Skewed Image

Wendelin Wiedeking, 55, became Porsche's CEO in 1993. Since 2006, he's also been a member of the supervisory board at Volkswagen.

DW-WORLD.DE: Ahead of the IAA, the dispute over CO2 emission targets has been getting louder and harsher. You've publicly stated your opinion. Do you have a better concept?

Wendelin Wiedeking: First of all, I think that the automobile industry is not the biggest emitter of CO2, even though it's always presented that way. In Germany, for example, passenger cars are responsible for only 12 percent of CO2 emissions. We, the car industry, have worked on environment issues over the last years and decades. We'll continue to reduce CO2 emissions in the coming years with modern engines and modern cars. I think the car industry is not as bad as its image.

Global warming can be felt and environmental protection is a big issue. How do you bring together environmental consciousness and powerful luxury sports cars?

Our sports cars, for example, have the lowest CO2 emissions per horsepower because of extensive research work. If our technology were used in small or medium-sized cars, they could already emit much less. It's the strategy of German premium producers to test technology, invest a lot of money, and introduce the technology step by step via mid-sized cars into small ones. A good example is Mercedes-Benz's ABS technology, which was first introduced in S-Class models many years ago -- at a high cost, also for customers. Today it's hard to think of cars without ABS breaking systems. It's going to be like that in the future as well. We need a variety of offerings -- high-end cars, medium-sized cars and small ones -- in order for the car industry to move forward in terms of technology.

Porsche is Germany's smallest car producer, but also the most profitable one. How much money do you invest in research?

We spend significantly more than 10 percent of revenue on research and development each year. That means that we invest in new technologies probably in a way unlike any other producer. Porsche thrives on new technologies, on issues such as environment, safety and driving pleasure in a way that many others can't or don't want to. We're investing disproportionately in the future.

What do you think about the current debate to protect companies against foreign takeovers?

There are many nations that find it important to control key sectors. The Americans take the stand that foreigners cannot buy anything that gets anywhere near arms production. Newspapers and publishing companies on the other hand can be bought. In other words, it's perfectly natural for Americans to protect many sectors. Europeans didn't have that until now. The state has to take on a certain protective function for the country, I can understand that. It has to be watched, of course. A free society has to allow free capital flow.

Do you ever worry that Porsche might be taken over by another company?

I've actually never worried about that because I know that the Porsche and Piech families -- the only stockholders allowed to vote -- stand firmly behind the company and its tradition. As long as the company makes money, I am sure that both families won't think about selling.

What's the relationship between Porsche and VW like?

I think that we've worked hard at Porsche over the last couple of years. We were able to take over VW shares at a manageable cost. We own more than 31 percent of VW shares. The relationship between Porsche and Volkswagen is very good and that's why it made sense for us to get involved. We were able to afford it and VW shares were cheap.

What does the CEO of Porsche do during his spare time?

I harvested potatoes with a Porsche tractor last Saturday. The potato salad that you can get here [at the IAA] is made from my potatoes.

You're fascinated by technology and have often said you've always just concentrated on the things that brought you forward. Could one say that you're a humor-less person in real life?

You'll have to ask the people around me how boring I am. Because I have so little free time, I only do the things I want to do. I have a great collection of tools, probably the best you can imagine. I have all the tools you need to build things, but I also like to go to music events once in a while. When I have time, I really like to live well. I'm usually the last one to leave a party, but that just doesn't happen very often.

What's your motto?

No risk, no fun!