as the founding of Bugatti Automobiles, all of which he integrated with the Volkswagen
Volkswagen
Volkswagen is a German automobile manufacturer and is the original and biggest-selling marque of the Volkswagen Group, which now also owns the Audi, Bentley, Bugatti, Lamborghini, SEAT, and Škoda marques and the truck manufacturer Scania.Volkswagen means "people's car" in German, where it is...
, Skoda
Škoda Auto
Škoda Auto , more commonly known as Škoda, is an automobile manufacturer based in the Czech Republic. Škoda became a wholly owned subsidiary of the Volkswagen Group in 2000, positioned as the entry brand to the group...
, SEAT
SEAT
SEAT, S.A. is a Spanish automobile manufacturer founded on May 9, 1950 by the Instituto Nacional de Industria , a state-owned industrial holding company....
and Audi
Audi
Audi AG is a German automobile manufacturer, from supermini to crossover SUVs in various body styles and price ranges that are marketed under the Audi brand , positioned as the premium brand within the Volkswagen Group....
brands into a ladder-type structure similar to that used by Alfred Sloan at General Motors
General Motors
General Motors Company , commonly known as GM, formerly incorporated as General Motors Corporation, is an American multinational automotive corporation headquartered in Detroit, Michigan and the world's second-largest automaker in 2010...
. Piech was forced into retirement at age 65 per Volkswagen company policy, but has remained on its supervisory board and is still involved in the company's strategic decisions.
An engineer by trade, Piech has been behind the creation of numerous iconic and influential cars, including the Audi Quattro
Audi Quattro
The Audi Quattro is a road and rally car, produced by the German automobile manufacturer Audi, now part of the Volkswagen Group. It was first shown at the 1980 Geneva Motor Show on 3 March.The word quattro is derived from the Italian word for "four"...
, Volkswagen New Beetle
Volkswagen New Beetle
-Specifications:*Dimension:**Length: **Width: **Height: **Wheelbase: **Curb weight: *Max speed: 177–210 km/h *Acceleration : 6.5-13.2 sec-Body styles:-Engine choices:-Safety:...
, Audi R8, Lamborghini Gallardo
Lamborghini Gallardo
The Lamborghini Gallardo is a sports car built by Lamborghini. The Gallardo is Lamborghini's most-produced model to date, with over 10,000 built in its first seven years of production...
, Volkswagen Phaeton
Volkswagen Phaeton
The Volkswagen Phaeton is a full-size luxury sedan/saloon manufactured by German automaker Volkswagen, and is described by Volkswagen as their "premium class" vehicle...
, and most notably, the Bugatti Veyron
Bugatti Veyron
The Bugatti Veyron EB 16.4 is a mid-engined grand touring car. The Super Sport version is the fastest road-legal production car in the world, with a top speed of . The original version has a top speed of...
, which as of 2011 is the fastest, most powerful and most expensive road legal automobile ever built. Due to his influence on the automobile industry, Piëch was named the Car Executive of the Century
Car Executive of the Century
The Car Executive of the Century was an international award given to the most influential car executive of the 20th century. The election process was overseen by the Global Automotive Elections Foundation....
in 1999.
Biography
Born in ViennaVienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
, Austria, Piëch studied at the Lyceum Alpinum Zuoz
Lyceum Alpinum Zuoz
Lyceum Alpinum Zuoz is a private preparatory school and international boarding school located in the village of Zuoz in the Engadin valley in Switzerland. Since its founding in 1904, it has catered to an international student body. Currently 40% of its students come from Switzerland, 35% Germany...
and graduated from the ETH Zurich
ETH Zurich
The Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich or ETH Zürich is an engineering, science, technology, mathematics and management university in the City of Zurich, Switzerland....
, Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
in 1962, with a degree in mechanical engineering, having written a master thesis about the development of a Formula One
Formula One
Formula One, also known as Formula 1 or F1 and referred to officially as the FIA Formula One World Championship, is the highest class of single seater auto racing sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile . The "formula" designation in the name refers to a set of rules with which...
(F1) engine. At the same time, Porsche was involved in F1 and developed an 8-cylinder for the Porsche 804
Porsche 804
The Porsche 804 was a Formula One racing car produced in , following the 718 and 787.The flat-8 air-cooled engine powered car developed 180 hp at 9,200 rpm gave Porsche its only F1 wins as a chassis maker, at the 1962 French Grand Prix, and at the Solituderennen at Castle Solitude in Stuttgart,...
.
From 1963 to 1971, he worked at Porsche
Porsche
Porsche Automobil Holding SE, usually shortened to Porsche SE a Societas Europaea or European Public Company, is a German based holding company with investments in the automotive industry....
in Stuttgart
Stuttgart
Stuttgart is the capital of the state of Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. The sixth-largest city in Germany, Stuttgart has a population of 600,038 while the metropolitan area has a population of 5.3 million ....
, on the development of the Porsche 906
Porsche 906
The Porsche 906 or Carrera 6 was the last street-legal racing car from Porsche. It was announced in January 1966 and 50 examples were subsequently produced, thus meeting the homologation requirements of the FIA's new Group 4 Sports Car category to the letter...
and following models that led to the successful Porsche 917
Porsche 917
The Porsche 917 is a racecar that gave Porsche its first overall wins at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1970 and 1971. Powered by the Type 912 flat-12 engine of 4.5, 4.9, or 5 litres, the 917/30 variant was capable of a 0- time of 2.3 seconds, 0– in 5.3 seconds, and a top speed of over .There are 6...
. In 1972, he moved to Audi
Audi
Audi AG is a German automobile manufacturer, from supermini to crossover SUVs in various body styles and price ranges that are marketed under the Audi brand , positioned as the premium brand within the Volkswagen Group....
in Ingolstadt
Ingolstadt
Ingolstadt is a city in the Free State of Bavaria, in the Federal Republic of Germany. It is located along the banks of the Danube River, in the center of Bavaria. As at 31 March 2011, Ingolstadt had 125.407 residents...
, Germany. Starting from 1975, he was manager of technological engineering, being responsible for the concepts of the Audi 80
Audi 80
The Audi 80 is a compact executive car produced by the German car manufacturer Audi, from 1966 to 1996. It shared its platform with the Volkswagen Passat from 1973 to 1986 and was available as a saloon car/sedan, and an Avant...
and Audi 100
Audi 100
The restyled C2 Audi 100 was launched in 1976, with an in-line five-cylinder engine...
. He celebrated his 40th birthday on 17 April 1977 with a ball at which guests included Giorgetto Giugiaro
Giorgetto Giugiaro
Giorgetto Giugiaro is an Italian automobile designer responsible equally for a stable of supercars and several of the most popular everyday vehicles driven today...
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
Marzipan
Marzipan is a confection consisting primarily of sugar and almond meal. Persipan is a similar, yet less expensive product, in which the almonds are replaced by apricot or peach kernels...
. In 1977 he also began the development of a car for the World Rally Championship
World Rally Championship
The World Rally Championship is a rallying series organised by the FIA, culminating with a champion driver and manufacturer. The driver's world championship and manufacturer's world championship are separate championships, but based on the same point system. The series currently consists of 13...
, resulting in the four-wheel drive
Four-wheel drive
Four-wheel drive, 4WD, or 4×4 is a four-wheeled vehicle with a drivetrain that allows all four wheels to receive torque from the engine simultaneously...
Audi Quattro
Audi Quattro
The Audi Quattro is a road and rally car, produced by the German automobile manufacturer Audi, now part of the Volkswagen Group. It was first shown at the 1980 Geneva Motor Show on 3 March.The word quattro is derived from the Italian word for "four"...
. The engine used in the Quattro model was a turbocharged
Turbocharger
A turbocharger, or turbo , from the Greek "τύρβη" is a centrifugal compressor powered by a turbine that is driven by an engine's exhaust gases. Its benefit lies with the compressor increasing the mass of air entering the engine , thereby resulting in greater performance...
inline-5
Straight-5
The straight-five engine or inline-five engine is an internal combustion engine with five cylinders aligned in one row or plane, sharing a single engine block and crankcase...
cylinder unit.
Piëch 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
Diesel engine
A diesel engine is an internal combustion engine that uses the heat of compression to initiate ignition to burn the fuel, which is injected into the combustion chamber...
for Mercedes-Benz
Mercedes-Benz
Mercedes-Benz is a German manufacturer of automobiles, buses, coaches, and trucks. Mercedes-Benz is a division of its parent company, Daimler AG...
. 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 logitudinally mounted inline engines and front wheel drive. More conservative layouts with 6 cylinders were abolished because of engineering and production costs (v6-engine) and packaging requirements (straight 6 did not fit because front wheel drive required that it be mounted in front of the axis).
In 1993, Piëch moved to Volkswagen AG, parent company of the Volkswagen Group
Volkswagen Group
Volkswagen Group is a German multinational automobile manufacturing group. , Volkswagen was ranked as the world’s third largest motor vehicle manufacturer and Europe's largest....
, where he became Chairman
Chair (official)
The chairman is the highest officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office is typically elected or appointed by the members of the group. The chairman presides over meetings of the assembled group and conducts its business in an...
of the Board of Management, succeeding Dr. Carl Hahn
Carl Hahn
Dr. Carl Horst Hahn is chairman emeritus of the automotive concern Volkswagen Group. He served as the Chairman of the Board of Management of the group's parent company, Volkswagen AG from 1982 to 1993...
. He retired from the Board of Management in 2002, but as Chairman of the Supervisory Board
Supervisory board
A supervisory board or supervisory committee, often called board of directors, is a group of individuals chosen by the stockholders of a company to promote their interests through the governance of the company and to hire and supervise the executive directors and CEO.Corporate governance varies...
, he still serves in an advisory capacity.
In 2000, he was named chairman of Scania AB. He retired from the management board in 2002 and succeeded as chairman by Bernd Pischetsrieder
Bernd Pischetsrieder
Dr. Bernd Peter Pischetsrieder is a German automobile engineer and manager.He was born in Munich, Bavaria, and studied Mechanical Engineering at the Technical University of Munich from 1968 to 1972. He earned the degree of "Diplom-Ingenieur", and began his career at BMW in 1973 as a Production...
.
While head of Volkswagen Group
Volkswagen Group
Volkswagen Group is a German multinational automobile manufacturing group. , Volkswagen was ranked as the world’s third largest motor vehicle manufacturer and Europe's largest....
, Piëch was known for his aggressive moves into other markets. He drove the Volkswagen and Audi brand
Brand
The American Marketing Association defines a brand as a "Name, term, design, symbol, or any other feature that identifies one seller's good or service as distinct from those of other sellers."...
s upmarket with great success. Piëch also pursued other marques, successfully acquiring Lamborghini
Lamborghini
Automobili Lamborghini S.p.A., commonly referred to as Lamborghini , is an Italian car manufacturer. The company was founded by manufacturing magnate Ferruccio Lamborghini in 1963, with the objective of producing a refined grand touring car to compete with established offerings from marques like...
for Audi, and establishing Bugatti Automobiles SAS
Bugatti Automobiles SAS
Bugatti Automobiles S.A.S. is an automobile manufacturer located in Molsheim, Alsace, France. It is owned by the German automobile manufacturing group Volkswagen Group as a subsidiary of Volkswagen France...
. His purchase of British Rolls-Royce
Rolls-Royce Motors
Rolls-Royce Motors was created from the de-merger of the Rolls-Royce car business from Rolls-Royce Limited in 1973. The original Rolls-Royce Limited had been nationalised in 1971 due to the financial collapse of the company, caused in part by the development of the RB211 jet engine...
and Bentley
Bentley
Bentley Motors Limited is a British manufacturer of automobiles founded on 18 January 1919 by Walter Owen Bentley known as W.O. Bentley or just "W O". Bentley had been previously known for his range of rotary aero-engines in World War I, the most famous being the Bentley BR1 as used in later...
was more controversial. After successfully buying the Crewe
Crewe
Crewe is a railway town within the unitary authority area of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. According to the 2001 census the urban area had a population of 67,683...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
carbuilding operation, VW was denied the use of the Rolls-Royce name. Piëch later claimed that he only really wanted the Bentley brand, but at the time the loss of Rolls to rival BMW
BMW
Bayerische Motoren Werke AG is a German automobile, motorcycle and engine manufacturing company founded in 1916. It also owns and produces the Mini marque, and is the parent company of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars. BMW produces motorcycles under BMW Motorrad and Husqvarna brands...
was widely seen as a major failure.
What was not a failure, however, was his effort to rescue Volkswagen in North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
. Dr. Hahn's previous efforts to regain market share in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
– which he had built up as the head of Volkswagen of America from 1958 to 1965 – were to no avail, but Piech helped reverse VW's fortunes by agreeing to the manufacture of the Volkswagen New Beetle
Volkswagen New Beetle
-Specifications:*Dimension:**Length: **Width: **Height: **Wheelbase: **Curb weight: *Max speed: 177–210 km/h *Acceleration : 6.5-13.2 sec-Body styles:-Engine choices:-Safety:...
, the introduction of which in 1998 gave Volkswagen of America a much needed momentum.
Due to his continued influence in the auto industry Automobile Magazine
Automobile Magazine
Automobile magazine is an automobile magazine in the United States and is owned by Source Interlink. It was founded by a group of former employees of Car and Driver magazine, led by that publications’s former editor, David E. Davis, and originally published by News Corporation...
announced that Piëch has won their Man of the Year award for 2011.
Engineering
At Porsche, Piëch triggered significant changes in the company's policy. For example, the position of drivers in race carsAuto racing
Auto racing is a motorsport involving the racing of cars for competition. It is one of the world's most watched televised sports.-The beginning of racing:...
was moved from the left to the right, as this gives advantages on the predominantly clockwise race tracks. After making mainly small 2000 cc race cars that were supposed to be closely related to road cars, Porsche made a risky investment by unexpectedly building twenty-five 5000 cc Porsche 917
Porsche 917
The Porsche 917 is a racecar that gave Porsche its first overall wins at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1970 and 1971. Powered by the Type 912 flat-12 engine of 4.5, 4.9, or 5 litres, the 917/30 variant was capable of a 0- time of 2.3 seconds, 0– in 5.3 seconds, and a top speed of over .There are 6...
, surprising the rule makers at the FIA. Even Ferrari
Ferrari
Ferrari S.p.A. is an Italian sports car manufacturer based in Maranello, Italy. Founded by Enzo Ferrari in 1929, as Scuderia Ferrari, the company sponsored drivers and manufactured race cars before moving into production of street-legal vehicles as Ferrari S.p.A. in 1947...
had needed to sell his company to Fiat
Fiat
FIAT, an acronym for Fabbrica Italiana Automobili Torino , is an Italian automobile manufacturer, engine manufacturer, financial, and industrial group based in Turin in the Italian region of Piedmont. Fiat was founded in 1899 by a group of investors including Giovanni Agnelli...
before making such a move. Always thinking big, Piëch 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
Auto Union
Auto Union was an amalgamation of four German automobile manufacturers, founded in 1932 and established in 1936 in Chemnitz, Saxony, during the Great Depression. The company has evolved into present day Audi, as a subsidiary of Volkswagen Group....
racing cars in the 1930s. Piëch 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, Piëch insisted on the very ambitious Bugatti Veyron
Bugatti Veyron
The Bugatti Veyron EB 16.4 is a mid-engined grand touring car. The Super Sport version is the fastest road-legal production car in the world, with a top speed of . The original version has a top speed of...
, with a turbocharged W16
W16 engine
A W16 engine is a sixteen cylinder piston internal combustion engine in a four-bank W configuration. All W16 engines consist of two 'offset double-row' banks of eight cylinders, coupled to a single crankshaft....
-cylinder, 987 hp and 407 kilometre per hour top speed. Some of these figures are still not higher than those of the Porsche 917/30, but higher than most current racing cars. Piëch was also behind the Volkswagen Phaeton
Volkswagen Phaeton
The Volkswagen Phaeton is a full-size luxury sedan/saloon manufactured by German automaker Volkswagen, and is described by Volkswagen as their "premium class" vehicle...
luxury saloon, which was intended as a rival to other German luxury cars, but the sales of the model have been disappointing.
Porsche ownership
Piëch owns a significant share of PorschePorsche
Porsche Automobil Holding SE, usually shortened to Porsche SE a Societas Europaea or European Public Company, is a German based holding company with investments in the automotive industry....
, exactly 10%. In order to prevent discussions among the many family members, a policy was established in early 1972 that no Porsche family
Porsche family
The Porsche family is a prominent German family of industrialists descending from the Austrian automotive pioneer Ferdinand Porsche. Its members own a significant share of the Porsche automobile corporation.-Other members:...
member is allowed to be involved in the management of the company. Even company founder Ferry Porsche, Piëch'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 Piëch move to Audi
Audi
Audi AG is a German automobile manufacturer, from supermini to crossover SUVs in various body styles and price ranges that are marketed under the Audi brand , positioned as the premium brand within the Volkswagen Group....
after the foundation of his engineering bureau.
Personal Life and Management Style
Piech has fathered 12 children with four different women, and is currently married to Uschi Piech. He is dyslexicDyslexia
Dyslexia is a very broad term defining a learning disability that impairs a person's fluency or comprehension accuracy in being able to read, and which can manifest itself as a difficulty with phonological awareness, phonological decoding, orthographic coding, auditory short-term memory, or rapid...
, an atheist
Atheism
Atheism is, in a broad sense, the rejection of belief in the existence of deities. In a narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there are no deities...
and has a vast car collection that includes two Bugatti Veyron
Bugatti Veyron
The Bugatti Veyron EB 16.4 is a mid-engined grand touring car. The Super Sport version is the fastest road-legal production car in the world, with a top speed of . The original version has a top speed of...
s that are regularly driven by him and his wife. An aggressive and demanding manager, Piech's prolific firing of subordinates throughout his career has been legendary in automotive circles, particularly how he engineered the ouster of former Volkswagen CEO Bernd Pischetsrieder
Bernd Pischetsrieder
Dr. Bernd Peter Pischetsrieder is a German automobile engineer and manager.He was born in Munich, Bavaria, and studied Mechanical Engineering at the Technical University of Munich from 1968 to 1972. He earned the degree of "Diplom-Ingenieur", and began his career at BMW in 1973 as a Production...
and Porsche CEO Wendelin Wiedeking
Wendelin Wiedeking
Dr. Wendelin Wiedeking is the former President and Chief Executive Officer of the German car manufacturer, Porsche AG, a post he held from 1993 through July 23, 2009...
. According to Piech, he fires any subordinate who "makes the same mistake twice".