Auto News 5

There has never been a more colorful, more controversial, or more powerful Man of the Year. Ferdinand Karl Piëch is a direct descendant of the Porsche-Piëch dynasty, the billionaire father of twelve children, a professed dyslexic, and a ruthless leader. But behind the carefully cultivated bad-boy image lurks the greatest visionary of the trade. No other living captain of the automotive industry has whipped this business forward with the same foresight and determination as the balding, thin-lipped Austrian with the wing-nut ears and the piercing, soft voice. To name only a few examples, Piëch was the head of Porsche engineering during development of the Le Mans-winning 917, pushed for low-drag automobiles with the Audi 5000, spearheaded development of Quattro four-wheel drive, was the main brainpower behind the TDI turbo-diesel engine and the lightweight aluminum-spaceframe architecture, and released the funds required to develop direct-injected gasoline engines and dual-clutch automatic transmissions.

The skeptics insisted it would never happen, that electric cars couldn't compete with internal combustion a century ago, and -- until cheap, powerful, and dependable batteries arrive -- they never will.