Bernd Pischetsrieder

Categories: VW | BMW | 1948 births

Bernd Pischetsrieder is an automobile engineer and manager and currently serves as chairman of Volkswagen AG. He was born on 15 February, 1948, in Munich, Germany and studied Mechanical Engineering at the Technical University of Munich from 1968 to 1972. He earned the degree of "Diplom-Ingenieur" and began his career at BMW in 1973 as a Production Planning Engineer. He was promoted to become chairman of the board of BMW from 1993 through 1999.

During his time as head of BMW, Pischetsrieder was known for solidifying the company's position as a leader in the luxury car market with a solid sporting and engineering reputation. His decision in 1994 to purchase the Rover Group from British Aerospace was widely regarded as a failure. Although this brought the valuable Mini and Land Rover marques into BMW ownership, the Rover passenger car operation drained the company's coffers. Rover was sold off in 2000, with Ford taking on Land Rover, and the revived Mini remaining at BMW. A more notable achievement was the assumption of the Rolls-Royce marque, a deal which left rival Volkswagen manager, Ferdinand Piëch, with only the Bentley marque and the Crewe factory.

On 17 April, 2002, Pischetsrieder succeeded Piëch as chairman of Volkswagen AG. At Volkswagen, he directed Bugatti Automobiles SAS to reengineer the Bugatti Veyron 16.4, delaying an expected launch. He continued moving the Audi and VW marques upmarket to some controversy.de:Bernd Pischetsrieder sv:Bernd Pischetsrieder