This is the single greatest honor in the motor vehicle industry, intended to honor a career and/or lifetime achievement. To become a "Hall of Famer" the nominee must be either retired or deceased. Recipients must have significantly impacted the development of the automobile or the motor vehicle industry. Typically, four to eight individuals are inducted each year.
Orchestrated the post-World War II revitalization of Volkswagen to produce the most successful car of all time
Through the success of Volkswagen, was a major contributor to Germany's economic recovery following World War II
Heinrich Nordhoff rebuilt the Volkswagen company, and helped restore pride in the phrase ?€œMade in Germany.?€?
Prior to World War II, Nordhoff was an executive of Adam Opal AG, a German subsidiary of General Motors. After the war, Nordhoff was appointed Managing Director of the virtually destroyed Volkswagen factory in Wolfsburg. To rebuild Volkswagen, Nordhoff created a productive partnership between management and workers while also fostering humanitarian efforts in the town of Wolfsburg to create a free and open cultural community. To create a car of the highest quality, Nordhoff concentrated on technological improvements and refused to make styling changes in the classic ?€œBeetle?€? design . By emphasizing ?€œservice first, sales second,?€? Nordhoff created a world market that paved the way for later automakers.
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His colleague Carl Hahn, while head of Volkswagen of America, remarked, ?€œNordhoff has a sure instinct...He never butts his head against a wall; he just manages to walk through a door in the wall which no one else sees.?€?
