Unions and VW begin negotiations as cuts and factory closures loom | DW News

[@reneprovosty7032]

if your product is not selling then something needs to change.

[@conceptuallyugly530]

They still in the ear of thud sound- door closing.

[@ignorasmus]

Low sales is a factor but not the primary problem here. Bigger issue is difference in cost of production in China vs Germany.

[@reneprovosty7032]

@@ignorasmus I agree but you cannot in this age expect lifetime employment with good wages as your nation makes unrealistic energy policy.

[@OOyouiweOO]

Цену на газ и другие ресурсы? из России стабильно без сюрпризов 70 лет получали ресурсы - и зажрались от сытой жизни.

[@nukiolbartes6279]

The question is : who is at fault? Those who design or those who produce?

[@brandstof6601]

This feels like a replay of UK car industry collapse

[@adiintel1]

leyland?

[@salvinsam]

At least we have free healthcare in Germany

[@mx338]

@@salvinsam the UK has free healthcare too, they in fact have a better system than in Germany because it's entirely state run, it's just underfunded, but that's also the case in Germany, but the UKs system still works far more efficiently.

[@gordonnorris4202]

@@salvinsam for now...when the domino will start collapsing, things will start worsening

[@daveb2226]

@@mx338you’re having a laugh…. We have the most bloated and inefficient healthcare system in the world.

[@herman9255]

For what BYD has done, VW surely can too, but it takes determination. 15 years ago BYD was only making batteries for Nokia. But BYD''s Mr. Wang only wears worker's jacket and has lunch at the worker's canteen everyday. There is no executive canteen there.

[@oguzkaanklc2014]

+9999 Asyalılar daha medeni insanlar.

[@kiblerjuergen5247]

“Putting on a worker’s jacket and having lunch at the canteen” could also mean he’s a good actor and a media manipulator.

[@heart-of-people]

@@kiblerjuergen5247General Romel also ate and sleep like most solders.

[@behemoththekitty]

German worker unions have always prefered to bargain for better job security over higher wages but got neither in the end. Some labor historians argue that unions should alway prioritize bargaining for higher wages because no buissnes can truly promise job security. Seems that they're in the right .

[@aleserban9322]

Ukraine blown up North stream.. so the EU lost gas and cheap natural resources (from RUssian FEderatin)., so it is end of economical prosperity. , sorry EU sorry..

[@JeffParr-cf4ru]

@@aleserban9322 How's weather in Russia. ;)

[@nguyep4]

​@aleserban9322 lol Russia is economically in ruin but oh wait.. it is thriving, right? Lol

[@Andrew-nu8ez]

Union think they are the boss. How can you ask for higher pay when they are going to unemploy. The employees should help the company with a reduced wage to keep everyone employed just like what Cathay Pacific did in Hong Kong. A job with less payb is better than no job with -100% raise. Remember, YOU ARE NOT THE BOSS.

[@nguyep4]

@@behemoththekitty Higher wages will increase the price of their vehicle then you would complain how the worker can't buy the car they built.

[@Erik-rp1hi]

Detroit has its rust belt so will Germany. People with have to be retrained.

[@timanderson8833]

You both did well to explain a complicated situation, in simple enough terms, while remaining factual. Thank you. You might have mentioned the VW president that was trying to prepare for today, but ousted by shareholders/management just a few years ago.

[@barriewhiteley1692]

No one will have a job with that attitude think British Leland in UK

[@YalokIy]

The latest VW cars have had poor sales. Why? Because of poor design (e.g. golf mk8, id3) coming from bad management decisions: annoying touch controls, cheap materials, laggy software, bad reliability record, poor efficiency, high price.

[@ahahaxddxdd9825]

Экономят на всем, кошмар какой

[@Ummo2850]

That is so. Management was doing politics and burnt their fingers. Bad decisions. Bad designing for an instant not quality oriented. Charge management for leading to the demise. The cars don’t reliable like original

[@NihilNovi]

Until recently I worked in relation to the IT infrastructure of VW. That corporation is an absolute clusterf**k on all levels.

[@mradventurer8104]

What does this mean? This is not sharing of information it's just swearing bro.

[@em..4517]

I agree

[@darshilshah7979]

this must be CARIAD🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@em..4517]

@@darshilshah7979 that's another story ahahaha

[@salvinsam]

Who cares! At least we have free healthcare in Germany

[@althyk]

This is how you dig your own grave.

[@Jokeniv]

Yes and it spells EV'bubble

[@patrickstar686]

Maybe the Vorstand should stop paying bonuses and 1000x salaries compared to normal workers if they can't do their job right and ran the company into ruin, eh?

[@althyk]

@@patrickstar686 you are right. employees should strike to make their companies efficient, so asking a change in leadership is good. is this the case?

[@patrickstar686]

@@althyk would the boss hesitate to throw out an employee that clearly cant do their job? is this the case?

[@Jeff.55649]

@@Jokeniv Nah, EVs are here to stay, once you go EV you will never drive a loud, slow fossil car again.

[@lorenzonewhouse6552]

Also VW quality has gone down the tubes here in U. S. As well as other German makes. To expensive and ain’t worth the price. Very bad recipe.

[@synooi6613]

German’s cars have never been well known for reliability. We still owning one VW and one Mercedes, these cars always have small problems and need regular visits to workshop. Our next cars probably will be Chinese made cars as there are not only cheaper, more reliable but also fun to drive

[@bartoski-ag]

good luck with that 😂​@@synooi6613

[@samlatooni]

Too much pride, too less work!

[@orbetobe]

VW intoxicated millions of people. including myself. employees didn't protest back then. i don't care about them now. no VW for me again. ever.

[@Smudgie]

Why don't they just fix the battery range statistics on their EV's?

[@AuralioCabal]

More important ; FIX THE F-ing SOFTWARE?🤔

[@dcasteaux9181]

I think you’ll find they have already ‘fixed’ their EV battery range statistics 🤣

[@Smudgie]

@@dcasteaux9181 That was my meaning behind the word "fix". They have a history.

[@ev.c6]

😂

[@ev.c6]

They have experience. Just like they “fixed” those diesel cars.

[@NicMediaDesign]

VW needs to switch to lower margin but higher volume EV models. Bring out a 15000€ EV with 300km range and you are golden. 😊

[@hydrotricine]

They make zero profit as it is, what they should have done was to invest in a 100% ev platform in 2016 after the Dieselgate and when Tesla launched the model 3, they laughed about it with their diesel profits, now who laughs last?

[@Jokeniv]

The ev market is stagnant. It's not the future. Diesel and gas will never go away

[@patrickstar686]

@Jokeniv muh car go wrooom

[@myspace1876]

​@@JokenivNASA had made an external combustion engine in 1980's or so. All sort of fuel can be used in it. Someone will digg up that technology again and it will put an end to diesel and petrol. Maybe we will be using biodiesel or ethanol in future.

[@hkonhelgesen]

ID.1 is on the way. But will it come to Europe?

[@deesiInGermany]

Our company in Nuremberg are also gng to do big job cuts. WC already shared social plan

[@bioloungetech3654]

No innovation, no new latest technologies with Volkswagen cars then why should I spend my valuable money on these expensive Volkswagen cars instead I will go only for more innovative and cheap Chinese cars. I don’t care of German big auto badge or emblems.

[@Jeff.55649]

Aha, the kings of copying western companies, innovations? 🤣🤣

[@bioloungetech3654]

@@Jeff.55649 Chinese auto companies are front runners in advanced battery technology, AI integration and data driven development. German auto companies are still living in the 19th century. Only thing they are doing is increasing the cost of their cars due to their old badges or emblems.

[@GreenOliveBranch]

to be honest many people prefer proper cars with reasonable cost and range to drive. According to the latest market research, Chinese prefer more tech stuff in their cars, bizarrely features like karaoke. on the other hand Europeans prefer more cost efficient and reliability. VW and other European manufacturers are far away from these. if you look at warranty of Asian manufacturers (10 vs 3 years) any reasonable person would pick the more reliable option.

[@bioloungetech3654]

@@GreenOliveBranch if European cars are more reliable then why don’t they have the guts to provide warranty more than 3yrs, which explains a lot.

[@gregorymalchuk272]

​@@bioloungetech3654 We don't want AI in our cars. The only computer I want in my car controls the duty cycle on a fuel injector or controls a motor driver.

[@frankhalsey-y4c]

Once upon a time a man in Germany had a dream for an affordable people's car for every German. Keep this man's dream alive.

[@ppckrtt]

The failure was made long ago. By not adjusting too large capacities in time and by sleeping through the switch to EV's and the digital revolution in cars. Now the market - as it usually does - regulates is. Whining and antics about the boom during the times of the combustion engine will not help.

[@Jokeniv]

They went too deep with Ev. The market is not growing, so they should go all in with diesel and gas cars, that's is were the future profits are. Just look at Toyota.

[@ppckrtt]

@@Jokeniv Absolute nonsense. Our overlaying problem is climate change. Simply put: If it is too hot to live, there will be no economy and nobody who will need cars, no matter which engine. The reasonable solution, at least with cars, is EVs. Today's profits pale in the face of the cost of not reacting, if you need an economic argument to start thinking about it.

[@aleserban9322]

the EU lost cheap natural resources (from RUssian FEderatin)., so end of economical prosperity .

[@ppckrtt]

@@aleserban9322 No problem. the Russian resources can be replaced within a reasonable time-frame. Russia in turn lost it's narrative to be a peaceful nation. Takes minimum a generation to be mitigated.

[@aleserban9322]

@@ppckrtt Russia just defend against NATO encirclement , that is USA proxy war vs. Russia . Russia has already new markets and states of BRICS and Eurasia, Global south growing. But west declining.

[@stainlessfrenky]

Without chip energy you have expensive production, its logic.

[@RainFS1]

German workers work shorter hours than in the US or Japan, and are guaranteed long vacations. Their hourly wages are among the highest in the world, and their social security benefits, such as pensions, are also among the highest in the world. To support this, German companies pay a lot of taxes. After the end of the Cold War, Germany became friendly with Russia, and later received cheap natural gas supplies through Nord Stream, which allowed them to keep energy prices low. No matter how you imagine, costs other than energy are very high, so it's natural that products made in Germany are very expensive. With the international environment changing and energy and prices soaring, even a child can understand that it's not easy to continue production in Germany under the same conditions. It's impossible now to produce in Germany anything other than products sold to very wealthy people, like Mercedes' Maybach and Bentley.

[@おす-qz7kp]

And Bentley is not even built in Germany

[@ma-li3935]

Too true, they just don't want to put the effort in there work place, just want more leisure time, "something for nothing" there is no free lunch. they will follow the way of British Leyland in the UK and Auto manufacturing in Australia

[@vadergrd]

vw prices kept up with inflation but the income of the people did not!

[@rhythmandacoustics]

What if VW gets bankrupt? Will it get replaced by another German manufacturer or will VW gets owned by the Chinese ?

[@jogana6909]

The global automobile manufacturers are in surplus. If VW disappears, there will be no impact.

[@jackbleiham8475]

Not to worry, someone will purchase the company for one dollar wait, not a dollar, but a euro and carry on with a clean slate

[@kreight_]

They’re still quite profitable, the issue is their outlook, especially with regard to the Chinese market

[@BruceJ999]

​@@kreight_No they are not ,they are in debt and loosing the market to the Ch1nese..What are stuff are you taking?

[@Masterrunescapeer]

​@@BruceJ999 that's wrong, their Q1 2024 still has a 4.6bn EUR operating result (this after Q1 negative valuation). These cost cuts are to bring down employee count as they have quite a bloated staff count (especially as EV requires fewer parts/less staff, though volume might make up for this), overall this is to bring the profit margin up and probably isn't actually really needed unless they want to pursue "infinite growth" rather than just going this is basically market saturation for VW.

[@edwardkon939]

The firing of former ceo Herbert Diess has returned to haunt VW as they kicked the can down the down in regards to electrification. Presently, they are trapped between a rock ICE technology) and a hard place (EVs).

[@ladare19]

Yes the problem is caused by the management (higher ups) for making very bad decisions especially with Dieselgate, unrealistic concepts, lack of investment in UI and investing more on their expensive brands which only a very few percentage buys it (Audi, Porsche, Lamborghini, Bentley and Bugatti). Instead of investing more on these brands they need to invest on their own brand, Skoda, Cupra as they sell more in numbers and also can be affordable. Also at this time the workers should not demand for the 7% raise and focus more on job security.

[@rsalzburger]

they stopped selling the Golf in the US and won't sell some models here, lots of lost sales

[@Rudenbehr]

vw was never that popular here

[@mx338]

@@Rudenbehr that's so obviously false.

[@jaunt3603]

@@mx338 They're ranked number 10 with 3.6 market share in 2022.

[@chrislim7976]

​@@mx338 That's not false at all. Global sales has US as one of the weakest numbers. It has been an issue for decades.

[@dougtheviking6503]

Bring back the original VW bug. A Car people can afford

[@pr1stvan]

But they lobbied for safety laws that prevent a car like that.

[@jogana6909]

CEO hates all cheap models because it will worsen VW's financial situation.

[@connorfitzgerald640]

Excellent reporting by Marie Sina - very well spoken and effectively communicated!

[@mitchtoeroek2085]

If employees are so upset about decisions management have made where were the outcry’s prior to this? Unions are out of touch in the manufacturing game. People always deserve a good wage but VW are tanking and they want a 7% pay rise??? Many manufacturing jobs will be replaced by robots. Time to re-skill people and look at jobs in other fields. This happened in Australian vehicle manufacturing, unions push wages up, the car companies here lost market share to newer vehicles/manufacturers unions kept pushing wages up, companies become unsustainable, companies close. It’s business, nothing is forever. It’s sad but it’s true. Business is evolving at a rapid rate in this day and age there will be many huge companies in the future that disappear or are shells of their former self.

[@mrclamg]

You explained the situation really bad. There is no demand for EVs except in China. The problem is that German car makers have invested in EV capabilities and it turn out, that many consumers in the EU and US are not interested in that. You are not mentioned this fact in this story because you the fact that you want to push the EV storyline.

[@tomw8418]

Less demand for German cars. Stop shoving EVs down our throats then the demand will come back. Unions should be pointing the fingers at governments not manufacturers. Manufacturers hands are tied because of gov policies.

[@stephenkeen6044]

7% IS too much. But yes, poor management and decision-making is to blame. They overextended on EV's and stopped selling their smaller affordable models in many European markets, among many other quality drops, etc... None of this was difficult to predict. They're big enough to ride this out, but they have to close some EV factories and re-introduce the smaller cars. Doesn't help that none of the new models are visually interesting or distinct, they are being beaten in design by Hyundai, for instance.

[@jogana6909]

7% is NOT too much

[@kreight_]

How is 7% too much if CPI is up 20% over the 5 last years?

[@stephenkeen6044]

@@kreight_ Base fact: The company is losing money and 7% is too much as a single step broad wage increase. Especially considering they likely have union-negotiated annual increases already. They most certainly have had other increases over the last 5 years. Now I do think that the best move for VW would be to invest in their workforce (but in a more personal manner, not just a broad percentage increase) and promote innovation from within the company, spend more on good analysis and R&D and bring back the smaller affordable models to European markets. Want people want from VW are reliable, good quality, IC and hybrid vehicles at a "value-for-money" price point, something VW has had a reputation for delivering in the smaller car market especially. Selling EV's to China just doesn't make business sense, neither does dropping every vehicle smaller than the Golf (and it doesn't help that the latest iterations of that model are not attractive or distinct, like they have been in the past).

[@mistermood4164]

Nah the opposite is true VW should’ve invested in EVs earlier now they’ll lose their market share in China

[@stephenkeen6044]

@@mistermood4164 You're going to have to back that up with some good data, mate. The EV market in EU was overestimated, demand is shrinking (for all EVs, not just VWs, interesting how the mainstream media seems to consistently misrepresent this data, but when you research it yourself you can see this clearly) and European companies can't compete in the Chinese market (local companies will always be able to undercut them). They misread the market completely.

[@LpG88]

7% pay rise is very high. In Sweden Metall union ask for 3% because they dont want to drive inflation up.

[@Veggieture]

Cost of living in Germany has gone up about 10%.

[@jogana6909]

It is shameless to refuse to give workers a raise for fear of inflation. Workers just need money to pay rent and food.

[@iFryTube]

You work for big business, dont you? 😂😂😂 Ford introduced 33% payraise with full insurance for workers and families. You can pick that apart, cope all you want with that but there retention rate is massively better due to UAW having great lawyers that achieve far more than 3%. That's why there are more STEM workers moving to America than the entire continent of Europe combined. Copium, go for it "but but mass shootings, health care expensive" yet the majority that make it to America stay for life.

[@janlanik2660]

That’s genius! Tomorrow I ask my boss to cut my salary to reduce inflation 😂 👍👌🙈🙈🙈

[@Jeff.55649]

@@Veggieture Shouldn't have closed all nuclear power plants, maybe?

[@Tema-k2l]

The CEO of Volkswagen salary in 2023 was 14.86 million Euro (16 78 million Dollar), A single employee at VW gets this amount and growing every year. What about the mass factory workers?

[@rikiieiam]

U cannot compare a standard employee to a ceo. Its a huge company considering the size it is not a huge wage. Dont comment if ur knowledge is is shallow. Especially knowing the german taxes. Plus thats whats written on the internet. You actually dont know how much he really receives. Pls inform yourself before yapping

[@TheLordexilius]

The CEO of Stellantis got twice this amount and he is even more incompetent.

[@lecuyermarcandre]

​@@rikiieiam he has a point though. The ratio of CEO-to-typical-worker compensation was 399-to-1 in average in 2022; that is up from 366-to-1 in 2020 and a big increase from 20-to-1 in 1965 and 59-to-1 in 1989. So the CEO of companies are making a lot more money than before compared to the general population. This should stop. It doesn't mean that they all do it that it makes sense. Worse is that if the companies' value is lowering they still vote themselves big pay raise.

[@doubletopping]

​@@lecuyermarcandrei agree he has a point. But important thing is they are closing factory. There is no point in stike if factory is closing

[@utlord]

@@rikiieiam CEO is so good, that VW is closing its factories, wtf are you talking about? the dude gets that salary and makes the VW lose money, 0 accountability.

[@Jeff.55649]

This might not be a bad thing in the long run, once and while massive companies need to rethink their strategies. I will always choose western made products before anything else.

[@mikofi]

I don’t get it. The company is going down, the cars are too expensive, their quality fell down, the reliability is far from what it used to be. Why work for a company that is falling apart? Even if the factories stay open and keep their staff it will last for one more decade at best.

[@lwwells]

VW will be Chinese in the next 5 years.

[@benf3996]

They should just cut the salaries of those “management” people. OR consult with Carlos Ghosn.

[@bigbossrider]

I find the new VW (specifically VW) models are either too expensive or there is a better alternative even within VAG group, not even considering other competitors. Like why would I pay 32K eur for Golf (Goal or Style), when I can pay 35K Eur for Audi A3 (S line or Advanced) or get a little bit cheaper Skoda Octavia or Seat Leon, same platform anyway.

[@Just-SomeGuy]

The workers complaining they are not getting this or that and wanting to be paid more. Well good luck with that as the company is failing so giving more money to workers is just going to make things worse. Easy for the workers to blame management but they are not the ones making the tough decisions. Could they have done any better? That’s not to say management couldn’t have made better decisions, but when you are competing against China whose government have heavily subsidised the production of EVs to the point of it being non sustainable, it’s difficult to compete. Sure VW have been a bit slow to react to change but with how China has unrealistically priced it’s EVs, it’s not a level playing field. China is happy to cut corners or heavily subsidise products but always at the cost of working conditions/wages or the environment.

[@sidvars]

Imagine someone comes out of that door and tells her, ' Ruhe bitte!!' (silence please)

[@aeromtb2468]

close the plants or 20-30% cut in pay? dont blame the management everyone involved is to blame. all were complacent.

[@merrick6484]

When you focus on building a "3G Nokia phones" in todays market, then you know you will be out of market in no time. Any of the workers still using Nokia Phone? No one. Any one buying old school VW cars? No one.

[@alexer071]

Reduce the price.

[@aleci551]

I'm not sure that electric vehicles are the entire problem. From what I hear, at least in Europe, there’s difficulty getting them sold, and it's not just European-made electric vehicles struggling to sell in the European market.

[@AbsolutelyFabulous3]

Yes, Porsche please

[@samlatooni]

Porsche is next!...........

[@AbsolutelyFabulous3]

@@samlatooni I can’t really settle for anything less

[@DavidBonod87]

still do not understand why they are blaming VW focusing on combustion engines for long. Chinese carmakers are still putting significant R&D money in the development of combustion engines including diesel engines too...

[@AnotherMartinez]

Clearly, what the Union wants is to drive all costs cuts off shore for a short term job protection with complete disregard to the stock price … let’s see how this strategy is going to play out

[@driventomadness117]

Lets not forget the €30 billion in share buybacks over the last 6 years. There's no need to close the factories.

[@atrociousliar3314]

The cars are too expensive and the management team make bad decisions and take too much money. Bye bye VW.

[@rodriza69]

If I remember correctly, these are the same unions that participated with Porsche representatives in removing Herbert Diess two years ago, who was making the electric transition because of what was coming with the Chinese?

[@Andy-cx1jh]

this journalist...gosh she's brilliant

[@gregorymalchuk272]

Gemrany banned cheap energy and is now deindustrializing. They have already lost 20% of their industry.

[@Limonata6]

I totally agree that the management has slept on the wheel while Chinese and American carmakers emerged in less than a decade. I am astonished that nobody in the management accepts the error and is stepping down.

[@AuralioCabal]

VW former CEO said that VW took 30 hours to make a car vs Tesla that does a car in 12 hrs. Then VW fired CEO Diess for telling the Board that VW has to be competitive.😂🤣LOL

[@Jonas-sw8mj]

Impressive how fast you sink. Great politicians 👏

[@elektrokatzer]

The cars are the problem.

[@daweigo6851]

Nothing to do with polictians

[@stefan2796]

Bad management and hollow marketing bla bla did the job. It has nothing to do with politicians.

[@Jonas-sw8mj]

@stefan2796 sure, productivity down and energy prices quadrupled. That wasn't a political choice? Millions of no-skilled immigrants is not a political choice? You have elected your own downfall, enjoy

[@Jonas-sw8mj]

@elektrokatzer the cost of production is the problem, not the cars. Manpower is your next problem. But it seems you made a choice to transition to a low skilled low wage economy. You've made your bed mate, now you sleep in it.

[@j.lietka9406]

This is hard news to hear. Thank you ladies ❤️❤️🌹🌹😉😉

[@HL-uw7fk]

Sadly people can protest all they want, if car does not sell, there will be no company. Mgmt of VW has history of bad decisions and there is no quick fix. Price will be measured in few factories, 10k’s of people being laid off and much more. Lowering prices does not help them as their operational costs are too high. Living on old fame is not viable.

[@danield7789]

7% ? 😂

[@merrick6484]

VW is about to go bankcrupt, yet workers still ask for 7% increase? They will be lucky even just to keep their jobs for few more years, they should take a salary cut to stay alive.

[@hybridguy8612]

@@merrick6484may be last increase 😂😂

[@lukehero84]

Thank you for the excellent fact based reporting

[@rl7586]

The Quality is not there anymore ! Look first at Mercedes Greetings from Australia 🇦🇺

[@hmbro3236]

Lol, people saying EVs are the reason.... Yeah because VW isn't taking it seriously. Plug in hybrids and BEVs are more than half of new cars sold now, with BEVs being about 1/3 of all new car sales. They are switching to EVs rapidly, so if VW and legacy auto in general want to maintain profits then they need to take EVs seriously because China doesn't want their gas cars anymore.

[@steveosworld]

Folksvagen* Talk about being tone deaf. Asking for a raise when their jobs are at stake. Balls of steel or career suicide?

[@uw0tm838]

Didn't they recently promise not to close factories?

[@FrankLowe1949]

Just when you thought you had everybody by the balls and was indestructible comes around a company whose name starts with a T.😂😂

[@enissay9950]

Times have changes and it is irreversible. It is impossible for vw since a while to produce competitive, cheap cars. And to make things worse, they suck at following the new trend with electric techy cars like the Chinese ones. The only way forward is to first relocate to cheaper cost markets and by some miracle try to catch-up on their regarding evs. Not guaranteed it will work but it will probably buy a few more years xD

[@gordonnorris4202]

VW will probaly follow Nokia's fate. Shame because in the past they were really making very good cars.

[@V4mpyrZ]

Just fire all the top management. They made the bad decisions, not the workers.

[@vx9636]

Assume they are all fired tomorrow, and then?

[@V4mpyrZ]

@@vx9636 the point is that they should expect personal consequences for bad decisions, then maybe the next ones think a little bit more. Or maybe we stop putting finance people at the head of technology companies

[@vx9636]

@@V4mpyrZ It's not just because of their mistakes I guess. Everything is much more expensive now. It's natural that all products made in German will be less competitive. The true problem is the high cost didn't bring better product.

[@V4mpyrZ]

@@vx9636 well, they're making cars that no one wants because they're focused on delivering a worse product that was designed to maximise profit, not address the customers needs. The last twenty years were a race to the bottom for many manufacturers, not trying to deliver better products, but trying to get away with the lowest possible quality before people stop buying. Now people are stopping buying. *Insert shocked Pikachu meme*

[@colinyuan5404]

VW said China is most important market, but it can't persuade German government to not sending military ships around China, so I guess, VW doesn't have much power in German government as well

[@1drun1]

I want a hybrid VW, not an EV one.

[@Zero4Infinitives]

No wonder no one buys them, the quality was really bad in the last ten years. Parts are really expensive but their quality is poor. Fixing anything on these newer cars is really expensive also. People got fed up with all this sh t. Cars got more expensive but their quality went down the drain and here we are.

[@davidlynch9049]

The unions are far too powerful here and only care about themselves.

[@FrederikAbramson]

Detroit, Unions, the same story in Germany unfortunately

[@tomw8418]

Government policies are to blame, not German manufacturers. Unions are picking fights with the wrong people. Point the finger at gov... not the manufacturers.

[@mity521]

Stone age minded old German bosses are root cause of Germany's downfall 😂

[@daweigo6851]

Poor dealer servicd and quality issues pushes a lot of buyers away

[@dougtheviking6503]

Bad management some bad engineering decisions. Plus rising coast of cars. If you cant make something that runs for 200+thousand miles with just regular service its not worth it .

[@aleserban9322]

reason, because of Germany lost cheap natural resources (GAS, cheap precious metals, raw materials...) on the input of production. So no competitiveness as Russia will sell that to other states like China and also USa

[@SolomonSunder]

@@aleserban9322 This was an issue since a while right before Dieselgate. Russian gas played a very minor role there.

[@aleserban9322]

@@SolomonSunder dream on, look GErmany economy unhealthy, hyperinflation (also in my country near it) no natural resources.... USA needed it to weaken RUssia and Europe., so that prolong their hegemony.

[@aleserban9322]

​@@SolomonSunder so why German economy and my country near it has hyperinflation. USA wakened by this proxy war us and you to prolong their dying hegemony....sorry.

[@JanNowak-q7m]

There is nothing in actual VW offer people want to buy. And VW doesn't care. So do I.

[@sandybeach3576]

Strike

[@Its.all.a.game.m8]

You’re blaming the wrong people. It’s not Vw, it’s not the unions. ITS THE GOVERNMENT !

[@shintsu01]

intresting to see company that is about to fall and the employees ask for more so they can gut it quicker.

[@adiintel1]

The ghosts of leyland have returned. :O

[@everypitchcounts4875]

Electric vehicles have been around since 1900s

[@michaeljohnson4947]

Germany regulated all of it's car companies out of business, with barely a whimper.

[@askad7]

Sorry! Game over!

[@devamjani8041]

Volkswagen should move its production to India like many other successful automotive have. And leverage it to export around the world. India has manufacturing factories of all automative gaints, even those who have no presence in the Indian market. Because they use Indian production for exports. Like Ford which exited India in 2022 because it failed to grab a significant chunk of the Indian market, only to return in 2024 with the aim to use Indian production for exports and enter into the Indian market only when the time is right. Many others have successfully done this. Toyota, Maruti, Hyundai and the list goes on. VW is failing in china anyway and is having to close chinese factories. Why not do it preemtively ?

[@ratedRblazin420]

Good hopefully, VW closes for good.

[@christopheredginton6242]

All that will happen is the taxpayer/ EU will bail them out. Just like General Motors were bailed out and still owe that money. They are in trouble in the long run too. Their shares have just ranked.

[@acz7915]

Government bailout. Or workers likely to get bad deal....keep jobs but take a pay cut. All because management was asleep at the wheel, and government was subsidizing them for way too long.

[@everypitchcounts4875]

VW needs to follow the business model of Arizona tea

[@aeromtb2468]

dont blame china they telegraphed their intent to be a competitor 10 yrs ago.

[@davidlynch9049]

No one is buying electric vehicles. They are significantly down worldwide, including Germany at 69,000 fewer buys than in previous years.

[@JoanWayne-i1e]

"No one is buying electric vehicles. " Why is Germany worried then?

[@jasonmugridge]

@@JoanWayne-i1eand why’s the EU putting tariffs on the Chinese.

[@hmbro3236]

Lol no one is buying them? I guess that's why EV sales are up year over year. Or why Tesla Model Y was the best selling vehicle in the world and the EU, why pure EVs are now more than 33% of the Chinese market. Yup.... Not selling

[@Jeff.55649]

No one? I just bought one. Much better to drive, quieter, faster and cheaper to drive.

[@PeterCc5u]

People buy Tesla and chineze EVs

[@pioneervajo]

the push for EV's is hurting most carmakers, the average ppl DON'T want an ev

[@jasonmugridge]

VW sell the ID3 for €15,000 in China, do you think people would be interested in EV’s at that price.

[@Jeff.55649]

I'm average and just bought one.

[@mikafiltenborg7572]

😂😂😂😂😂 Tesla model Y was the Best selling carmodel on planet Earth in year 2023

[@Clint-stanley]

Legacy has not taken new auto maker culture changes. Not only did they new makers go EV. They more importantly engineered the whole process of making vehicle from the ground up. Unfortunatley the workers will suffer as their leaders have not analyzed the situation and pivoted correctly. Tesla in Germany does not have a problem. Only legacy. China freely adopted Tesla's culture and is not looking back.

[@lucasbastos10]

Funny, the company is in crisis, so the workers have to pay the price? Are the high ranking executives reducing their astronomical salaries? Are they investing in R&D and working on fixing their software issues instead of constantly whining about the Chinese?

[@DrivenDIYer]

Green Politics, Ursula and Future of Europe in this Video

[@as7773705]

Marie Cena

[@nckh7]

Their cars are more expensive than Chinese cars , Small innovation and prices are higher than

[@DwainDwight]

build products people want. EVs are 100% of the future. oh wait your CEO also thought that & then you fired him for it.