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Preminuo Peter Schutz, čovjek koji je spasio 911-ku
Nisam nigdje našao na BH medijima da je iko spomenuo ovog gospodina. Peter Schutz je čovjek koji je zadužio Porsche ali i sve nas koji volimo automobile, jer je njegov glas bio odlučujući kada je tamo nekada početkom 1980-ih odlučivano da li prestati praviti Porsche 911 ili ne,
isti spasio 911-ku i gledamo je i danas na putevima, nove modele i varijante. I iako ne vozim, a vjerovatno i neću nikada, hvala mu za to! Umro je za weekend u svojoj 87. godini.
Bio je šef Porschea od 1981. do 1987. godine.
How an American Saved the Porsche 911
"The decision didn't sit well with me," Schutz said. "While the car could be temperamental at times, at least it had character. That's what people loved most about it."
As CEO, Schutz would have none of this. He informed his staff that the 911 would live on in a move that's now part of Porsche folklore:
I went down to the office of our lead engineer, Professor Helmuth Bott, to discuss plans for our upcoming models. I noticed a chart hanging on his wall that depicted the ongoing development trends of our top three lines: 911, 928, and 944. With the latter options, the graph showed a steady rise in production for years to come. But for the 911, the line stopped in 1981. I grabbed a marker off Professor Bott's desk and extended the 911 line across the page, onto the wall, and out the door. When I came back, Bott stood there, grinning.
'Do we understand each other?' I asked. And with a nod, we did.
This decision paid off for Schutz and Porsche. Just a few years later, the New York Timesreported that Porsche sold 49,365 cars and earned $54.7 million in 1985, compared with 27,983 cars sold and $4.5 million in 1981.
"They were winners and they were trying to act like losers,'' Schutz told the New York Timesof the company he joined in 1981. ''We decided that technology is the heart of the company and that high performance is an approach to transportation. We were going to live or die with that concept.''