Editing Ferdinand Piëch (section)

==Personality and management style==
An engineer by trade, Ferdinand Piëch was both known for his intricate involvement in product development from a technical standpoint, as well as his domineering personality. Piëch 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 Piëch, "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."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://jalopnik.com/this-latest-revelation-about-dieselgate-is-kind-of-insa-1792145655|title=This Latest Revelation About Dieselgate Is Kind of Insane|first=Raphael|last=Orlove|website=Jalopnik|date=8 February 2017 |access-date=20 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170716155806/https://jalopnik.com/this-latest-revelation-about-dieselgate-is-kind-of-insa-1792145655|archive-date=16 July 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> Piëch 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.<ref name ="J">{{Cite web|url=https://jalopnik.com/the-mad-genius-of-vws-former-chairman-and-his-legacy-of-1700463478|title=The Mad Genius of VW's Former Chairman And His Legacy of Audacious Cars|first=Patrick|last=George|website=Jalopnik|date=28 April 2015 |access-date=20 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190802232632/https://jalopnik.com/the-mad-genius-of-vws-former-chairman-and-his-legacy-of-1700463478|archive-date=2 August 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> Fellow automotive executive [[Bob Lutz (businessman)|Bob Lutz]] described Piëch as "one of the most successful leaders in the automotive business"<ref name ="Lutz1" /> and "the greatest living product guy" in the automobile industry.<ref name ="Lutz3">{{Cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YxM4Tw8RcFI |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211212/YxM4Tw8RcFI| archive-date=2021-12-12 |url-status=live|title=Bob Lutz on Ferdinand Piech – "An Autocrat's Autocrat"|date=27 April 2015 |via=YouTube}}{{cbignore}}</ref> ''[[Automotive News]]'' described Piëch 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]]".<ref name ="Autonews">{{Cite web|url=https://www.autonews.com/article/20170327/OEM02/303279959/a-bitter-end-for-ferdinand-piech|title=A bitter end for Ferdinand Piech|date=27 March 2017|website=Automotive News}}</ref> In their obituary, ''[[The Guardian]]'' said of Piëch, "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]]."<ref name = "Guardianobit">[https://www.theguardian.com/business/2019/aug/27/ferdinand-piech-porsche-patriarch-and-vw-saviour-dies-at-82 Ferdinand Piech, Porche Partiarch and VW Saviour Dies at 82]</ref>

Piëch has been described as being socially awkward and having an abrasive personality; some automotive journalists who have encountered Piëch described him as being uncomfortable to be around.<ref name = "CD" /><ref name = "Auto" /> ''[[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."<ref name ="Autonews1">[https://www.autonews.com/article/20170327/OEM02/303279959/a-bitter-end-for-ferdinand-piech A Bitter End For Ferdinand Piech]</ref> Piëch himself has acknowledged that he occasionally struggles to relate to other people and understand their feelings.<ref name = "DirtyMoney" /> As Piëch rose to the top of Volkswagen in the late 1980s and early 1990s, then-CEO [[Carl Hahn]] took notice of Piëch's poor social skills and tried to position him as a [[technocrat]] kept behind closed doors.<ref name = "Collision">{{cite book |last=Keller |first=Maryann |date=1 September 1993 |title=Collision: GM, Toyota, Volkswagen and the Race to Own the 21st Century |publisher=Currency Doubleday |isbn=978-0385467773 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/collisiongmtoyot00kell }}</ref> Hahn was particularly bothered by how Piëch behaved during a visit to the [[Yasukuni Shrine]]; while a [[Shinto]] priest was showing the shrine's collection of vintage [[sword]]s, Piëch examined one and told the priest that it was a fake.<ref name = "Collision" />{{efn|name = sword}} Subsequently, Hahn presented the [[Audi Avus quattro]] [[concept car]] himself at the 1991 [[Tokyo Motor Show]] and didn't allow Piëch to take part, which infuriated Piëch due to his extensive personal involvement in the Avus quattro's creation.<ref name = "Collision" />

Piëch 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."<ref name="Autonews" /> Piëch 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.<ref name ="J" /> In recounting some of the extraordinary vehicles Volkswagen put in production under Piëch's watch, ''[[Wired (magazine)|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:<ref name ="Wired">{{Cite magazine|url=https://www.wired.com/2015/04/ferdinand-piech-vw/|title=The Crazy Schemes of the World's Most Surprising Car Exec|first=Sam|last=Smith|magazine=Wired |date=23 April 2015|via=wired.com|access-date=20 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161223015458/https://www.wired.com/2015/04/ferdinand-piech-vw/|archive-date=23 December 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> "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."<ref name ="Wired" />

An aggressive and demanding manager, Piëch 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 Piëch laid out ten parameters the car had to meet, amongst them being that the Phaeton should be capable of being driven all day at {{convert|300|km/h|0|abbr=on}} with an exterior temperature of {{convert|50|°C|0|lk=on}} whilst maintaining the interior temperature at {{convert|22|°C|0|abbr=on}}.<ref>{{cite web |publisher=GoAutoMedia |url=https://www.goauto.com.au/mellor/mellor.nsf/story2/8F252B3F3D6B8266CA25770E00001AC5 |title=Volkswagen 2009 Phaeton - Beijing show: VW facelifts Phaeton – again |work=GoAuto |date=2010-04-23 |access-date=2010-10-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120401131420/https://www.goauto.com.au/mellor/mellor.nsf/story2/8F252B3F3D6B8266CA25770E00001AC5 |archive-date=1 April 2012 |url-status=live }}</ref> Piëch requested this even though the Phaeton's top speed was electronically limited to {{convert|250|km/h|1|abbr=on}}.<ref>''Top Gear'' Series 2 Episode 10, 20 July 2003</ref> Another requirement was that the car should possess torsional rigidity of 37,000 [[newton metre|N·m]]/[[degree (angle)|degree]]. Piëch would often become personally involved in vehicle development, such as how he oversaw the development of the [[Audi 100#Audi 100, 200 and 5000 (C3, 1982–1991)|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.<ref name = "Guardianobit" /> Piëch 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, Piëch rode along and asked for his opinion on how its chassis and driving dynamics could be improved.<ref name = "CD">[https://www.caranddriver.com/features/a15122836/john-phillips-my-encounters-with-piich-column/ John Phillips: We're Not Done With You Yet, Piëch]</ref> Similarly, Piëch once demanded that an ''Automobile'' reviewer take the Volkswagen Phaeton up to its top speed while he rode along in the back seat.<ref name ="Auto" />

With a leadership style described as "old fashioned",<ref name="Lutz1">{{Cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CClPZ1TLtUU|title=Ferdinand K. Piech 2014 Induction Video|date=5 August 2014 |via=YouTube|access-date=20 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160504142909/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CClPZ1TLtUU|archive-date=4 May 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> Piëch 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]].<ref name = "Auto" /> According to Piëch, he fired any subordinate who "makes the same mistake twice".<ref name = "Auto" /> ''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."<ref name = "Guardianobit" /> Piëch leveraged this reputation to use threats and intimidation to get subordinates to meet his lofty goals; during Piëch's induction into the [[Automotive Hall of Fame]] in 2014, fellow automotive executive Bob Lutz recounted a conversation he had with Piëch 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. Piëch 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.<ref name ="Lutz1" /> ''Wired'' described Piëch as "Machiavellian" and "an autocrat's autocrat".<ref name ="Wired" /> 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."<ref name ="Lutz2" /> He would also describe Piëch as a "mad genius" that while he respected, he would never want to work for or with at any capacity.<ref name ="Lutz3" /> Lutz, [[CNBC]], the American [[documentary]] TV series ''[[Dirty Money (2018 TV series)|Dirty Money]]'', among others, have claimed that the [[Volkswagen diesel emissions scandal]] is the result of the ruthless and tyrannical corporate culture Piëch installed at the company.<ref>[https://www.cnbc.com/2015/10/04/volkswagens-uniquely-awful-governance-at-fault-in-emissions-scandal.html Volkswagen's Uniquely Awful Governance At Fault in Emissions Scandal]</ref><ref name ="Lutz2">[https://www.roadandtrack.com/car-culture/a27197/bob-lutz-vw-diesel-fiasco/ One Man Established the Culture That Led to VW's Emissions Scandal]</ref><ref name = "DirtyMoney">''[[Dirty Money (2018 TV series)|Dirty Money]]'' Season 1, episode 1, "Hard NOx". Released 26 January 2018.</ref> Although Piëch 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 Piëch fell from power, and could dissolve the capital tie-up until September 2015.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://bizgate.nikkei.co.jp/article/DGXMZO3113881030052018000000 |author=Takaki Nakanishi |date=21 January 2016 |title=スズキの強運、宿敵の失脚を経てVWに逆転勝訴 |trans-title=Good luck of Suzuki: Reverse victory after the enemy Piëch fell from power |website=[[The Nikkei]] |language=ja |access-date=18 March 2021 }}</ref>