How the Japanese saved Porsche

The first thing Japanese production guru Chihiro Nakao did when he arrived to save Porsche in the autumn of 1992 was to demand new CEO Wendelin Wiedeking take him straight into the factory.

They started in Zuffenhausen’s engine assembly shop. And where others might have swooned at being on such holy ground, Nakao was appalled. Aghast, he shouted at Wiedeking: ‘Where’s the factory? This isn’t a factory; this is a warehouse!’

It got worse. ‘Where are the workers? These are just apes clambering up and down shelves,’ he bellowed, pointing to the blue-uniformed technicians who regarded themselves as Germany’s most skilled engine makers. They heard the translator’s words above the din and were outraged. Not just for themselves: how dare this upstart foreigner speak to a Doktoringenieur like that; how dare he insult the CEO!