birth_place nationality relatives name birth_date known_for image article_title birth_name occupation
vienna , austria austrian louise ferdinand porsche - grandfather ferry porsche - uncle wolfgang porsche porsche - cousin ferdinand porsche iii - cousin piëch - mother anton piëch - father ferdinand piëch 17 april 1937 chairman of volkswagen group until 25 april 2015 ferdinant piech by stuart mentiply.jpg ferdinand piëch
 ferdinand karl piëch automobile engineer , business executive
ferdinand piëch

ferdinand karl piëch -lrb- born 17 april 1937 -rrb- is an austrian business magnate , engineer and executive who was the chairman of the supervisory board -lrb- `` aufsichtsratsvorsitzender '' -rrb- of volkswagen group until 25 april 2015 .
a grandson of ferdinand porsche , piëch started his career at porsche , before leaving for audi after an agreement that no member of the porsche or piëch families should be involved in the day-to-day operations of the company .
piëch eventually became the head of audi , where he is credited with evolving and growing audi into a competitor to equal mercedes-benz and bmw , thanks in part to innovative designs such as the quattro and 100 .
in 1993 , piëch became the chairman and ceo of volkswagen group , which he is credited with turning into the large conglomerate it is today ; he oversaw the purchase of lamborghini and bentley , as well as the founding of bugatti automobiles , all of which he integrated with the volkswagen , skoda , seat and audi brands into a ladder-type structure similar to that used by alfred sloan at general motors .
piëch was required to retire at age 65 per volkswagen company policy , but he remained on its supervisory board and was involved in the company 's strategic decisions until his forced resignation on 25 april 2015 .
educated as an engineer , piëch influenced the development of numerous significant cars including the audi quattro and notably , the bugatti veyron , which as of 2012 is the fastest , most powerful and most expensive road legal automobile ever built .
piëch was also once documented saying the words `` i do not feel '' in an interview with a journalist when asked for his thoughts on certain aspects of a design .
due to his influence on the automobile industry , piëch was named the car executive of the century in 1999 .
