Peter Christoph Spuhler (born 9 January 1959) is a Swiss industrialist and politician of the

Swiss People's Party The Swiss People's Party (german: Schweizerische Volkspartei, SVP; rm, Partida populara Svizra, PPS), also known as the Democratic Union of the Centre (french: Union démocratique du centre, UDC; it, Unione Democratica di Centro, UDC), is a nati ...

, where from 1999 to 2012 he served as a member of the

Swiss National Council The National Council (german: Nationalrat; french: Conseil national; it, Consiglio nazionale; rm, Cussegl naziunal) is the lower house of the Federal Assembly of Switzerland, the upper house being the Council of States. With 200 seats, the ...

for the canton of

Thurgau Thurgau (; french: Thurgovie; it, Turgovia), anglicized as Thurgovia, more formally the Canton of Thurgau, is one of the 26 cantons forming the Swiss Confederation. It is composed of five districts and its capital is Frauenfeld. Thurgau is part ...

. Spuhler was CEO of the family firm

Stadler Rail Stadler Rail is a Swiss manufacturer of railway rolling stock, with an emphasis on regional train multiple units and trams. It is also focused on niche products, such as being one of the last European manufacturers of rack railway rolling stock ...

from 1989 to 2017 and from 2020 onwards. As of April 2019, he held a 40% shareholding in Stadler.

Early and Personal life

Peter Spuhler was born in Seville, Spain. After completing his compulsory and tertiary education in Zurich, as well as

compulsory military service Conscription (also called the draft in the United States) is the state-mandated enlistment of people in a national service, mainly a military service. Conscription dates back to antiquity and it continues in some countries to the present day un ...

, he studied business administration at the

University of St. Gallen A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...

from 1980 to 1986. In his youth he played ice hockey for the

Grasshopper Club Zürich Grasshopper Club Zürich, commonly referred to as simply GC, GCZ, or Grasshoppers, is a multisports club based in Zürich, Switzerland. The oldest and best known department of the club is its football team. With 27 titles, Grasshopper holds the ...

. Spuhler is married to Daniela Spuhler-Hoffmann and has one child with her. He also has two children from a previous marriage. His assets were estimated by the Swiss business magazine ''

Bilanz ''Bilanz'' is a German language biweekly business magazine published in Zurich, Switzerland. In 2014, the magazine started its edition published in Germany. History and profile ''Bilanz'' was established in 1977 as a successor of ''Wirtschaft ...

'' at 2.25 billion Swiss francs in 2017.

Business career

Stadler Rail

After marrying into the Stadler family, Spuhler took up his position in 1987 at Stadler Fahrzeuge AG, which was then still managed by Irma Stadler. Two years later, he took over the company with its 18 employees and a turnover of approx. 4.5 million Swiss francs, according to his statement with a bank loan from the Thurgauer Kantonalbank for around 5 million Swiss francs. He restructured it and, with the

Stadler GTW The Stadler GTW is an articulated railcar for local transport made by Stadler Rail of Switzerland. GTW stands for Gelenktriebwagen (articulated railcar). History The Biel–Täuffelen–Ins-Bahn near Bern, Switzerland was looking for a lighter ...

, opted for a new vehicle that was more suitable for modern local transport. In order to continue to be successful in rail vehicle construction, Spuhler bought the Werk Altenrhein from Schindler Waggon AG in 1997. The new holding structure favored expansion into Germany and Eastern Europe. On 1 April 2018, Spuhler handed over the management of the Stadler Rail Group to Thomas Ahlburg. Since then, he has concentrated on the Stadler Rail Group as President of the Board of Directors.''Peter Spuhler übergibt die Funktion des Group CEO an Thomas Ahlburg.''
Medienmitteilung vom 20. September 2017 (PDF). As of May 2020, due to differences in the strategic and organisational development of

AG, he took over the position of Group CEO ad interim.

Other roles

Spuhler is a member of the board of directors of the Aebi-Schmidt Group and holds other seats on the board of directors of two other companies: Gleisag (

Rorschach Rorschach may refer to: * Hermann Rorschach, a Swiss psychiatrist ** Rorschach test, his psychological evaluation method involving inkblots * Rorschach (character), a character from the comics ''Watchmen'' * Rorschach (comic book), a 2020 comic * ...

) and Walo Bertschinger AG (Zurich). Since April 2019, he has been a member of Robert Bosch Industrietreuhand KG and also sits on the

supervisory board In corporate governance, a governance board also known as council of delegates are chosen by the stockholders of a company to promote their interests through the governance of the company and to hire and fire the board of directors. In civil s ...

Robert Bosch GmbH Robert Bosch GmbH (; ), commonly known as Bosch and stylized as BOSCH, is a German multinational engineering and technology company headquartered in Gerlingen, Germany. The company was founded by Robert Bosch in Stuttgart in 1886. Bosch is 9 ...

. He is also a member of the Mittelthurgau Employers' Association in Weinfelden, the IG Freiheit, the Thurgau Chamber of Industry and Commerce (Weinfelden) and the Information Service for Public Transport (Bern). Spuhler is also involved in the Tele D Foundation (Diessenhofen) and is Vice President of the Betriebs AG of the

ZSC Lions The Zürcher Schlittschuh Club Lions (ZSC Lions) are a professional ice hockey team located in Zürich, Switzerland, playing in the National League (NL). Their home arena is the 12,000-seat Swiss Life Arena. The team was founded in 1930 and playe ...

References

External links

Personal website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Spuhler, Peter 1959 births Living people Members of the National Council (Switzerland) Swiss People's Party politicians University of St. Gallen alumni Swiss billionaires