Those other Audi men

By Teppo Sillantaus
     
      The Audi sales manager Esko Kiesi resigned late last week after a furore over remarks in a special issue of a women's magazine that allegedly generated some negative image problems for the premium brand he represented.
      Undoubtedly, the chauvinist comments did stir up a small hornet's nest, but the damage was probably minor by comparison with that caused by three earlier Audi men in the space of a few short months, seven years ago.
     
In November 2002, two taxi passengers died in a crash on Sörnäisten Rantatie in Helsinki, after two cars burned rubber away from a set of traffic lights and raced side-by-side, until one of them struck the taxi at between 90 and 110km/hour. The speed limit on this stretch of road is 60km/h.
      The car that collided with the taxi was a Seat.
      However, the street-race was being led at the moment of impact by a V8-engined Audi travelling parallel with it in the other lane.
      The driver of this car, whose licence had earlier been revoked for reckless driving, did not stop and made good his escape, only to be later charged with aggravated dangerous driving and driving without a licence.
      The District Court subsequently handed down a large day-fine for his part in the proceedings, while the other driver received a suspended prison sentence.
     
In August 2002, a managing director in his thirties ran a red light on a pedestrian crossing in the Munkkivuori suburb of the capital, and struck a nine-year-old girl on the crossing.
      The girl died instantly.
      Shortly after the incident - which caused a massive outpouring of anger and led to much tighter surveillance by police - the "Audi man" wished in an interview to point out that he had not been driving a standard Audi A3, as a newspaper had incorrectly reported, but that his vehicle was the much sportier Audi S3 model.
      He received a prison sentence of eighteen months for involuntary manslaughter.
     
Early on a Tuesday morning in July 2002, a car driving along Pohjoinen Rautatiekatu in downtown Helsinki exploded outside the Helka Hotel.
      Although some news agencies hastily pressed the terrorism button, it was murder.
      A bomb had been placed in the trunk of the car, and it was detonated from another car driving behind the victim, using a remote control device taken from a child's toy.
      The car that was blown up was an Opel Kadett, but the murderer himself was driving an Audi.
     
All things considered, sales manager Esko Kiesi is by no means an Audi man from the worst end of the street.
     
Helsingin Sanomat / First published in print 6.9.2009

More on this subject:
 Audi Finland’s sales manager: Women are like cars
 Kiesi's comments get the thumbs-down
 News Analysis: Anna is moving in a sensitive area

Previously in HS International Edition:
  Two dead after street race in Helsinki (4.11.2002)
  Helsinki neighbourhood shocked at death of young girl at pedestrian crossing (15.8.2002)
  Car-bomb in Helsinki (from July 2002)