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In 1997, on the “Shinkansen” express train between Tokyo and Nagoya, a sketch was created that would change the automotive world. Following a discussion with the then Head of Powertrain Development at VW, Karl-Heinz Neumann, he drew on an envelope – he had had the idea for a long time – an engine with 18 cylinders. Powerful, strong and better than anything else. The man was Ferdinand Karl Piëch, a gifted engineer and long-time CEO and Chairman of the Volkswagen Group – and the driving force behind the development of the Bugatti Veyron 16.4. The first hyper sports car of modern times was a true pioneering achievement and wrote automotive history at its launch in 2005. The coupé was the first series production car to produce more than 1,000 PS and to drive faster than 400 km/h. The Veyron was an engineering masterpiece. Its development however was as much a historic achievement as the Veyron itself. The idea – an extraordinary engine There was just the outline of an idea at ...

He was... Ferdinand Piech, the enigmatic figure who spearheaded Porsche’s rise to global sporting dominance, has died in Bavaria at the age of 82. Piech was the grandson of Ferdinand Porsche and arrived at the family firm as a hot-headed youngster in the mid-1960s. In later life, a more measured if no less ruthless Piech would reshape Volkswagen into the most influential automotive group in the world, but for the Porsche community he is best remembered as the passionate and ingenious engineer who took on the established racing royalty of Ferrari, Alfa Romeo and Ford, and won. A messianic figure with a devoted following, feared and revered in equal measure, Piech was as uncompromising as he was inspired, creating the 917 with a minimal team and within a tiny development window. The huge financial investment this required left Porsche dangerously exposed in 1969, but by the end of the year Zuffenhausen had a world beater on its hands and never looked back. Piech moved to...

The Board of Management and Supervisory Board of Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft have resolved to extensively revise the Group’s management structure. Volkswagen is thus systematically continuing to transform its business and establishing even more efficient Group management in a phase of highly dynamic change in the Company and the entire automotive industry. In order to sustainably implement the new structure, there will be a number of changes on the Board of Management. Matthias Müller steps down as Chairman of the Board of Management by mutual agreement, effective immediately. At its meeting on Thursday, the Supervisory Board appointed Dr. Herbert Diess as his successor. Chairman of the Supervisory Board Hans Dieter Pötsch expressly thanked Müller for his dedication: “Matthias Müller has done outstanding work for the Volkswagen Group. He assumed the chairmanship of the Board of Management in the fall of 2015 when the Company faced the greatest challenge in its history. Not only ...

The designer of the Lamborghini Murcielago will make the jump from the SEAT brand to becoming VW Group’s Head of Advanced Design starting August 1st of this year. 

This is world premiere.  Never ever had any manufacturer shown seven concepts at one show. Volkswagen is just about doing that. With Giugiaro/Italdesign in its sleeve VAG is determined to fire with full power to reach its final goal: World supremacy by 2018. Not only Lamborghini will be bringing firecrackers, expect some surprise also from Seat, Skoda, Volkswagen and Audi.