2019-10-01_CAR_UK

(Marty) #1
Ferdinand Piëch

RIP: the cars were

everything

1937-2019


A demanding boss. A tricky personality. But the man who made
VW what it is today truly understood cars. By Gavin Green

F


erdinand Piëch, who died on 25 August
aged 82, was the most outstanding
car boss and engineer of the past 50
years. While it’s true that he rescued
Volkswagen as a business, he is better known,
and certainly more admired, for his engineering
vision and ambition.
Piëch’s main goal was to make great cars.
And that meant being bold, taking risks and
following his instincts. This is a rare trinity
in today’s car boardrooms. Like Steve Jobs, he
believed great products meant good profits.
Under his leadership, from 1993, Volkswagen’s
cars improved enormously. He also transformed
VW from near-bankruptcy to the world’s
largest and most successful car maker. He was
responsible for expanding the family to include
Seat and Skoda, Bentley and Lamborghini, plus
the rebirth of Bugatti. And, more recently, Piëch


  • grandson of Ferdinand Porsche – helped VW
    take control of the Porsche business.
    His financial masterstroke was platform
    sharing, a brilliant way to cut costs by sharing
    expensive components. This helped VW invest
    money in other important areas, not least much-
    improved cabin plastics. It also had the happy
    corollary of enabling the VW Group to produce
    a much larger range of quality cars. The first
    Continental GT, the car that revived Bentley’s
    fortunes, rode on a VW Phaeton platform.
    Piëch’s genius helped to transform the grand old
    lady of British motoring from a ’60s leftover of
    antiquated if stately cars into the world’s best-
    selling luxury car brand.


The Bugatti Veyron expressed Piëch’s almost
monomaniacal vision even better. He was
determined to build the world’s fastest and most
powerful car, as a way of reviving the great old
Bugatti name. The Veyron did so. And although
Bugatti could never turn a profit short-term,
Piëch saw the bigger picture – one of the key
qualities that differentiated Piëch from most
car chiefs. He saw the brand benefits of making
a truly standalone car, perched at the very
summit of automotive technology. He saw also
that the engineering challenge would benefit
VW Group cars. Is it any wonder that Bentleys
are consistently the fastest cars in their classes?
Veyron engineering lessons have also helped
Audi and Porsche, VW’s most profitable brands.
The roll call of great Piëch cars is long and
distinguished. He was responsible for the 917,
probably the greatest sports racer of all, which
won Le Mans in 1970 and 1971. A Can Am racing
spin off in America, the 917/30, proved equally
successful, both on the track and in garnering
publicity. Many at Porsche thought him
financially reckless to spend so much on a single
car – an accusation frequently levelled at Piëch
by those more cautious and less capable. Instead,
the 917 helped to transform Porsche from a
middling maker of sports cars into a genuine
Ferrari rival, and a highly profitable company.
While engineering boss and then CEO of Audi
from 1972 to 1993, he transformed the Bavarian
brand from a maker of undistinguished tinselled
VWs into a genuine rival to BMW and Mercedes-
Benz. Yes, the marketing was clever and so ⊲

Insider

26 CARMAGAZINE.CO.UK | OCTOBER 2019

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