ˆ VW Piech era could be drawing to close, family planning coup

tags : ferdinand piech , ferdinandpiech , porsche , porsche family , porschefamily , volkswagen , vw takeover , vwtakeover , wolfgang porsche , wolfgangporsche

For the past 15 years Ferdinand Piech has been the guiding force behind Volkswagen, first as CEO and Chairman, and since his mandatory retirement in 2002, as Chairman of the Supervisory Board. Before that he headed Audi and helped to cultivate the four-ringed brand's engineering reputation. However, the Piech era may be drawing to a close as the Porsche takeover of VW looks set to break out into intra-family warfare. While Porsche is public company, much of the voting control is held by members of the Porsche and Piech families, the children and grandchildren of founder Ferry Porsche. While little has been said publicly about what is going on in the boardroom at Porsche and the companies reasons for taking control of VW, Piech has been in the peculiar position, being on both sides of the takeover battle. Earlier this year there were reports that Piech was trying to oust Porsche CEO Wendelin Wiedeking in order to maintain control of VW. It now appears that Piech's own family may have had enough of his control, and cousin Wolfgang Porsche is reportedly preparing to push him out. Piech apparently stayed away from a board meeting on Friday to avoid voting with or against his family on the issue of Porsche cooperating with Audi. The family is apparently incensed at Piech's behavior and want him dismissed.

posted : 9/23/2008 @11:14:04 PM

ˆ Never Enough: Dinan to shoehorn 628-hp V10 into BMW M3

tags : bmw , bmw m , bmw m3 , bmwm , bmwm3 , dinan , dinan bmw m3 v10 , dinan m3 , dinan v10 , dinanbmwm3v10 , dinanm3 , dinanv10

Ever meet one of those parents who are never satisfied no matter how well their kids do? The child comes home with a 98% on a school exam and the parent asks "How'd you lose two percent?" Dinan is one of those parents. But instead of overstressed children, Dinan produces overachieving performance automobiles. Take, for example, the latest M3, which BMW unveiled with a V8 derived from the award-winning 5-liter V10 found in the M5 and M6. The eight replaced the inline-six on the previous model, but instead of remaining content to say "good job on the extra two cylinders", Dinan asks what happened to the extra two from the V10. Not that they would have been happy with the V10, either. On that, Dinan pushed and pushed, boring and stroking out the engine's ten cylinders until they got it up to 5.7 liters and 628 horsepower. Pretty sick, but saddled with the heft of a BMW 5 or 6 Series, Dinan couldn't help but ask what would happen to its pride and joy in a more suitable setting. Word has it now that Dinan is preparing to shoehorn in its 628-hp concoction into the M3's engine bay. Thankfully they'll be lightening it up a little after that, removing some of the bulk from the front end in order to keep the weight balance in check. We can't wait to see what it can achieve.

posted : 9/2/2008 @2:20:28 AM

ˆ Next Volkswagen Passat could be built Stateside

tags : alabama , assembly , chattanooga , ferdinand piech , ferdinandpiech , huntsville , manufacturing , plant , tennessee , volkswagen , volkswagen manufacturing , volkswagen stateside manufacturing , volkswagen united states manufacturing , volkswagen united states plant , volkswagen us plant , volkswagenmanufacturing , volkswagenstatesidemanufacturing

Following-up on last week's announcement that Volkswagen was looking at Alabama for a new manufacturing facility, the German automaker's management board is expected to make their final recommendation today. Following that announcement, Volkswagen's supervisory board, headed by former VW group CEO Ferdinand Piech, will make its decision by tomorrow. Whether Huntsville, Alabama, or second-choice Chattanooga, Tennessee, gets the nod, the move is key for Volkswagen as they attempt to increase sales in the United States with more targeted, and lower priced, vehicles. In addition to the Volkswagen Jetta (itself being redesigned to better compete with the Honda Civic) the new facility will produce an all-new Passat-sized sedan with a base price of about $20,000. Larger, in order to compete with the Toyota Camry, the new sedan would undercut the current Volkswagen Passat's pricing by about $5,000--a significant margin. The plant would open in late 2010 with an annual production capacity of nearly 250,000 vehicles.

posted : 7/15/2008 @1:17:23 AM

ˆ WebridesTV pits the BMW M3 against the Dinan 335i

tags : bmw , bmw 335i , bmw m3 , bmw m3 335i , bmw335i , bmwm3 , bmwm3335i , comparision , dinan , dinan stage 3 bmw 335i , dinanstage3bmw335i , m3 , shoot out , shootout , stage 3 , stage3

This is a head-to-head battle we've been waiting to see: BMW's new M3 versus a Dinan-tuned 335i coupe. But we're only going to talk numbers and let the video tell the tale.

The BMW 335i has proven itself as a credible player in the sports coupe segment, particularly with a tweaked ECU to extract maximum output from its twin-turbo'd 3.0-liter inline-six. Dinan announced its Stage 3 package a few months back, which includes a fully-adjustable suspension and a handful of engine mods that bring output up to 406 hp and a kidney-punishing 460 lb.-ft. of torque (at 4,300 RPM). But it doesn't come cheap. All the necessary Dinan kit to get it up to Stage 3 spec (and get that nifty badge on the boot) costs around $14,000. But compared to the $71,000 $56,500 (no mark-up, no oxygen) base price of the new M3, it's still a steal. While the M3 has the peak horsepower advantage, you can't ignore the allure of the Dinan 335i's torque and lower curb weight.
more ...

posted : 6/2/2008 @7:08:36 PM

ˆ Texas couple name kids Lexus, Porsche and Audi

tags : texas , couple , kids , lexus , porsche , audi , michelle , jimmy , madison , hunter , luxury , the lone star , saw , craig , sondra harrington , ferdinand , besides , silverado , tundra , f-series , sierra , pistonheads

At some point in the past 20 years, it seems as though parents abruptly decided to switch from names like Michelle and Jimmy to names like Madison and Hunter. The naming trend obviously didn't sit well with one Texas couple, who decided to name their children after luxury car manufacturers. The Lone Star duet named their first child Lexus after the new father saw a Lexus driving by. The name Porsche was shot down for the first child, but when Craig and Sondra Harrington found out they were expecting twins, Ferdinand's namesake was back in the fold. To keep up with the German naming convention, the other child now dons the Audi name.

As it turns out, the Harringtons aren't even car nuts, but they may be a bit looney. Something tells us the twins had better be a couple of tough hombres, because they're likely going to have to get physical to keep kids from picking on them. Besides, Texas is truck country. Shouldn't they have gone with Silverado and Tundra? F-Series is probably a bit over the top, but Sierra could make a great girl's name.

Source: PistonHeads

posted : 1/14/2008 @5:15:04 PM

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