Right you are. Business writers & motoring journalists are alike in at least one thing — they both sometimes write utter nonsense about subjects that they’re supposed to know well.

Thanks for correcting my erroneous attribution of the China & Brazil initiatives to Piech. Even as I wrote my comment, I had a sense that such was the case. However, I felt that a sort of “poetic license” might be forgiven if only because Piech does in a way deserve credit for successful execution on his predecessors’ initiatives.

I must confess that recent news that the Weissach development facility is among the hardest hit in the company’s cost-reduction program, along with my general discomfort about Wiedeking’s recent conduct of the business, has cooled me off quite a bit on further purchases of Porsches. After having driven my friend’s Audi R8, I’ve decided the thing to replace my 996 Turbo will be the V10 R8, which looks to be at least as fast as the current Turbo but with the inherent superiority arising from its mid-engine configuration. Not to mention overall ride refinement.

The vision thing wasn’t Piech’s. Volkswagen do Brasil was founded 1953 (!!!!) under Nordhoff. Volkswagen China was founded 1983 under Carl Hahn. It wasn’t his initiative. A Chinese government delegation sprung a surprise visit on Volkswagen, looked at the available cars, the head guy pointed at the Santana, said “this one” and history was made. But Hahn was the driving force behind the China project.

All other observations in your post, especially the cash raid, are 100% correct.

I happen to currently own several Porsches, but I’m strangely relieved that Wiedeking’s over-reaching ambition looks very likely to be thwarted. His decision to, among others, produce the Cayenne proved his keen marketing acumen. But in the end, he is NOT a car-guy. Piech is.

With a fine blend of commitment to product development and business strategy, Piech has caused VW/Audi to emerge as a company that’s poised to keep going forward as others falter. His early commitment to the largest emerging markets has begun to pay off at the same time that his strong commitment to product development has helped carve market share out of his competitors’ hides.

Wiedeking openly criticized Piech’s “wasteful adventures” such as the Bugatti Veyron, which is in fact a source of valuable engineerng design know-how as well as a “halo-product” for the rest of the company’s lines.

I can’t even help but suspect that what Wiedeking had expected to do all along was to liquidate the mountain of debt he inevitably incurred in the course of his share-market maneuvering, with VW’s Euros 10 billion cash reserve. That’s an old trick first used by the American pioneers of corporate raiding way back in the 60’s.

http://money.cnn.com/2009/01/26/news/international/gumbel_porsche.fortune/index.htm

Be very careful about believing anything you read in these corporate profile pieces in the press.