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The dust is just settling from the VW Group’s board-level drama, which saw Ferdinand Piëch engage a power struggle with CEO Martin Winterkorn, one that the automotive titan ultimately lost. The question now is: What does Piëch’s departure mean for the Group’s products?
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Piëch remains on the supervisory board of Porsche SE, and he still owns a sizeable chunk of VW—which means that he shouldn’t be counted out completely. But he has left the supervisory board, taken his wife Ursula with him, and simultaneously stepped down from all supervisory board posts he held with other VW Group brands. So his influence is greatly diminished.
-Piëch may be 78 years old but he is in good health, and up to now, he has regularly weighed in on questions of product and strategy—to an unusual extent for a supervisory board member. His wishes were orders, and his power filled friend and foe with awe.
-He pushed through a number of projects that less visionary executives and observers might have considered insane. Without Piëch, there would have been no relaunching Bugatti with a 16-cylinder engine. And without him, there would not have been the equally bonkers VW XL1, that ultra-efficient two-seater that he once said he preferred to wasting money on Formula 1.
-Piëch was also a fixture at the Volkswagen Group’s regular design presentations in Barcelona, where his observations carried serious weight. For instance, he insisted that the third-generation Audi TT remain close to the iconic original. And the Bugatti Galibier, aesthetically challenged by the need to fit a massive W-16 engine under the hood, didn’t pass Piëch’s test.
-So what’s going to change?
-The days of expansion are most likely gone. An acquisition of Alfa Romeo, for instance, is now unlikely. Fiat-Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne hates the idea anyway, but members of the Agnelli family were more open to discussions. With Piëch gone, Alfa Romeo could end up elsewhere if/when Fiat-Chrysler needs the cash. Perhaps VW’s management will focus on turning SEAT into an Alfa competitor at last.
-As far as the portfolios of VW, Audi, Porsche, and the Group’s other brands are concerned, we don’t expect radical changes, but there will be fewer experimental projects. To be sure, fewer misses, such as the W-8 engine or the Audi A2, which was way ahead of its time; but also fewer game-changers, such as the TDI engine or dual-clutch transmissions, which Piëch put on track. We also won’t see the VW XL Sport come to life, the wild two-seater powered by a “Superquadro” two-cylinder engine from the Ducati 1199 Superleggera superbike. We’ll miss that kind of maniacal insanity.
-An old-school industrialist, Piëch was convinced that internal competition within the Group led to better results, and he encouraged the brands to come up with unique solutions. That spirit might slowly go away, in the interest of streamlined parts and products.
-Finally, the Volkswagen Group likely won’t be renamed Auto Union—one of Piëch’s dreams. That name would have given the Group’s brands equality, and it would have been a nod to the glorious past of the Silver Arrow race cars that used to fight head-to-head with Mercedes-Benz.
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- The Resignation of VWs Piëch: What Happened Behind the Scenes
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- Bob Lutz: Ferdinand Piëch Is “the Greatest Living Product Guy“
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- Dr. Piëch’s Legacy: Hits and Misses from a Distinguished Career
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Volkswagen will continue to do well. But it’s safe to predict that without Piëch, it will be a less interesting conglomerate of brands than under his extraordinary leadership.
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from Car and Driver Blog http://ift.tt/1GNbWrd
via Agya
