In the fall of 1971 shortly after taking the helm of VW, Rudolf Leiding had only one comment to the press, “we have to work first, let us do so, we shall talk later”. Leiding rising from the ranks of apprentice mechanic to Chairman was no youngster.
At 58 years of age Mr. Leidling was faced with a serious crisis, saving VW while air cooled engines were quickly coming to the end. The causes of VW’s problems are similar to today, monetary measures supported by a strong Yen and the need to reach critical mass as a global marketer. By 1972 VW’s monthly sales were cut in half – not even fleet sales can be sited as the cause.
Leiding is quoted as saying:“The immediate problem was not to make money on the American market, (but) to keep that market, to maintain our exceptional US dealer network and to keep our factories busy”*. It was very rare to find Leiding at press events; rather he was known to stand by the factory gates to monitor those arriving late for work. Product model policy (as it was called back then) was his first priority. Leiding cut projects that were soon to be “job one” saying:"It was better to loose a little money right away than loose a lot later on”.
Leiding also cut costs and manufacturing, his big success was defining Audi and VW’s future brand rolls and finding synergies in design and platform sharing that lives on today.
Rudolf Leiding .... from apprentice to Chairman – head hunters didn’t stand a chance.
Editor:
The moral to the story ... When given the opportunity to turn a company around, remember to grab the steering wheel.
* March 1973 – Motor Trend / by Edouard Seidler.
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