Well today was a very good day for me. I met Peter Schutz, former CEO of Porsche AG. i didn't exactly know which forum to put this in, but since he showed up in a Carrera S, i figured this forum was appropriate . anyways, my father is a small business owner and a TEK member (TEK is an organization of small business owners who convene with a facilitator to exchange ideas and solve business problems etc.) Of the several times a year they meet, some sessions are dedicated to a presentation by a highly esteemed speaker.

Although most of what Peter said was more about the business end of things (he talked alot about management, decision making and implementation, etc.), it was interesting how he used alot of stories and experiences at Porsche AG to convey the material. For those of you who don't know, Peter Schutz was the CEO who turned Porsche AG around after being in the financial toilet in 1980. although he left in 1987, he had through a successful tenure at Porsche.

he had lots of interesting stories, but the coolest was about how he knew very little about automobiles and racing when he took the job. he soon attended his first 12 Hours of Sebring, not knowing at first that attending races would be part of his job. i believe he said the Porsche 935's won it, but i don't recall what model for sure. anyways, we went back to Germany after the race with a whole new excitement for the job. he asked when the next big race for Porsche was. his engineers remarked "Le Mans." he then asked if Porsche could win it. the engineers kind of laughed at the idea, exclaiming that they expected a win in their class, but not an overall. after only a brief moment of thought, Peter stated then and there that Porsche would never compete in a race again without the intention of flat out winning. long story short, Porsche ended up winning the 24 Hours of Le Mans 1981 through 1987, thanks mostly to the engineers, but also to a CEO who knew great management and leadership, and let the people do their jobs without allowing corporate shenanigans get in the way.

btw each TEK group has about 15-20 members, so this meeting was very exclusive, and we all had a chance to talk with Peter one on one. he is a very intelligent man and an inspiring speaker.

 

I've read about him. He was in the industrial machinery before he went to Porsche. The reason Porsche chose him was his successful experience with turning a company around. Peter Schutz once said "Porsche is in the business of selling memberships in a dream."

He resigned from Porsche because of the failure of the Porsche 959 to make money, each car was a huge loss for Porsche.

 

and yet Porsche's racing division was top notch while Schutz was in charge. and the sales of their "everyday" cars were up. in fact Porsche's revenues went from 850 million to 3.5 billion during his tenure. i i don't doubt that each 959 was a huge loss for Porsche, but i doubt it offset all of the profits the company was making with other ventures. i mean look at the Carrera GT. does Porsche actually expect to turn a profit on a car like that when its released? it seems that's just part of the paradox of building a supercar - with high prices it appears that there is alot of money to be made, but low production numbers prevent that from ever happening. so how responsible is a CEO for a not-so-profitable supercar venture, especially when the conpany's other ventures are doing so well (i.e. being profitable)? i don't really know myself...nevertheless, he was a very inspiring speaker. like you said, Porsche hired him b/c they needed a top quality manager, and i could tell that's exactly what he was just by hearing him speak. what i find most interesting is that you really don't need to know crap about automobiles to run an automobile manufacturer to take it from financial loss and make it profitable again.

 

Yeah he was a great during the time, but I'm just telling you what I read.

 

I think his daughter is the current editor of Christophorus.

 

Interesting.......I never heard the 959 info (re his resignation) but when I met him a few yrs back, we were walking outside after lunch and approaching my 993 (C4/Strosek) & I recall his comment........if we hadn't done the 959, I don't think this car would have ever happened. I assumed he meant all the money / effort they threw at making the 959 all-wheel.....paving way for expanded use of all-wheel.

Whatever they spent, it was worth it (IMHO)......1st 959 I saw was 89 Parade in Traverse City......it was absolutely incredible.

 

Yes, it also mentions that even though Porsche lost money on every 959 made, it paved the road for awesome 911s to come.

 

There are plenty of articles dating back to the time just before and shortly after the release of the CGT that indicated Porsche would not have bothered to make the CGT if it could not be profitable immediately. This mandate was based on lessons learned from the sales failure of the 959.

Greg A

 

The funny thing is that I don't think the CGT is profitable for the project at the moment. A lot of dealers have these cars sitting around and costing them interest. But at least every CGT they do sell isn't a loss!