This is a must-read for automobile fans. Ferdinand Piech is as tech and business savvy as he is diabolical, and this article gives you a little perspective of that. I hope someone writes a book about him soon.
I mean, if you personally played a hand in creating the Audi Quattro (that dominated rallying) and the world's fastest car (Veyron, reviving a dead brand), which everyone deemed impossible, you've got to be in the history books of the automobile world.
Can't wait to see how they compete with electric upstarts and how they evolve their Ducati motorcycle brand.
> Can't wait to see how they compete with electric upstarts
I have great hopes for their engineering to continue to be excellent. Audi has continued to push the envelope in Le Mans, first with diesel and now with hybrids. They've always done a good job of trickling down race technology to consumer vehicles. (One of my fondest driving memories is driving home in 6 or so inches of snow with pickup trucks and SUVs sliding all around me all while my tiny sedan with quattro didn't slip a wheel applying power once.)
(By sheer coincidence,) I sat next to Mr. Piech in the same Bentley in Paris this year. We had a short conversation, and it took some time before I realized who he was. An old man - with a truly sharp mind. The shadow king of VW.
I mean, if you personally played a hand in creating the Audi Quattro (that dominated rallying) and the world's fastest car (Veyron, reviving a dead brand), which everyone deemed impossible, you've got to be in the history books of the automobile world.
Can't wait to see how they compete with electric upstarts and how they evolve their Ducati motorcycle brand.