Bodo Buschmann, founder and CEO of Brabus, has passed away after battling an illness, the company announced on Thursday. Buschmann was 62 years old.
Brabus has long focused on building luxurious high-performance models based on Mercedes-Benz vehicles. The company did work with Smart and even Tesla, too. Some of the company's most-recent creations include the Mercedes-AMG S65 Cabrio and G65 models, both of which wear the "900" badge; both cars push 900 metric horsepower, or 888 hp.
Buschmann's passion for cars began at a young age and eventually led to the creation of Brabus in 1977 when he was just 22. The company's first dealership, which was based in a small workshop behind his family's car dealership, soon became too small when the company grew rapidly.
Buschmann grew the business to what it is today, and the company praised his work ethic. In the announcement, fellow employees recalled that Buschmann often put 40-hours worth of work in by Wednesday and hardly took a weekend off. He rightly stated during his life, "Never work for money—work for passion!
The company added that Buschmann's family has stepped in to continue running the company, and Constantin Buschmann, Bodo's son, will become CEO of Brabus effectively immediately.
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