H at Rupert Stadler telephoned Ferdinand Piëch after the raid last week? It would be conceivable: The silent become former VW Patriarch was after all the great mentor of Stadler been – so far still a potential advisor for difficult life situations. Conversely, the appreciation was appreciably large.
Although Stadler was not an engineer, but had studied business administration at the Augsburg University of Applied Sciences, he quickly made a career in the Audi Group by Piëch’s Grace (and in the circle of Martin Winterkorn) and was appointed head of the automaker at the age of 43. His mission: Audi should be number one in the premium segment, ahead of BMW and Mercedes. As we know, that did not work out, and Audi is also late in terms of electromobility. But despite all the setbacks, Audi is still the biggest profit driver in the Volkswagen Group.
Stadler has his “merits”
Ferdinand Piëch As is known, there is nothing more to say about the Wolfsburg-based company, which owns the majority of the families Porsche and Piëch via the Stuttgart Porsche SE. He has sold his own shares. The relationship with Rupert Stadler, however, existed on a more personal level. Even to the advisory board of three foundations, Ferdinand and Ursula Piëch have made the Audi chief; Mandates that Stadler gave up only last spring after public criticism.
The relationship with the rest of the family is more of a professional nature. Stadler has his merits, is just the view of Wolfgang Porsche. You do not just let veteran top-forces fall in the Porsche-Piëch-Imperium. Also Wendelin Wiedeking and Martin Winterkorn have benefited from it as their careers came to an end with a big bang. While, for example, Berthold Huber, as an IG Metall representative on the supervisory boards of Audi and VW, appeared in the year 2015 as a sharp critic of Stadler, the Audi boss was commissioned by the family representatives to cope with the diesel crisis.
To this end, he was once again provided with a five-year contract in May 2017 and promised at the Annual General Meeting the day after the contract was renewed: “As a consequence of the diesel crisis, we will put everything to the test at Audi.” In December 2017, it already reported he quasi enforcement: The Task Force Diesel will be dissolved. On Wednesday, Rupert Stadler will speak with his defense attorney to the prosecutor’s office.