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D Y N A S T Y



Ferdinand Alexander Porsche (September 3,1875 - January 30, 1951, Liberec, Czech Republic)

Porsche's decision to raise its stake in Volkswagen, along with DaimlerChrysler's recent decision to find suitors for Chrysler,
reflect the desire of European automakers to control their own fates, rather than see them decided by less friendly acquirers.

At the same time, the two remaining American automotive giants, General Motors and the Ford Motor Company, would be wise to pay attention, analysts said,
because the fates of their European rivals will have implications for their operations at home and abroad.

Link-NYT http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/25/bu...tml?8dt&emc=dt



Ferdinand Karl Piech (April 17,1937 - , Vienna Austria)

Porsche first acquired shares in Volkswagen in September 2005, saying it wanted to protect the independence of its partner. It has steadily increased its stake, occasionally ruffling Volkswagen’s other major shareholder, the state of Lower Saxony, which owns 20.5 percent.

The links between the two companies are longstanding, complex and personal. Ferdinand Porsche, the patriarch of the Porsche family, designed the Volkswagen Beetle at the behest of Hitler.

The chairman of Volkswagen’s supervisory board, Ferdinand K. Piëch, is a member of the Porsche family, which still controls the sports-car company. He was once chief executive of Volkswagen, and continues to exert influence over its day-to-day affairs.

Analysts regard Porsche’s growing stake in Volkswagen as a way for Mr. Piëch, an automotive engineer and billionaire industrialist, to reassemble the pieces of his grandfather’s empire.

More Stories http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/25/bu...tml?8dt&emc=dt

London Times http://business.timesonline.co.uk/to...cle1570266.ece

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Porshe Panamera-excessive, brutal...gorgeous if it looks anything like this.

Where did Porsche get the money to finance this deal? Is it their good connections with German lending institutions?

Secondly I’ve never been a fan of Dr. Piech. Yes, while at Volkswagen he turned profits at VW/Audi...at the sake of lower and unreliable quality components from suppliers.

And I wonder how this development bodes for Audi now that it’s finally starting to put out interesting niche vehicles?

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Ferdinand Piëch, Ferdinand Alexander Porsche, Michel Piëch (from left), standing behind a model of a 911 S 2.0 Targa, ca. 1969


Prof. Dr. h.c. Ferdinand K. Piëch celebrates his 70th birthday on April 17, but his passion for cars rules out any thought of retirement. Following his career as a manager at Porsche, Audi and VW, the Vienna-born grandson of the world-famous automotive engineer Ferdinand Porsche is today still active as chairman of the Supervisory Board of Volkswagen AG and a member of the Supervisory Board of Porsche AG. In the words of the laudation at his induction into the “Manager-Magazin” Hall of Fame in 2002: “What singles him out is competence, genius, devotion, persistence and passion.”


Piëch was practically born into the world of cars in Vienna in 1937, and grew up in the Porsche-Piëch-family. The family not only owns the Stuttgart-based sports car maker Porsche and Porsche Holding, a vehicle distribution company based in Salzburg, but also recently became the owner of almost one third of the shares in the Volkswagen Group through Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG.

As a child, Ferdinand Piëch was already a frequent visitor to present-day Wolfsburg during his holidays, as both his father and grandfather were managers at the "Volkswagen-Werk". Ferdinand Porsche, who long ago entered the annals of automotive history as the inventor of the legendary "VW Beetle" and the creator of the Auto Union racing cars, was always a role model for his grandson. Cars therefore had a formative influence on Ferdinand Piëch from an early age.


from GermanCarZone/Porsche AG press