Carl Horst Hahn (1 July 1926 – 14 January 2023) was a German businessman and head of the Volkswagen Group from 1982 to 1993. He served as the chairman of the board of management of the parent company, Volkswagen AG (formerly Volkswagenwerk AG). During his tenure, the group's car production increased from two million units in 1982 to 3.5 million a decade later. Life and career Early life and education Hahn was born in Chemnitz, and grew up near the town. His father had been a senior manager of the German car and motorcycle company DKW and was a co-founder of the Auto Union in 1932, which later evolved into the Audi car brand. Hahn studied business administration at the University of Cologne and the University of Zurich, economics and politics in the UK and France. In 1952, Hahn received his doctorate in Economics at the University of Berne in Switzerland. He went to Perugia for a year to study art history, intending to volunteer at Fiat. Early career Before joining Volkswagen, he worked as an economist at the OECD in Paris in the European Productivity Agency. In 1954 Hahn joined VW as an assistant of chairman Heinrich Nordhoff, and in 1955 became head of sales promotion in VW's export department. Volkswagen of America, 1959–1965 In 1959, Nordhoff made him president of the company's U.S. subsidiary, Volkswagen of America. Under Hahn's leadership, Volkswagen of America began a national advertising campaign to attract more attention to its quirky Beetle sedan and Microbus wagon. Hahn soon hired the Doyle Dane Bernbach ad agency. Its print and television ads for the Volkswagen brand respected the customer's intelligence, gave detailed information about Volkswagen's products, and made fun of the unorthodox qualities of the cars. The ads became cultural icons as much as the cars did. As the Beetle served a market segment that American car builders did not cover, Volkswagen enjoyed exceptional sales in the U.S. in the 1960s and early 1970s. Hahn became a beloved figure in the United States before his return to Germany in 1965, having been affectionately nicknamed "Mr. Volkswagen" by VW enthusiasts. Hahn became a member of the board of VW in 1964. Chairman of Volkswagen AG, 1982–1993 In 1973, Hahn left VW and returned to Hannover, Germany, to lead the German tire company Continental AG. Subsequently, in 1982, with the image of Starverkäufer (star seller), he returned to