Just die already, you failed as a company, time to die
Honestly, good.
This will be painful because a lot of jobs and export profits depend on car manufacturers. Each job at a factory creates more jobs for suppliers, logistics, demands of the people working at and near the plant and so on.
However it’s no surprise, they ignored electric cars for more than 10 years and pretended they can keep building expensive petrol powered SUVs forever, and people just buy it because of a “made in Germany” label.
VW went to shit long before electric cars became usable. They ceased building reliable, affordable, and repairable everyday cars in favour of targeting the international upscale market by exploitig their hard earned reputation for quality some time in the mid 2000s. In order to increase profits, they did, however, constantly reduce actual quality in favour of flashy gimmicks. This will only work for so long, because at some point, your reputation is ruined and you run out of wealthy idiots who will still buy your scrap.
Holy shit that is so spot on.
Same for BMW and Mercedes. They went from expensive aspirational cars to lease and dump specials.
Holy shit that is so spot on.
I grew up with VW cars from the 1980s and '90s. I miss their quality and simplicity. If anything broke on them, you could often fix it yourself with a relatively limited mechanical skillset and toolbox.
Same for BMW and Mercedes. They went from expensive aspirational cars to lease and dump specials.
Yes, the other German manufacturers went the same route.
they ignored electric cars for more than 10 years
Why past tense? Do you want to take a guess what two of the plants planned for shutdown are producing exclusively? 😉
They ignored affordable, reliable EVs.
VW was built on the Beetle and the Golf.
- Emden: VW ID.4 -> Mladá Boleslav, Czechia
- Zwickau: Audi Q4 e-tron -> Bratislava, Slowenia
- Hanover: VW Transporter -> Poznán, Poland
- Neckarsulm: Audi A5, A6, A8 ; A8 -> Leipzig
Why should someone’s right to participate in society be tied to their economic value?
Sounds like the US may not be getting the International Scout they have been getting excited about. It definitely will not make it to international markets.
Emden and Zwickau are EV only plants. Emden and Hannover are also in Lower Saxony, which is a major shareholder. I would have guessed a plants like Chemnitz and Kassel would be closed. As those produce combustion engine parts.
Emden and Zwickau are EV only plants.
Then it’s not surprising those are planned to shut down. VW is still working hard to accelerate its intentional suicide. But our corrupt and paid off politicians loudly screaming about the future of combustion engines will surely intervene in time and spend a lot of tax money to keep the carcass relevant longer “for the ecnonomy”.
But combustion enginges are the future. Why would they shut those down? /s
I mean, after Iran, there will never be another fuel crisis!
Right?
