Topic: Bernd Pischetsrieder

Bernd Pischetsrieder (born 15 February 1948) is a German automobile engineer and manager.

He was born in Munich, Bavaria, and studied Mechanical Engineering at the Technical University of Munich from 1968 to 1972. He earned the degree of "Diplom Ingenieur", and began his career at BMW in 1973 as a Production Planning Engineer. He was promoted to become chairman of the board of BMW from 1993 through 1999. He was also chairman of the Volkswagen Group (Volkswagen AG) from 2002 to 2006, and chairman of Scania AB until 2007.

During his time as head of BMW, Pischetsrieder was known for solidifying the company's position as a leader in the luxury car market with a solid sporting and engineering reputation. His decision in 1994 to purchase Rover Group from British Aerospace was widely regarded as a failure on paper. Although many of the assets were sold at vast profit and the purchase brought the valuable Mini and Land Rover marques into BMW ownership, the Rover passenger car operation drained the company's coffers. Rover was sold off in 2000, with Ford taking on Land Rover, and the revived Mini remaining at BMW. A more notable achievement was the assumption of the Rolls-Royce marque, a deal which left rival Volkswagen manager, Ferdinand Piëch, with only the Bentley marque, and the Crewe factory.