Ferdinand Piëch

Additional business areas

During his tenure, Piëch made significant moves into acquiring high-end marques, securing Lamborghini for Audi and establishing Bugatti Automobiles SAS. His acquisition of Rolls-Royce and Bentley proved more contentious. While Volkswagen successfully obtained the Crewe factory, car designs, nameplates and trademarks such as the Spirit of Ecstasy and the Rolls-Royce grille shape, it was denied the use of the Rolls-Royce name and emblem, which BMW had licensed from Rolls-Royce Holdings.

After negotiations, VW sold the Spirit of Ecstasy and the Rolls-Royce grille trademarks to BMW, allowing BMW to launch Rolls-Royce Motor Cars. Although Piëch later claimed that his primary interest was in Bentley, as it sold better than Rolls-Royce by a ratio of two to one, many saw the loss of the Rolls-Royce brand as a significant failure.

In the commercial vehicle sector, Scania and MAN were acquired, as was the Italdesign Giugiaro design studio. Volkswagen acquired motorcycle manufacturer Ducati in 2012, marking Volkswagen's entry into the motorcycle market.

Piëch was also the driving force behind the Volkswagen Phaeton luxury saloon, which was designed to compete with other high-end luxury cars. The Phaeton was a commercial failure, particularly in North America where only 3,500 cars were sold from 2004 until it was discontinued in 2006.

Piëch had 13 children from four different women. He was married to his second wife Ursula Piëch from 1984 to his death, he lived with her in retirement in Salzburg, Austria. One of his sons, Toni Piëch, is the founder of car company Piëch Automotive. Piëch was dyslexic, and he had a vast car collection that included two Bugatti Veyrons regularly driven by him and his wife.

Death

Piëch collapsed suddenly on 25 August 2019 while having dinner with his wife in Aschau near Rosenheim, Oberbayern. He was rushed to hospital, where he was pronounced dead shortly thereafter. A specific cause of death was not released.

Both Lamborghini and Bugatti paid tribute to Piëch, first with the Lamborghini Sián FKP 37 that was unveiled in September 2019, whose name includes his initials and year of birth, and latest with the Bugatti F.K.P. Hommage in January 2026, which also includes his initials.

Problems within the VW Group

The Volkswagen Phaeton and the Bugatti Veyron, although they were successful at proving Volkswagen's technical capabilities, were developed at enormous expense and were consistent loss-leaders; Volkswagen lost an estimated $6 million on each Veyron that was sold and they also lost an estimated $40,000 on each Phaeton that was sold.

Personnel policy

As CEO of Volkswagen AG, he was partly responsible for the dismissal of numerous senior management employees and a large number of board members, both at Volkswagen and especially at Audi. Examples:

Audi boss Franz-Josef Kortüm, who was dismissed after only 13 months in 1993 because Piëch was not satisfied with the sales figures.

His successor, Herbert Demel, also had to vacate the position soon after repeated clashes with Piëch.

Demel's successor, Franz-Josef Paefgen. Piëch dismissed him in 2001; previously, he had accused him of stagnation at Audi.

The discussion surrounding the future of VW CEO Bernd Pischetsrieder in early 2006, who had once been groomed by Piëch as his successor, was also triggered by a statement from Piëch. In February 2006, Piëch publicly questioned the support for Pischetsrieder from the employee representatives on VW's supervisory board. Nevertheless, Pischetsrieder's contract was extended in May 2006. However, this did not prevent the supervisory board from removing Pischetsrieder from his position on the board effective 31 December 2006.