this post was submitted on 02 Sep 2024
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136
Volkswagen considers German plant closures to save billions in costs | The Guardian (www.theguardian.com)
submitted 2 weeks ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
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[–] [email protected] 73 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (5 children)

Meanwhile Renault will be producing the 5 (upcoming small EV) in France for a pretty low price considering modern car (and especially EV) pricing. It's even got a reasonable range.

My point bringing that up is... if this happens, it's because VW is being greedy and seeks to outsource labour – likely to Asia. It's not because it's a necessary move to make their business viable.

I've always liked VAG cars, shit I currently have one, but they've been making such massive missteps for years now.

[–] [email protected] 14 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

They're looking for subsidies it seems, they're getting some pretty generous benefits from the Canadian government so might as well take advantage of it.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 week ago

ah yes this is it. They just threaten politics, so big corps get money again from governments to stay.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

Username does not check out! Not at all! What have the Wormhole-beings done to you Nagus?!

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

Have driven VAG cars for most of my driving life (25 years out of 27) and have always found something that suited my life at the time. I'm currently driving an Arteon Shooting Brake, but that's no longer made and the iD range is just dull, dull, dull. The Audi EVs are priced so high they're ridiculous, and the Cupras are just not different enough from the iDs.. I'm hoping the Skoda concepts come to fruition, but they'll most likely be dulled down and not as cool as they look now (the Epiq looks neat).... We shall see. But it may be time to move on.

I might be getting old, but I don't want a dull car, thanks!

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 week ago

Greed is not optional under capitalism.

[–] [email protected] 21 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Seems like a misstep. If the cars aren’t selling, look outside the manufacturing plant for the problems.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 1 week ago (2 children)

I mean they hiked considerably the prices and then wonder why their cars aren't selling well. Plus VW cars are very boring.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Boring is good. I'd rather a car be boring than surprising. Especially at highway speeds.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Okay, I meant not exciting. It is very much meh.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 week ago

The real issue is the pricetag. Most folks as I understand it want a car to go to work and run errands or whatever. The appeal of Japanese cars historically has been their reliability and competitive price. They were,'t really luxury vehicles, but took a huge chunk of the market by being a commuter car.

People wanting exciting cars are probably looking for sports cars or muscle cars or whatever that VW doesn't have much of a hand in.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 week ago

Well don’t forget the diesel emission scandal. They’ll happily cheat for profit as hard as possible.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

The Wolfsburg-based manufacturer on Monday informed its works council

Goshdarnit Guardian. You mean management, as in the CEO, informed the board, which has 50% - 1 seats allocated to the works council. Who already expressed their preference for the CEO to shove it. Then we have the seats representing the state stake (Lower Saxony owns 20%), which let it be known, somewhat more statesmanlike, that "the question of works closures won't arise because every other option will be exhausted first".

My prediction? If the CEO doesn't clearly communicate that "those were of course theoretical considerations unlikely to have practical relevance" there's going to be a new CEO.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 week ago (1 children)

German economy without Russian gas lol

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Not sure what gas has to do with building cars, but ok...

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 week ago (1 children)

I guess Germans know how to manufacture without energy input 🤡

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (1 children)

I work in heavy machinery. We use tons of metal, like literally. We're still dominating the market with competitive prices and good technology. Building cars is amateur time in comparison.

Edit: the main portion of costs is personnel. We have a gigantic service network and they're expensive as fuck because Germany has a good union (IG Metall). Gas is absolutely of no concern to us at all.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 week ago (1 children)

sounds like german auto industry lost its competitive edge due to shiti management and too much state aid.

good to hear that your industry is able to compete despite gas prices!

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 week ago (1 children)

I will agree with that. Im honestly very happy and proud that we manage to power through the slight recession. And im 100% sure its because of good management. We jumped on board the sustainability train fairly quickly and we're definitely benefitting from it. It helps that our customers are doing the same. Conservative mindset is what's ruining our industry (and our political landscape). All they do is whine when things won't work the way they used to and then they wait for state aid.

Anywho, thanks for the kind words, I appreciate it!

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 week ago

Thank you for providing additional details.

Are owners of poorly ran enterprises just asking for bailouts? Or are they literally not competitive? Trying to better understand reason for decline in industrial output etc.