- Title: Ferdinand Piech, architect of VW's global expansion, dies aged 82 - Bild
- Date: 1st September 2019
- Summary: HANNOVER, GERMANY (FILE - APRIL 2013) (REUTERS) FORMER VOLKSWAGEN CHAIRMAN AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE FERDINAND PIECH WITH HIS WIFE URSULA PIECH CLOSE OF PIECH FACE PAN FROM PHOTOGRAPHER TO PIECH AND WIFE URSULA PIECH AND HIS WIFE WITH FORMER VOLKSWAGEN CHIEF EXECUTIVE MARTIN WINTERKOR HAMBURG, GERMANY (FILE - APRIL 23, 2009) (REUTERS) PIECH AND WINTERKORN CHATTING ON PODIUM WOLFSBURG, GERMANY (FILE - MARCH 2016) (REUTERS) VW LOGO ON BUILDING VARIOUS OF CARS DRIVING INTO VOLKSWAGEN FACILITY WOLFSBURG, GERMANY (FILE - 2015) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF VW PRODUCTION HALL
- Embargoed: 15th September 2019 14:10
- Keywords: Ferdinand Piech dead deceased Volkswagen AG former chairman and chief executive
- Location: HANNOVER & HAMBURG & WOLFSBURG, GERMANY
- City: HANNOVER & HAMBURG & WOLFSBURG, GERMANY
- Country: Germany
- Topics: Company News Markets,Economic Events
- Reuters ID: LVA001AV3R43X
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Ferdinand Karl Piech, Volkswagen AG's former chairman and chief executive, who transformed the German company from a struggling midsized carmaker into a global automotive powerhouse, has died, his wife said in a statement.
Piech, 82, who had 13 children by four different women, died suddenly on Sunday, his wife Ursula said.
A brilliant engineer, Piech turned around VW after betting on a modular construction technique which allowed Audi, Skoda and VW brands to share up to 65% common parts, helping Volkswagen Group, the world's largest carmaker by sales, to attain greater economies of scale.
"The life of Ferdinand Piech was shaped by his passion for automobiles and for the employees that create them. He remained an enthusiast engineer and car lover until the end," Ursula Piech said in the statement.
Under Piech's leadership, VW emphasised engineering brilliance ahead of profits, and went on an expansion spree, acquiring high-margin luxury marques Bentley, Bugatti and Lamborghini in a single year.
For his entire career Piech took huge risks as a way to eclipse his grandfather, Ferdinand Porsche, the father of the iconic Volkswagen Beetle as well as the founder of the sportscar manufacturer which still bears his name.
(Production: Michele Sani, Tanya Wood) - Copyright Holder: FILE REUTERS (CAN SELL)
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