Early Years
Hahn was born in the German state of Saxony and raised near Chemnitz. His father had been a senior manager of DKW and Auto Union, which later evolved into the Audi car brand. As a college student in Europe, he studied business administration at the University of Cologne and the University of Zurich; he also studied economics and politics in Great Britain and France. Hahn got his doctorate in Economics at the University of Berne in Switzerland. Before joining Volkswagen, he first worked as an economist in Paris.
Hahn joined VW in 1953 as an assistant of chairman Heinrich Nordhoff, and he quickly became head of sales promotion in VW's export department. Hahn was a favorite of Nordhoff's, and the chairman made him president of the company's U.S. subsidiary, Volkswagen of America, in 1958.
Read more about this topic: Carl Hahn
Famous quotes containing the words early and/or years:
“Yet, haply, in some lull of life,
Some Truce of God which breaks its strife,
The worldling’s eyes shall gather dew,
Dreaming in throngful city ways
Of winter joys his boyhood knew;
And dear and early friends—the few”
—John Greenleaf Whittier (1807–1892)
“So many things I had thought forgotten
Return to my mind with stranger pain:
Like letters that arrive addressed to someone
Who left the house so many years ago.”
—Philip Larkin (1922–1986)