VW Germany - Staff Strikes possible Factory closures

[Coachella]

Saw over the weekend a worrying youtube vid of whats happening in Germany over VW employees.
On strike - talk of job cuts even potential factory closures. Spiralling costs and Chinese cars coming in.
Have a look and see what you think.
Its not just VW - BMW suffering too.

 

[Webbah_in_Switzerland]

This is from October 28th:

 

[Coachella]

With bigger staged protests / walkouts in the new year - could delay any orders if waiting !

 

[Adno]

these are the effects of the green deal and leftist EU policy

 

[Markgray6.1ocean]

The rest of the world must be laughing at all this net zero crap. They want the west to pay even though they are not bothered about all. Battery tech is no good going forward and all this mining for the minerals is actually adding to pollution! In 20 years there will be no car plants left in Europe as china will kill them off. Sad for all those people who work there.

 

[Viktorgeorge]

these are the effects of the green deal and leftist EU policy

I agree @Adno & @Markgray6.1ocean. Sadly too many people are willfully blind to these effects and how politicians have brought us here, through bribes and stupidity.

 

[nachoandchonk]

I agree @Adno & @Markgray6.1ocean. Sadly too many people are willfully blind to these effects and how politicians have brought us here, through bribes and stupidity.

What's the alternative? Hottest year on record? What bribery? The bribery of the fossil fuel industry?

Volkswagen was not damaged by green rules, they were damaged by their dishonest application of same. The Chinese vehicles they are competing against are all electric. Arguably the Green deal wasn't big enough nor the transition fast enough.

In the meantime with the green rules we have, I'll happily use my Euro VI engine getting me 750km a tank while not creating smog that affects young children. At the same time I'll be assured by the NCAP Gold rated vehicle for safety for myself and pedestrians. I'd love to know which one of these you'd like to get rid of?

 

[NorCal]

Leftist EU policy. That’s sounds like it’s been lifted straight from a Daily Mail or Telegraph lead story.

VW management is appalling.

It had its head in the sand whilst the Chinese market cash-cow brought in the money. The groups sales in China are in complete free fall and from convos with a highly placed friend who recently left the VAG group, the real sales disaster is likely much worse.

VWks Cariad software is shocking. The group is years behind with its own battery plants. The capacity of the battery plants won’t match the planned output. And that’s using Korean and Chinese production technology.

My neighbours are retired VW group engineers (they developed FEA chassis analysis and other interesting systems) and they said VW management has always been poor.

 

[wildslammer22]

Saw over the weekend a worrying youtube vid of whats happening in Germany over VW employees.
On strike - talk of job cuts even potential factory closures. Spiralling costs and Chinese cars coming in.
Have a look and see what you think.
Its not just VW - BMW suffering too.

VW employing Elon Musk type business practices is unlikely to succeed in Germany. VAG factory staff have been known to threaten strike when they tried to take sausages off the canteen menu! Good news for Tesla but not for the legacy German motor industry.

The car industry is fragmenting and with politicians constantly changing the regulatory landscape with conflicting pressures from the Enviromental and fossil fuel lobbies many of the giants have been either too slow or unable to adapt. Even Toyota is struggling and has its own fair share of scandals.

Too much emphasis on developing premium EV's versus practical, cheap zero/low emission cars and charging networks has opened the door for China and Tesla to dominate. Not helped by politicians doing what politicians like to do ie formulate policy with a dictated solution rather than setting targets and letting industry and the market innovate to meet them. For example zero carbon synthetic fuels and hydrogen receive a fraction of the R&D spend that goes into battery technology.

 

[The Tall Luthier]

these are the effects of the green deal and leftist EU policy

Which countries in the EU have a left wing government? Germany, France are centrists, Italy is very right wing.

Exactly which commissioners and council members are left wing? Spain? They’re driving automaking policies?

Just populist nonsense if you ask me.

The car market is in flux, prices have rocketed in the Uk recently, especially in second hand values.

The world got seduced by electric cars. Now no one wants to pay £10k more for an EV only to have its residuals drop twice as fast as an ICE.

The market will right itself over time, I’m sure of that. In the meantime we all have to do the sums, EV or ICE, I suspect that for most of us the answer will be …… wait a while.

 

[greendog]

Saw over the weekend a worrying youtube vid of whats happening in Germany over VW employees.
On strike - talk of job cuts even potential factory closures. Spiralling costs and Chinese cars coming in.
Have a look and see what you think.
Its not just VW - BMW suffering too.

35,000 jobs being lost at VW in the news today. VW has made a series of bad decisions combined with poor R&D , an overpriced product with poor battery range, and the almost complete loss of the Chinese market, which accounted for half of their profits combined with an arrogance that their luxury brand was untouchable. China is the new leader in EVs; their battery tech is leading the way. Over half of new vehicle sales in China are now EVs, which are mainly Chinese or Teslas.