Unimog

UNISCOPE
An off-road
expert
Farewell to
Hans-Jürgen Wischhof
Hans-Jürgen Wischhof was CEO of the
Unimog Division for more than twelve
years – longer than any of his predecessors
– and on his retirement leaves a healthy
company behind him. Dr. Klaus Maier, Head
of the Mercedes-Benz Truck Division, held
the official farewell speech on Thursday,
October 9. In his words: “You could always
rely on Hans-Jürgen Wischhof and he was
and remains a true friend of the Unimog. He
was always the company’s foremost engineer
and salesman.”
There were many speeches and therefore
memories of Hans-Jürgen Wischhof’s activity,
lasting almost 25 years, on behalf of the
DaimlerChrysler Group. What was constantly
evident was that he would accept
every job and consider it “his task”. He came
to Gaggenau in the spring of 1990 with this
attitude, and set to work right away, making
the necessary urgent decisions and leading
the Unimog through one of its more difficult
phases. With the help of his team and with
the backing of the Group headquarters, the
Unimog has entered the 21st century in
great condition.
During the Wischhof era, two product
lines for different customer target groups
were introduced – the off-road U 300 - U 500
implement carriers and the extreme off-road
U 3000 - U 5000 transport vehicles – and the
U 500 USA was also the first model to be
launched in North America. Wischhof set
the signals in many important areas with a
view to making the division more economical.
Strategic re-orientation of the Unimog –
which is in fact the world’s best-known
Mercedes-Benz truck – culminated with relocation
of the Unimog production facilities
to the truck assembly plant in Wörth.
“Now that I’m leaving, I’m absolutely
positive that it has all been worthwhile,”
said the former Unimog CEO. The festive
environment in Gaggenau, with a vehicle
parade through the factory and standing
ovations for his emotional final speech, was
a last and certainly pleasant highlight of an
interesting and successful career. ■
Gisbert Hindennach, author of several
books about the Unimog that mainly deal
with its driveline technology and extreme
off-road situations, has now written
another book entitled “Unimog Off Road
Driving School”. It describes what can be
done with the off-road Unimog. An off-road
specialist from Freudenstadt in the Black
Forest, Hindennach describes how to
maintain preconditions for safe driving in
extreme off-road terrain by appropriate
driving techniques and by taking full
advantage of the Unimog’s driveline technology.
On 224 pages with 400 colour
pictures, the author conveys many useful
facts on how to look ahead and adopt the
appropriate driving style, on basic physical
principles and realistic assessment of
risks. The book is obtainable in German and
English, from:
Ingenieurbüro Gisbert Hindennach
Keplerstrasse 3,
72250 Freudenstadt,
Germany
Phone +49 (0) 7441 - 91150
Fax +49 (0) 7441 - 911519
E-mail: gisbert.hindennach@t-online.de
www.hindennach.com
Flowers for Mrs. Wischhof and a heartfelt thank-you
for Hans-Jürgen Wischhof (centre) from Dr. Klaus
Maier (left)
Unimog 2|2003 23