Mr. Hahn died peacefully at his home in Wolfsburg (northern Germany) on Saturday morning at the age of 96, the German daily Die Welt reported on Saturday evening.
As head of the auto giant from 1982 to 1993, Carl Hahn oversaw sweeping changes that helped propel the company to international prominence.
It was under his leadership that the group bought out the Spanish manufacturers Seat and the Czech Skoda and that it began to develop in China, which is today its main market.
After the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, Mr. Hahn also ensured that Volkswagen expanded in East Germany and rebuilt the Zwickau plant, which today manufactures electric cars.
"With his sense of opportunity, timing and emerging markets, Hahn laid the foundations for Volkswagen's success," Die Welt said.
Carl Hahn was born in 1926 in Chemnitz, eastern Germany, into a family of industrialists.
He studied economics in Germany, Switzerland and Great Britain before starting his career with Fiat in Italy.
He first worked at Volkswagen in North America, then made a stint at the tire manufacturer Continental in Hanover before returning to the German group as general manager.
© 2023 AFP