Toni Schmücker
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| Toni Schmücker | |
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| Born | April 23, 1921 Frechen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany |
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| Died | November 6, 1996 (aged 75) Bergisch Gladbach, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany |
| Known for | Volkswagen |
Toni Schmücker (born 23 April 1921 in Frechen, died 6 November 1996 in Bergisch Gladbach) was the fourth chief executive officer of the Volkswagen Group (Volkswagen AG) automobile company, following the handover of the company in 1948 to German control from the British, who had administered the VW factory in Wolfsburg, Germany after the Second World War ended.
Schmücker's automotive experience came from a long successful career with Ford at Cologne. He became Chairman of the Volkswagen board in 1975, succeeding Rudolf Leiding. At the time of Schmücker's assumption of the job, Volkswagen had just staved off bankruptcy with the introduction of the Volkswagen Golf (marketed as the Rabbit in North America and as the Caribe in Latin America), which would eventually replace the Volkswagen Beetle. In September 1976, Schmücker made history by securing a deal to build a Rabbit factory in New Stanton, Pennsylvania, making VW the first non-American car company to build its products in the United States. It was an effort to make the Rabbit less expensive to sell in North America at a time when the German Mark was gaining in value both against the U.S. dollar and against the currencies of other competitor economies such as Italy, Japan and France. The Pennsylvania factory opened on 10 April 1978.
Under Schmücker, VW lost ground to the Japanese automakers, generally around the world but particularly in North America. After suffering a heart attack in 1981, he was forced to resign the following year, and was succeeded by Dr. Carl Hahn.
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