Former VW boss and visionary Piech dies at 82
Former Volkswagen boss Ferdinand Piech, who has died at 82, was the autocratic heir of a motoring dynasty who drove VW from the brink of bankruptcy to a global empire.
He was celebrated as a visionary corporate leader and brilliant engineer who knew every model leaving the production line down to the last bolt.
But the man with the steel-blue eyes was also a ruthless manager and master of intrigue.
During his career of more than half a century, he turned VW into a 13-brand pillar of the German economy, now with 660,000 employees.
But in the end he left it in anger in 2015, shortly before the company faced its worstever crisis with the “dieselgate” scandal.
News weekly Der Spiegel dubbed him the “Engineer of power ... a brilliant technician and Machiavellian master”.
Ferdinand Karl Piech was born in Vienna, Austria, on April 17 1937.
His father, Anton, ran the VW plant founded by Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler during World War 2.
His mother, Louise, was the daughter of Ferdinand Porsche.
As a child, Piech battled dyslexia, but went on to study mechanical engineering.
He started at Stuttgart-based Porsche and oversaw the design of the iconic Porsche 917.
Two years later, he switched to Audi, turning it into a premium carmaker that could compete with BMW and Daimler’s Mercedes.
Piech then applied his magic to VW, taking over in 1993 when it suffered massive losses.
He streamlined production and rapidly boosted profits.
He ran the company until 2002 and retired at 65, but he remained on its supervisory board until 2015 – having grown VW into a conglomerate that now includes brands Bentley, SEAT, Skoda, Bugatti and Lamborghini.
Piech, who had 12 children from different relationships, collapsed in a restaurant in Bavaria on Sunday and died in hospital.