Background - travelled down from Frankfurt to Stuttgart (and then to Munich and Augsburg) on the 25/26th October 2024 as part of a work trip
I dropped by the Porsche museum. On a weekend. In between work days.
But the visit comes at an interesting time.
First, from an external perspective, the glitz and glamour around the autmotive industry in Germany is under siege. Struck by multiple whammies of weakening domestic demand, and the rise in Chinese automotive (cheaper, and better) products, while navigating a long-drawn and immensely costly energy transition.
Today (29th October 2024), the financial times also reported that the unthinkable has happened: with Volkswagen potentially shutting down some car factories in Germany. Short of government intervention, the decline is clear to see.
From a personal perspective, it also came at a time when my mind was swirling with ideas….. Recent years has drawn my interest towards industrial entrepreneurs.
Of which Ferdinand Porsche is a clear representation of.
As I walked, listened and read - Ferdinand Porsche was born to a tin smith, but displayed prodigious interest in electrical engineering.
Funny too, that the first models he developed were battery-electric vehicles, which then became hybrid electric, and finally combustion based. Indeed the automotive industry has come full circle.
It was also interesting that his talent was initially for hire: working for daimler, volkswagen, and more well known brands before he finally decided to employ himself, basing himself at Stuttgart. Common roles were as a technical advisor, and later, a board member. It was apparent too, how corporations, governance and financing all were pivotal topics back then in the early 1900s as they are, today.
It was also a walk through in product development across the decades. Particularly how the standard models of 356 and 911 were widely used in variations. The 911 is still popular today.
And i liked the general categorisation of cars for consumers and mass production; racing and performance and Military.
His links to the German War effort seem conspicuously benign and masked, although he was detained for a short period by the French. But its clear he used his connections to do engineering work for the militiary. Benefit of the doubt i suppose.
The distinction in decision making was interesting too. Many earlier models were led by Porsche and a few of his descendants. Until, that is I heard that the design for the boxster was less a strongman-decision, but more a lets-test-it-in-an-exhibition-before committing. It marks a transition from one-man visions (who lead all the fast decision making, also seen in today’s rising Chinese car companies) to a bureaucratic approach where it can take far too many years to release (and learn from) a new model.
Reflected that in hardware industry, sophisticated leads are required (which in turns drives cost reductions and subsequently mass market affordability). While for software industry the pursuit towards scale first, and customisation later seems to be more compelling.
Hardware industries do remain hard indeed.
Some models also reinforced the notion of not striving for a technically perfect solution, and made numerous trade offs for efficiency.
Materials were key too. The 904 with much lighter weight plastics was quite clear in its design. As were the choices between Steel, Titanium, Alumnium and Magnesium. Weight mattered. A lot.