RE: Engineering the story: PH Blog
Sunday 8th May 2016
"Cannot tell you how much I will miss being summoned to Felisa's Maranello office to be told HOW IT WAS. Man was pure class and real Ferrari." So Tweeted Chris Harris yesterday after hearing Amedeo Felisa has stepped aside from Ferrari's CEO role to permit Sergio Marchionne's accession. You don't get to the top of Ferrari without knowing how to play corporate politics but, unlike Marchionne, Felisa is an engineer by training and understands the cars as nuts and bolts as well as commodities. With that came authority, as Harris so vividly describes.
Moers at AMG - an engineer at heartTobias Moers at AMG is a similar example - he's now in charge of the brand but an engineer at heart and, for over two decades, the man who set the tone of the product. As a businessman he'll make the case for hot SUVs and 'entry-level' '43 models in the product portfolio. As a car nut he'll tell you his favoured transport from the office is an AMG GT R development mule or a C63.
'Don't call me Mr GTI' says VW's SchebsdatThe celebrity engineer is a relatively recent phenomenon but a valuable asset for the manufacturers lucky enough to have them on their staff. For someone of a PH mindset meeting a person like Hatz is akin to hanging out with your favourite actor or musician; it's hard not to be a little star struck but the ice is quickly broken when you realise they're proper car nuts at heart.
Motor shows won't be as interesting post-HatzThere are probably a few corporate suits breathing a sigh of relief at the passing of big hitters like Hatz and his ilk, hoping they can keep their successors on a tighter leash. I hope not though. An eloquent engineer free and able to communicate with the enthusiast audience like us is a vital asset, something British brands like Aston Martin, McLaren, Lotus, JLR, Bentley and others readily appreciate. If nothing else it makes for more interesting dinner conversation than sales projections and market share.
Engineering the story: PH Blog
Porsche and Ferrari lose senior engineering talent on the same day; should we be worried?
Moers at AMG - an engineer at heart
Yesterday also saw Wolfgang Hatz's departure from Porsche. Another engineering 'big beast', Hatz cut his engineering teeth at BMW with the S14 engine for the E30 M3 before making his mark on a generation of road and race Porsches. Whether it was the 918 Spyder or Porsche winning at Le Mans, Hatz was at the centre of the action. His seniority also gave him a certain amount of freedom to tell us what the hell he liked, when he liked. I got the impression he enjoyed seeing the PRs squirm as much as we did.
'Don't call me Mr GTI' says VW's Schebsdat
Of course, for every R&D boss elevated to star status there are hundreds, if not thousands, working with them. Quite probably equally personable too, just not in the fortunate position of escaping the day job to hang out on car launches for a couple of days with fanboy journalists. Indeed, when I met Golf GTI Clubsport chief engineer Karsten Schebsdat he was resolute I wasn't to paint him as 'Mr GTI'. Modest or not, he too has a formidable background as a chassis engineer at Porsche and, over a beer or two, is happy to indulge in some geeky chat about the cars he's worked on.
Motor shows won't be as interesting post-Hatz
Dan
Discussion
Porsche losing their star engineer is a shame but not that surprising.
The engineering side of Porsche has been doing a fine job. The sales and marketing / distribution strategy is completely inept and bungled. The OPC's are generally untrustworthy in my experience. And the debacle over 911R tells me that there is a cynicism inside Porsche strategic thinking that is not attractive.
And the new 911 has taken a turn for the worse. Its tilted too far toward dullness to be exciting anymore. And the more interesting 911 variants are not available to normal people unless you perform fellatio on the dealer principal it seems to me, while offering free access to your wife and holiday home.
Porsche just doesn't seem to be fun anymore.
The engineering side of Porsche has been doing a fine job. The sales and marketing / distribution strategy is completely inept and bungled. The OPC's are generally untrustworthy in my experience. And the debacle over 911R tells me that there is a cynicism inside Porsche strategic thinking that is not attractive.
And the new 911 has taken a turn for the worse. Its tilted too far toward dullness to be exciting anymore. And the more interesting 911 variants are not available to normal people unless you perform fellatio on the dealer principal it seems to me, while offering free access to your wife and holiday home.
Porsche just doesn't seem to be fun anymore.
jayemm89 said:
I'm disappointed- I expected some sort of Bond-type plot involving the world's leading engineers being kidnapped in some sort of Spy Who Loved Me type setup
Ant what exactly makes you think this is not the case, any decent Bond baddie with a seriously despicable plot on the go, would be unlikely to be unmasked so easilyWhen you have marketing and finance people in charge, you get the Mk.6 and 7 Escort. Put an engineer in charge and you get the Focus. I do wonder if Audi has any engineers in positions of power now. Great interior, plastics and magnificent marketing admittedly, but in the long term you have to worry for premium brands that aren't engineering led.
Dan - nice attempt to recognise the passing of these guys but you didn't really answer your own question. Should we be worried? Is this some kind of determined effort by the car making aristocracy to purge technical excellence and free thought?
I think not.
Felisa is 69 and will apparently continue to serve on the board of directors as a technical advisor. So sounds like he's overdue retirement.
Hatz has fallen on his own sword as a result of the emissions scandal. One of the first lines in the code of conduct of Institution of Mechanical Engineers in the UK is:
"All members shall conduct their professional work and relationships with integrity and objectivity and with due regard for the welfare of the people, the organisations and the environment with which they interact."
Assuming the teutonic Germans have a similar institution with similar values - I'm thinking fail and guessing his moral compass has gone askew somewhere during his climb up the greasy pole.
So no loss there, even if he did cut his teeth on an engine we now consider to have some value in the history of screaming four pots.
Who else did you mention - ah yes - two younger guys that still have their jobs and hopefully calibrated moral compasses. I think we're ok then?
I think not.
Felisa is 69 and will apparently continue to serve on the board of directors as a technical advisor. So sounds like he's overdue retirement.
Hatz has fallen on his own sword as a result of the emissions scandal. One of the first lines in the code of conduct of Institution of Mechanical Engineers in the UK is:
"All members shall conduct their professional work and relationships with integrity and objectivity and with due regard for the welfare of the people, the organisations and the environment with which they interact."
Assuming the teutonic Germans have a similar institution with similar values - I'm thinking fail and guessing his moral compass has gone askew somewhere during his climb up the greasy pole.
So no loss there, even if he did cut his teeth on an engine we now consider to have some value in the history of screaming four pots.
Who else did you mention - ah yes - two younger guys that still have their jobs and hopefully calibrated moral compasses. I think we're ok then?
Sounding like another p***d off Porsche fan. Let's face it, all the enthusiasts are buying the old stuff. Some correlation there as to why values are flying?! The only modern porkers I would happily throw my spare cash at are the GT4 and the 911R. Yet another reason to distance myself from what the marque has become...shame because they would sell tonnes if they were avaliable.
toppstuff said:
Porsche losing their star engineer is a shame but not that surprising.
The engineering side of Porsche has been doing a fine job. The sales and marketing / distribution strategy is completely inept and bungled. The OPC's are generally untrustworthy in my experience. And the debacle over 911R tells me that there is a cynicism inside Porsche strategic thinking that is not attractive.
And the new 911 has taken a turn for the worse. Its tilted too far toward dullness to be exciting anymore. And the more interesting 911 variants are not available to normal people unless you perform fellatio on the dealer principal it seems to me, while offering free access to your wife and holiday home.
Porsche just doesn't seem to be fun anymore.
The engineering side of Porsche has been doing a fine job. The sales and marketing / distribution strategy is completely inept and bungled. The OPC's are generally untrustworthy in my experience. And the debacle over 911R tells me that there is a cynicism inside Porsche strategic thinking that is not attractive.
And the new 911 has taken a turn for the worse. Its tilted too far toward dullness to be exciting anymore. And the more interesting 911 variants are not available to normal people unless you perform fellatio on the dealer principal it seems to me, while offering free access to your wife and holiday home.
Porsche just doesn't seem to be fun anymore.
As an engineer (well, a ex engineer) I think this is nonsense. Having an engineer in charge does not make for better or worse cars, nor does it make for better or worse PR or marketing. What every company needs (not just automotive companies) is someone who loves their product and knows how to build the right team of people, whatever their background. For all the engineers who wants to talk in an engaging and enthusiastic way there will be many more who want to talk about efficiency savings and safety testing.
Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff