Basque executive José Ignacio López de Arriortúa, known as 'Superlópez', has died at the age of 84 after a career marked by his time at General Motors and Volkswagen.
Born in Amorebieta (Bizkaia) in 1941, López de Arriortúa began his career at Firestone and joined General Motors in 1980, where he drove process reviews and cost controls. In 1993 he joined Volkswagen as vice president of purchasing and production at the invitation of Ferdinand Piëch. General Motors then accused him of industrial espionage, leading to an out-of-court settlement in which Volkswagen paid one hundred million dollars and purchased components worth more than one billion. After leaving Volkswagen in November 1996, he tried to build a factory in Amorebieta with the Aurora project and its Carmen prototype, which never materialized. He suffered a serious traffic accident in 1998 and withdrew from public life.
