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    Wiedeking call home !

    There are no pictures of him driving a Porsche on the internet. Apparently he doesnt wear a Porsche watch in public either.

    I have never seen any PR about him personally liking sports cars, collecting sports cars or even driving sports cars.

    Anyone have a picture of him actually behind the wheel of a moving Porsche?

    Yes he is head of Porsche, but is he actually a "car" guy?

    Re: Wiedeking call home !

    At the time of the 993s, he drove a gorgeous dark blue 993 Turbo with blue painted wheels.

    Re: Wiedeking call home !

    Only pics I could find of Wiedeking behind the wheel of a P is at exhibitons. car at a standstill. And to be totally PC he is wearing a seatbelt on most of the pics. LOL!

    Re: Wiedeking call home !

    He was in a cayman a couple months ago in Christopherson!

    Re: Wiedeking call home !

    Was it moving or sitting still?

    Re: Wiedeking call home !

    Completely still!!!!

    Re: Wiedeking call home !

    I just did a quick google and the only picture of him in a Porsche was at a standstill. (with the seatbelt on of course)

    Re: Wiedeking call home !

    Surely he must have a current drivers license.

    It is truly bizarre that there are no still or moving images of him actually driving a Porsche.

    Does anyone know why?


    Re: Wiedeking call home !

    Quote:
    JimFlat6 said:
    There are no pictures of him driving a Porsche on the internet. Apparently he doesnt wear a Porsche watch in public either.

    I have never seen any PR about him personally liking sports cars, collecting sports cars or even driving sports cars.

    Anyone have a picture of him actually behind the wheel of a moving Porsche?

    Yes he is head of Porsche, but is he actually a "car" guy?



    Jim, I give you a little hint: Maybach.

    Re: Wiedeking call home !

    Maybach

    That explains everything!

    No wonder the product mix is getting to be so much like ...
    THINGS FOR OLD EXECUTIVES!

    They need to fire everybody there over 30 or those that cannot do at least 20 rapid push ups!




    Re: Wiedeking call home !

    Quote:
    RC said:
    Quote:
    JimFlat6 said:
    There are no pictures of him driving a Porsche on the internet. Apparently he doesnt wear a Porsche watch in public either.

    I have never seen any PR about him personally liking sports cars, collecting sports cars or even driving sports cars.

    Anyone have a picture of him actually behind the wheel of a moving Porsche?

    Yes he is head of Porsche, but is he actually a "car" guy?



    Jim, I give you a little hint: Maybach.





    Sorry to say that, but I can't see someone in a Maybach having good taste...

    Let's hope it is at least the 57s

    Re: Wiedeking call home !

    I also remember an interview from him many years ago, to the question "Which Porsche do you drive ?" he answered he had each model of the lineup in his garage, and he was very lucky to be able to choose which one to drive to the office every morning, which, he added, can not be done by any Porschephile.

    Re: Wiedeking call home !

    Quote:
    Ziggy said:
    I also remember an interview from him many years ago, to the question "Which Porsche do you drive ?" he answered he had each model of the lineup in his garage, and he was very lucky to be able to choose which one to drive to the office every morning, which, he added, can not be done by any Porschephile.



    Thats cool Maybe he will show us his garage one day.

    He has been so successful with the business of Porsche and there is so much serious press about that. So It might be time for him to speak about the cars from a personal view
    and bring some warmth to the subject.

    Just a hint!

    Re: Wiedeking call home !

    He is a generic business exec like them all - he will endorse " enthusiastically " whatever he sells, whether a Porsche or Mazda ;Nike or Adidas . Look at the revolving door at all the auto companies , from execs to designers . It's just another job for most of them - moving whatever the product , collecting the paycheck.There are few genuine " gear heads " in the executive suites of any of the auto companies - most are run by engineers who took an MBA very early on to escape the anonymous " 40 years and a gold watch " trenches.

    Re: Wiedeking call home !

    Quote:
    MKW said:
    He is a generic business exec like them all - he will endorse " enthusiastically " whatever he sells, whether a Porsche or Mazda ;Nike or Adidas . Look at the revolving door at all the auto companies , from execs to designers . It's just another job for most of them - moving whatever the product , collecting the paycheck.There are few genuine " gear heads " in the executive suites of any of the auto companies - most are run by engineers who took an MBA very early on to escape the anonymous " 40 years and a gold watch " trenches.



    Youre right. Except for the fact that Wiedeking has been head of Porsche for 13 years... and that he has a major role ion turning the comapny around from almost bakrupt to the most successful carmaker bar none.
    Not exactly "revolving doors".

    Re: Wiedeking call home !

    Quote:
    Dr. Phil said:


    Youre right. Except for the fact that Wiedeking has been head of Porsche for 13 years... and that he has a major role ion turning the comapny around from almost bakrupt to the most successful carmaker bar none.
    Not exactly "revolving doors".



    Yeah , but he is always rumored in the German press for heading various other major corporations , so it's not like he's a Porsche " lifer " in the old Helmutt Bott mold , when Porsche was a true " mom and pop " concern tightly focused from top to bottom on sports cars . I don't think that can exist anywhere in the car world anymore due to the cost structure, wide product range from many ( consolidating )makers and suppliers and cut throat competition of massive industry overcapacity outside the few " cottage industry " -sized makers .

    Re: Wiedeking call home !

    MKW, I'm not sure what the problem here is.

    Wiedeking has turned around the "mom and pop" business as you call it.
    If it hadn't been for him, we would be talking about Porsche in the past tense. Neither Helmut Bott nor Ferdinand Piech had the ability to keep the company afloat.
    Now, I dont know Weideking, nor do I know the details of the many tough decisions that he had to make - and probably caused a lot of jobs.
    BUT Wiedeking is hailed as the most competent leader in Germany - and however the rest of us feel about it - a lot of people think he is doing a good job. And to the excitement of many Porschephiles Porsche is still around as an independent - and outstanding- carmaker.

    Charismatic? Not really. But is that important?
    You say "generic", and believe he would endorse anything he is hired to sell.
    He has been with Porsche since 1983. And been there ever since apart from a 3-year stint with an automobile parts maker.
    I think those 20 years with Porsche makes him pretty enthusiastic and pro-Porsche in my book.

    As for "mom and pop" businesses, there are a few out there, but they will probably be engulfed by large corporations sooner or later.
    Trouble is, most people prefer the perceived security, service and reliability of larger carmakers to buying an exotic and perhaps running a risk on a exclusive car.

    A short recap on WW:
    "Few gave Wendelin Wiedeking much of a chance when the little-known engineer took over the reins of Germany's venerable Porsche in 1992. After all, the previous 15 years had seen a succession of CEOs who tried and failed to manage both the Porsche business and the fickle Porsche family that owns it. By the time Wiedeking came on the scene, years of poor decision-making had left Porsche adrift. Sales and profits had flagged. In 1992 alone, the group lost $130 million.

    Enter Wiedeking, a tall, mustachioed redhead from Westphalia in northern Germany. Wiedeking, 47, had worked at Porsche for many years before leaving to head up a components maker. Despite his affection for the carmaker, he showed no mercy. He cut production, slashed the workforce by a quarter, to 6,850, and streamlined management. But his boldest move was to ship in a team of Japanese engineering consultants--a slap in the face for the company's proud German engineers.

    Wiedeking accepted the Japanese recommendations and introduced more efficient production methods. The results were dramatic."

    Re: Wiedeking call home !

    The 993 series were the last Porsches assembled using the craftsmen method and engineered for all sporting contingencies, eg you can put full race tires on them without worry of oil starvation when cornering and their dashboard and interior parts were not attached with squeeky Hyundai like fasteners either.

    The 986/996 series cars and their M96 engines were designed from the beginning to meet EU recycling laws,be cheaper to manufacture, easier to assemble and use as many non Porsche made parts and subassemblies as possible. Besides being quieter inside and easier to drive with more benign handling to appeal to a bigger pool of buyers.

    Toyota Supply Chain Consulting was hired not to engineer those cars, but to engineer their assembly lines and teach Porsche how to inventory parts for assembly in a efficient manner, a combined manufacturing - vendor operations planning technique known as "Lean Manufacturing." Look it up.

    Weidikings real genius was his analysis of German parts and labor costs and then finding ways to secure vendors that were German, but with operations to produce Porsche parts outside of Germany, this would still allow Porsche to benefit from having the aura of Made in Germany and provide additional protection from unfavorable currency exchange rates in key markets.

    Im not just referring to Valmet and their flexible manufacturing ability, but to entire body and mechanical parts and critical electronic components that may come from a German manufacturer but the parts themselves are made by their subcontractors in China, Spain, Hungary, the Czech Republic etc..

    Timing for the M96 engined 986 and 996 models was excellent.
    Money from the early internet boom assured their successful launch and widespread sales to people who had absolutley no sports car experience but just wanted a trophy car to show off in the company parking lot. Good, pander to them, make the cars less sporting to appeal to them more!

    All of this begat money to co-design the Cayenne with VW to give dealers something else to sell. And all of the profit from Porsches cars and trucks, over 3 billion euros banked, from the 986/996/Cayenne success was then used to buy huge shares of VW stock.

    Nice.

    But now, will anyone really want a Panamera or a Mini Cayenne? And will those products remove some of the lustre from buying a Porsche anyway? Will they dilute the customer love that comes from Porsches history and not from any racing success from the current models they sell?

    And for just how much longer can Porsche get away with using non propietary cheap feeling switch gear in very expensive cars? or asking outrageous prices for options that cost almost zero to include, like turning on the GPS Nav for the PCM unit?

    Porsche's success since 2000 has ridden the high tide of increased personal wealth of customers from the internet and real estate market booms, but what happens when that tide goes out?

    Then it will be 1992 all over again. Weidiking or no Weidiking, Porsche's sales success is connected to the personal financial success of their customers be it
    real estate or the stock market.

    And when a world financial down trend cycle happens, they may have alienated their hard core customers so much they will not have them to turn to for the companys existence.

    Re: Wiedeking call home !

    I cant help but feel Wiedeking will strecth his beliefs farther and farther until there is very little character left in the cars.

    Re: Wiedeking call home !

    Quote:
    JimFlat6 said:



    Porsche's success since 2000 has ridden the high tide of increased personal wealth of customers from the internet and real estate market booms, but what happens when that tide goes out?

    Then it will be 1992 all over again. Weidiking or no Weidiking, Porsche's sales success is connected to the personal financial success of their customers be it
    real estate or the stock market.

    And when a world financial down trend cycle happens, they may have alienated their hard core customers so much they will not have them to turn to for the companys existence.



    It happened before and I'm sure they saw it coming again unless they " diversified " . But what a cost to a proud brand. Porsche was the ultimate yuppie aquisition in the mid 80s and then CEO/Pres Peter Schutz was hailed a financial genius for pushing their sales to dizzying heights , esp in the US. Then the crash of October '87 led to the very hard years , where in 1991-1993 , it looked like Porsche was done. The cost restructuring / shared parts commonality that Weidekin has had to institute was neccesary for their survival. But, again, what a cost to a proud brand even if they are profitable The car biz is not the easiest biz these days unless you are printing money like Toyota.

    Re: Wiedeking call home !

    Quote:
    MKW said:
    Quote:
    JimFlat6 said:



    Porsche's success since 2000 has ridden the high tide of increased personal wealth of customers from the internet and real estate market booms, but what happens when that tide goes out?

    Then it will be 1992 all over again. Weidiking or no Weidiking, Porsche's sales success is connected to the personal financial success of their customers be it
    real estate or the stock market.

    And when a world financial down trend cycle happens, they may have alienated their hard core customers so much they will not have them to turn to for the companys existence.



    It happened before and I'm sure they saw it coming again unless they " diversified " . But what a cost to a proud brand. Porsche was the ultimate yuppie aquisition in the mid 80s and then CEO/Pres Peter Schutz was hailed a financial genius for pushing their sales to dizzying heights , esp in the US. Then the crash of October '87 led to the very hard years , where in 1991-1993 , it looked like Porsche was done. The cost restructuring / shared parts commonality that Weidekin has had to institute was neccesary for their survival. But, again, what a cost to a proud brand even if they are profitable The car biz is not the easiest biz these days unless you are printing money like Toyota.



    Not clear to me that high-end car biz, esp in US, is all that tough these days vs yesteryr.....seems to me that essentially 3 car brand choices exist for bulk of US $150K+ car buyers....lots of guys w/some, almost requisite combo of 55 or 65/Turbo/430/CayenneTurbo in their driveways in places like Greenwich/Woodside/PacHtsSF/LowerBelAir/HolmbyHills, etc.....

    Merc sells some ?4Kish/yr S/SL/CL55/65 into US; P will sell some 2-3K/yr 997TT into US; and F will sell some 1K/yr 430 into US....and I don't know that P/F/MB have seen any dip in their sales of $150K+ cars into US, even post-Bubble....perhaps US high-end economy is more robust today w/well-entrenched wealth, w/curmudgeonly brand purchase habits, than any time in past....

    Re: Wiedeking call home !

    VKSF, yes there are more millionaires in the US now then then. But, if their little empires start to shrink and their monthly car leases start to look more like a big deal then not,then guess what, sales will fall like a rock. The idea of driving a financial showpiece during bad times is not too smart either.

    Re: Wiedeking call home !

    Quote:
    JimFlat6 said:
    VKSF, yes there are more millionaires in the US now then then. But, if their little empires start to shrink and their monthly car leases start to look more like a big deal then not,then guess what, sales will fall like a rock. The idea of driving a financial showpiece during bad times is not too smart either.



    Jim, there will always be "fly-by-night"/vapor money....the kind of guys who can barely read/count and want the flashiest car-as-jewelry for which they can afford the mthly pmts....lots of those guys in places like LA....

    My sense is that, esp in places like SilicVy and Greenwich (which together prob buy 50% of new $150K+ cars in US), the US has developed a solid core of 30-50yo guys in tech and finance for whom cars are not material parts of their household budget; lots of guys in these regions calmly whip out a checkbook to buy the latest S-Class/Turbo/430....i.e., more the NetJets cust base....I don't believe the US (or anywhere else in world for that matter) ever had such a large set of relatively young, wealthy guys who made their money in more IQ-based businesses....and I'd argue that the post-Bubble lack of apparent decline in sales of high-end houses, NetJets shares and F's and SL55s is remarkable proof of resiliency...esp given The '90s Bubble made the '80s wealth creation wave look like mice nuts....

    And the reason I'd say guys at P/MB/F should be pleased is that most of this more stable base of money tends to develop habits re: brands, like always having a new S-Class/Turbo/F/CayenneTurbo in their fleet...and these guys are often well-known at their local F/P/MB dealers and receive priority on hard-to-get cars and svc, etc....all the reasons that make it harder for other brands to get these guys to switch, e.g. from F to Lambo, etc....

    Re: Wiedeking call home !

    Quote:
    911fan said:
    I cant help but feel Wiedeking will strecth his beliefs farther and farther until there is very little character left in the cars.



    Dr. Wiedeking is a genius in my opinion. And being the CEO of a company like Porsche doesn't really make him the allmighty Porsche expert. He runs a company, he is responsible for almost 9000 people and he has to satisfy shareholders too. Not an easy job. So give him a break.

    Dr. Wiedeking is the CEO but the decisions regarding models, technologies, etc. aren't made by himself alone. He has experts for these jobs, he apparently trusts them and this is why we shouldn't worry that the Panamera for example is becoming a next Maybach.

    Let me picture this: as a CEO, you need to work in your car. You need a fax machine, a good phone, maybe a computer, etc. And of course you need a driver and a lot of space to be able to work effectively.
    A Cayenne with a chauffeur? I doubt this works.
    I think the Maybach is the right car for him, it is not a Rolls, not a "cheap" S-class and not a too sporty BMW 7series. The perfect CEO car.
    Of course I would never buy a Maybach but I'm also not the kind of person who would have a chauffeur. Maybe one of the reasons why I'm not the CEO of a multi-billion company.

    Re: Wiedeking call home !

    interesting facts. 2 explanations:

    -PorscheDesign watches are too cheap for him
    -Prefers to be a passenger

    he is doing a bloody good job for Porsche and personally I dont give a rats what he drives or wear as long as the cars are great!

    and they are!
    off I go for another drive! woohoo!

    Re: Wiedeking call home !

    Have you guys ever seen his parking spots in Weissach, his rounds on the Weissach tracks, or the contents of his garage at his home? He certainly drives Porsches - any one he wants.

     
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