The first lady of Volkswagen prepares to take the wheel In a letter to shareholders ahead of next month's annual general meeting Volkswagen described Ursula Piëch's qualifications: "Kindergarten teacher with additional qualifications in business and law (not currently actively working)." Teaching a class of obstreperous Austrian infants is not the typical route to the board of the world's second-largest carmaker. But then Ms Piëch is the wife of Ferdinand Piëch, VW's chairman and grandson of the inventor of the VW beetle, the irrepressibly successful people's car. At a time when companies across Europe are coming under pressure to redress the lack of women on their boards, Ms Piëch's proposed appointment this week may put supporters of gender equality in two minds. Even critics of the Piëch dynasty admit she's a car fanatic and understands the company. But she's also the beneficiary of tight family control at publicly-listed VW that some critics compare to a personal fiefdom. "It is certainly an unusual career track to go from being a nanny to being on the supervisory board of one of Europe's largest companies," says Max Warburton at Bernstein Research who has observed the company for years. It was when teaching at a kindergarten in Braunau am Inn, upper Austria, in 1982 that the then Ursula Plasser responded to a newspaper advertisement from a family seeking a nanny. Not just any family: the 25-year old entered the home of Mr Piëch, who at the time was masterminding an overhaul at Audi. According to Auto. Biographie, Mr Piëch's personal testament, Ursula caught his eye when he observed her learning to drive and she twice stalled her car on a steep mountainside. "I smiled: I had already then a kind of feeling," he wrote. Ursula was apparently not as initially enamoured as her suitor: "He smirked to himself and I could only think, what a silly man." But eventually he won her over. They married in 1984 and would have three children together. Born with "petrol in his blood" Mr Piëch is known for his ruthless intolerance of underperforming managers, his cold demeanour and an uncompromising attention to detail. The patriarch keeps a collection of ceremonial daggers and once described his priorities simply as: "VW, family, money." Under his stewardship VW has been transformed from a lossmaking carmaker into an industrial powerhouse. He has largely ignored complaints that the strong influence of the Porsche-Piëch clan gives rise to corporate governance issues, of which his wife's appointment is only the latest. However, Mr Piëch has repeatedly answered his critics. Last year VW sold 8.3m vehicles and made €11.3bn in operating profit. Shareholders have also done well and so long as this remains the case, criticism of Ms Piëch's nomination should be muted. As a member of VW's 20-person supervisory board she will have a say in every important strategic decision. VW aims by 2018 to have become the world's biggest carmaker and to have left General Motors and Toyota in its slipstream. Her husband turns 75 next month. As a board member and the designated future trustee of his investment holdings, her role will be to secure the family legacy. In 2010, Mr Piëch moved to secure his legacy by setting up two Austrian foundations to protect his substantial financial holdings, which include a stake in the Porsche holding company that owns half of VW. He nominated his wife as deputy trustee and she will assume full-responsibility after his death - providing she does not remarry. Porsche's failed attempt to takeover the larger VW in 2008 was a reminder for Mr Piëch that family splits could put his achievements at risk; the foundation structure will in effect restrict his children's ability to sell his holdings after he is gone. "Already today she play a very important role," said a person familiar with the arrangement "She does a lot for her husband in terms of overseeing the development of these financial holdings." Finding anyone at VW willing to criticise the nomination is a thankless task. Ms Piëch - known as "Uschi" by her husband - has proven a tenacious and a valuable counterweight to the VW patriarch over the past two decades and has long since stepped out of his shadow. "She knows all the key players her and has done for many years," said one VW insider. Bernd Osterloh, head of VW's powerful works council is effusive in his praise for Ms Piëch. She is a "businesswoman with high-level of social understanding." As well as a gregarious public image, Ms Piëch is renowned for her deep knowledge of the company: even long-serving VW employees fear being caught out by her knowledge on technical issues. People who know her say she is fascinated by cars - "probably a good job considering who she married," a London-based analyst, quipped. The once tentative twenty-something learner driver has become an accomplished handler of high-performance vehicles, including a Bugatti, one of the fastest and most expensive cars on the road. A VW employee, who declined to be identified for this piece, described Ms Piëch as "someone who is good at winning people over to her point of view," including her husband. She is ... highly analytical in her thinking and quickly gets to the heart of the matter. At the Geneva motor show last week, where VW unveiled a parade of new vehicles, reporters were eager to ask Mr Piëch about who the carmaker might buy next - Ducati, a maker of premium motorcycles, is thought to be on his shopping list. But just days after a court had slapped VW's chairman on the wrist over another corporate governance issue, he was nowhere to be found; Frau Piëch had wisely lead her husband away. Next time the couple take the to floor at an industry event, "Uschi" will be in the driving seat. The writer is the FT's Frankfurt Correspondent