It’s good to know your family’s got your back.
That’s how we play it here at our auto garage. We’re a family here. Our technicians have each other’s back and they look out for the customer. We’re all in this together. Let’s admit it — it kinda gives us the warm fuzzies all over.
We imagine Volkswagen feels the same way. Their family recently backed the company on its decision to double down on electric vehicles.
Or as Reuters puts it: “Wolfgang Porsche and Hans-Michel Piech, members of the family which controls German carmaker Volkswagen (VOWG_p.DE), fully support the shift towards electric cars being driven by Chief Executive Herbert Diess, they told the Bild newspaper.”
Porsche and Piech both sit on the supervisory board of Volkswagen.
A Family Tradition
Must be nice to be all in the family.
“There is no alternative today to the path that he and the VW management have taken. If we do not tackle this transformation now, the group will have a huge problem in the future,” Porsche told Bild. “He has our support. He faces a daunting task. He needs strength, but also support from everyone in the group.”
Porsche also wonders if Germany should consider scrapping subsidies for diesel vehicles. Our mechanics in Cincinnati meanwhile wonder when Ohio will stop penalizing us for driving electric or hybrid vehicles.
The Porsche Legacy
It shouldn’t come as a surprise. Porsche has a long history of electric vehicles. Way back In 1898, Ferdinand Porsche designed the Egger-Lohner C.2 Phaeton — a vehicle powered by an octagonal electric motor. With three to five PS, it reached a top speed of 25 km/h. In 1900, he developed the electric wheel hub motor with the first Lohner-Porsche Elektromobil. It reached a top speed of 37 km/h.
