Winterkorn, falls to the manager who seemed invincible – The Republic

Milan – Martin Winterkorn is no longer the CEO of Volkswagen, swept away by the scandal of emissions that is rocking the world of four wheels. The powerful manager denied having direct responsibility in the case, said he was unaware of that, and let a group that is wildly grown under his leadership. Not coincidentally, just last spring, when the upper floors of Vw has worn a lacerating war with the former group chairman, Ferdinand Piech, managers have sided compact with him, to push the old owner to abandon. Then, the Council defended him as “the best CEO in the world.”

In its management, since 2007, car sales rose by 6.2 million cars a year (considering all the twelve brands the group, which includes, among others, Skoda, Audi and Seat) to almost 10 million, net sales increased from 109 to 202 billion, the increase in earnings was 280 percent, Porsche has been absorbed in the group, as well as the two manufacturers of trucks Scania and Man. Ducati also has been added as a flagship of the group, under the umbrella of the Audi.

INFOGRAPHIC: Who’s in charge in Volkswagen

Before resigning, even when he tried to stay in the saddle, Winterkorn had asked not to be confused with the error of a few the prestige and history of a $ 600 thousand employees. And the theme of employment are German concerns: despite the worst global crisis in human history, the CEO took over a company that had just cut 20 thousand employees in Germany – under his predecessor – expanding it with more than 100 production sites around the globe, with particular emphasis in recent times on China and North America. Own the land from which it would begin its end.

avid fan of football, as noted by Bloomberg , over time has become accustomed to the harsh climate of the board of the German company. When he was head of the Audi luxury division, where he initiated the doubling of the product range with models such as the Q7 SUV, had many altercations with then-CEO Bernd Pischetsrieder group, but in the end he paid dearly for disagreements with the number one. He even got to face the attempt to climb the CEO of Porsche, Wendelin Wiedeking, culminating in the excesses of Exchange 2008. Winterkorn was able to flip the table and eventually the attempt to shopping is finished in a merger that has restored relations force: the house sports submissive to the generalist, while of high range. At his side, that same Piech that last April he tried again to get it out, being defeated again.

The Achilles heel of managers invincible proved the United States. Even before the scandal, the expansion in the US seemed one of the few campaigns bankruptcy Volkswagen: despite investment billionaires and a new factory in Tennessee to develop a cheaper Passat, sales in the US fell sharply in the face of a growing market . And in fact they have never matches. Now, despite the record profits of 2,014,000,000,000 to 12.7000000000 and overtake Toyota as the world leader of the four-wheel occurred in the first half of the year, the US has stopped the race Winterkorn. The arrow shot by the EPA, the US Agency that collected the tricks of Volkswagen engines, has achieved its goal and shot down the manager.

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Martin Winterkorn