was the use of platform sharing, but Audi was
transformed mostly because it made visionary
cars. The first Quattro of 1980 won rallies and
the quattro label became a key engineering
differentiator over BMWs and Mercedes.
The Audi 100 saloon of 1982 was the most
aerodynamic car on sale. And, with its innovative
(and expensive) flush glazing, it looked it.
The A2 that followed in 1999 was the most
avant-garde small car of its day, brilliantly space-
efficient, aerodynamic, economical and made
from aluminium. It never made any money,
but it elevated Audi into a serious player in the
premium small-car market, a position now
profitably exploited by the less ambitious A1.
At Audi, Piëch made the brand a by-word
for galvanised bodies, excellent diesels, the
widespread use of aluminium, and innovative
five-cylinder engines. He had a natural affinity
with Audi. Grandfather Ferdinand may have
been better known for engineering the first
Beetle, but he also designed the magnificent
16-cylinder Auto Unions that dominated Grand
Prix racing in the late ’30s. Audi sprung out of
Auto Union, and uses the same four-ring logo.
One of my favourite Piëch cars, and a sure sign
of his eccentricity and his genius, was the 2013 VW
XL1. A brilliantly aerodynamic and lightweight
two-seater, it used a plug-in hybrid diesel engine
to achieve 300mpg. It cost £90,000. It did not
prove a sales success but again it showcased the
might of the VW Group’s engineering capability.
This was both the antithesis of, and the perfect
complement to, the Veyron.
Piëch stood down in 2015, a year before VW
become the world’s biggest car maker. He was
at the summit of the company for 22 years, first
as CEO, then as hands-on chairman of the VW
supervisory board. He left just before the VW
emissions scandal erupted. His involvement in
that – if at all – was never disclosed or exposed.
One of his last acts was to take Porsche into
the bosom of the VW Group, against the wishes
of many Porsche family members, including
his cousin Wolfgang Porsche, then company
chairman. ‘You can choose your friends,’
Wolfgang Porsche told me, ‘but you cannot
choose your family.’
Piëch was abrasive, enigmatic, short-
tempered, and regularly fell out with senior VW
managers. With his thin lips, piercing blue eyes
and balding head, he looked intimidating, and
he behaved like the eccentric genius he was. He
was aloof and spoke quietly and sparingly, but
always to great effect.
The first time I interviewed him was in the
early ’90s. I’d been told he could be difficult. ‘If he
doesn’t like your question, he may not answer,’
I was warned. Next morning, Piëch turned up
30 minutes late. ‘Don’t forget, he’s Austrian,
not German,’ one of his underlings joked (well
out of Piëch’s earshot). He is probably the most
intimidating car boss I’ve ever interviewed, and
I’m sure that’s the way he liked it.
Next time we met one-to-one, we were in
America for the launch of the new Beetle. The
PR man arranged for Piëch to act as my navigator
on the test route. How incongruous: the world’s
greatest car engineer is giving me left-and-
rights as we test drove a not very good car. His
grandfather may have designed the original
but I always thought Piëch never liked the new
Beetle. As a marketing exercise rather than an
engineering challenge, it was never very him.
Piëch saw himself as the patriarch of the VW
Group. His immediate family was also big: he
had 12 children with four different women.
As well as the greatest car boss of his
generation, he also deserves comparison with
past legends such as Henry Ford, Gottlieb
Daimler, André Citroën, Enzo Ferrari and
Gianni Agnelli. Great car industry leaders are
invariably driven individuals with vision, bravery
and determination. The car industry needs them
now. The closest we have is probably Elon Musk,
an outsider.
As Piëch wrote in his autobiography: ‘First
and foremost I saw myself as a product person,
and relied on gut instinct for market demand.
Business and politics never distracted me from
the core of our mission: to develop and make
attractive cars.’
THREE HIGHLIGHTS OF PIËCH’S UNRIVALLED CV
With his thin lips, piercing blue eyes and
balding head, he looked intimidating, and he
behaved like the eccentric genius he was
Bugatti Veyron 2005
Dismissed as a vanity
project, but the engineering
benefits of the fastest, most
powerful production car
have spread Group-wide.
VW XL1 2013
It was never meant to be a
big seller, but the lightweight
diesel hybrid proved a point
about economy. A happier
legacy than Dieselgate.
Porsche 917 1969
Pivotal to Porsche’s
elevation to serious Ferrari
rivalry, Piëch pushed the
917 through despite much
opposition to the high cost.
Insider
Piëch with his
uncle Ferry
Porsche and a
901’s air-
cooled flat-six
28 CARMAGAZINE.CO.UK | OCTOBER 2019
