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A piece of news from foreign media today shocked the automotive industry. Ferdinand Piech, who built the Volkswagen Group empire, died in Bavaria on the 26th at the age of 82.

Piech is known as the German automobile emperor, also known as the Volkswagen godfather, is one of the most important figures in German automobile history and even global automobile history. Under his leadership, Volkswagen Group launched countless important models, and then acquired a large number of car giants with 13 brands, which promoted it to the world's largest car company by sales.

Piech was born in 1937 to Ferdinand Porsche's daughter, meaning he was Ferdinand Porsche's grandson. Piech started his career at Porsche, joining the company in 1963 and spearheading the development of the 906 race car as his first project. Porsche's achievements in racing cannot be separated from Piech, and the famous 917 model is Piech's most influential racing work.

Piech left Porsche in 1972 to join Audi because the Porsche family felt he should not have taken on such a key role in their eponymous company. During his tenure at Audi, Piech pioneered the quattro four-wheel drive and new engines with lower fuel consumption, and Piech became chairman of Audi Motor Company in 1988.

In 1993, Piech became CEO and Chairman of Volkswagen Group and played an important role in the development of the company. After Piech took office, he started to control production costs and personnel costs, and developed the famous modular platform, thus turning around Volkswagen's decline. Immediately, Piech led Volkswagen Group to acquire a large number of brands, in addition to the existing Volkswagen, Audi, Porsche and other brands, but also six consecutive acquisitions of Bentley, Bugatti, Lamborghini luxury brands.

In addition to its own brands, the Volkswagen Group now includes brands covering all levels, such as Seat Seat, Skoda, Bentley and Ducati, as well as MAN and Scania truck brands.

In April 2015, after a bitter battle with Volkswagen Group CEO Martin Winden, Ferdinand Piech announced his resignation, ending his 23-year reign over Volkswagen Group. Soon after, Volkswagen diesel cheating scandal broke out, Wendern announced his resignation, former Porsche CEO Muller took over.

Insiders comment: Porsche 917, five-cylinder engine, turbocharged, quattro system, galvanized body, TDI, Audi V8, ASF all-aluminum body, transparent factory, Phaeton, Volkswagen 1-liter car, Bugatti Veyron The man behind these loud names is Piech. His life was not only a technical maniac, but also a life of combat. He has been in the Volkswagen Group, even some autocracy, various battles with the Porsche family, staged various palace fights, Volkswagen Porsche acquisition war, Volkswagen diesel door and other events repeatedly staged divine operations.

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