Comments on: Meet the New Porsche Chief; Wiedeking Dethroned

By: th009

th009 — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 03:51:29 +0000

While Piech has everything to do with building the biggest stable of brands in the industry (don’t forget Scania!), thanks for the profitability and the brand management really go to VW’s management team, who had to deal with the results of Piech’s shopping spree.

That team has succeeded in a combination of platform strategy, manufacturing cost reductions and brand positioning, none of those easy (just as GM). Pischetsrieder, Winterkorn, Bernhard et al deserve a lot of credit for taking VW to where it is today.

By: herb

herb — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 23:24:32 +0000

It will be interesting to see what will happen when Piech dies one day.
How many madmen will be needed to replace this single madman? How will they succeed with an inherited conglomerate of brands/companies? VW, Audi, Porsche, Skoda, Seat, Bentley, Lamborghini, Bugatti.
Strange enough, that they still make money, given the overlap within their core business brands VW, Audi, Skoda, Seat. Then you have to consider the shareholder groups, like the Sheiks of Lower Saxony, of Qatar, maybe, other interest groups like political parties, trade unions…
All ingredients for a pretty nice soap opera/drama. Let’s wait and see.

By: Lorenzo

Lorenzo — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 23:23:07 +0000

Bertel, I can see your point about writing a thinly disguised novel involving Ferdinand Piech. This guy plays for keeps. Better make it a thickly disguised novel. I recommend locating to America in the roaring ’20’s, when there were plenty of car companies to choose from. Just make sure the movie carries the disclaimer “…any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is unintentional, so please don’t sue me, Herr Piech.”

By: willman

willman — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 19:42:47 +0000

@Sutures: yup. +they’re all big fans of Lois Lane, Clark Kent & Lex Luthor.

By: Sutures

Sutures — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 17:48:38 +0000

Wendelin Wiedeking
Porsche/Piech
Michael Macht

Curiously, can anyone also see some trippy trend happening here?

By: jmo

jmo — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 16:49:40 +0000

Is he any relation to Ernst Macht?

By: Bertel Schmitt

Bertel Schmitt — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 16:23:50 +0000

Pch101: Denials, noted in the article, but nobody believes them anymore.

They are “not aware of any decision” and “Wiedeking is still in his office.” An outgoing CEO will keep his office and secretary for years in large German companies.

By: Pch101

Pch101 — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 16:11:41 +0000

For the record, Porsche is officially denying the story:

http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20090717-709180.html

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601100&sid=a66aS_ARR9ls