<a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.volkswagenag.com&#x2F;content&#x2F;vwcorp&#x2F;content&#x2F;en&#x2F;the_group&#x2F;senior_management&#x2F;winterkorn.html" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.volkswagenag.com&#x2F;content&#x2F;vwcorp&#x2F;content&#x2F;en&#x2F;the_gr...</a><p>&quot;Winterkorn’s professional career began in 1977 as a specialist assistant in the research division &quot;Process Engineering&quot; at Robert Bosch GmbH. From 1978 to 1981 he headed the refrigerant compressor development group &quot;Substances and Processes&quot; at Robert Bosch GmbH and Bosch-Siemens-Hausgeräte GmbH.<p>In 1981 Winterkorn joined AUDI AG as assistant to the Member of the Board for Quality Assurance. Two years later, he assumed responsibility for &quot;Measuring Technology&#x2F;Sampling and Test Laboratory&quot; at Audi. At the beginning of 1988, he was made departmental head of &quot;Central Quality Assurance&quot;, and in 1990 Head of Audi Quality Assurance.<p>In 1993 Winterkorn became Head of &quot;Group Quality Assurance&quot; at Volkswagen AG and was appointed General Representative of Volkswagen AG in March 1994.&quot;<p>These would be his formative years. It seems he focused on processes and quality rather than actual technology, IMO.