What would Volkswagen factory closures mean for the German car industry? | DW News

[@-2u2]

The quality of VW vehicles has diminished-they are not the vehicles they once were. That goes for BMW and Mercedes as well. They build worse-quality vehicles but want a ton of money for them-they are not worth it. People once were willing to pay for a car that would last decades, but they are not willing to pay a premium price for a car that will not last even five years before they bleed you dry for repairs.

[@MossMini]

Union workers built the vehicles.

[@jugbywellington1134]

This is a malaise affecting all of us in the West.

[@ethimself5064]

@@MossMini Well their engineers, bean counters and top executives are not.

[@keithmartin1328]

The quality of a lot of car manufacturers has gone downhill. I own a 2010 Toyota IQ which I recently serviced at a Toyota garage. I was told by the service manager to keep the car for as long as possible because the older vehicles are better made than newer ones.

[@ethimself5064]

@@keithmartin1328 Agreed 100%. Basically nothing but expensive junk. All in a race to the bottom of quality

[@sherriziegel]

Amazing! No mention of the reason for all of this - the 500% increase in the cost of energy for German industry due its own govt's idiocy. The cost of labor has not changed. The union does not represent the workers.

[@andreashoner9054]

Electricity costs for industrial purposes: 2021: 21,38 ct per kilowatt-hour 2024: 16,65 ct per kilowatt-hour

[@sherriziegel]

@@andreashoner9054 You've got to be joking. Look around, open your eyes and try to tell me that costs are decreasing. The German 'Greens' are burning Australian coal and importing Russian gas from India at 5 times the price of taking it out of a pipe. This does not lower the cost of electricity.

[@andreashoner9054]

@@sherriziegel This is the data you get from statista. BTW: As a private consumer I pay 2 ct per kilowatt-hour more than I paid before the Ukraine war. I can live with that.

[@uvikir3547]

Finally, at least one sane person in these comments! Europe is burying itself under its own sanctions! It’s as if everyone has gone deaf and blind, completely unaware of cause and effect!

[@sherriziegel]

@@andreashoner9054 You say that as if it was a good thing. Your economy is crashing, your industries are leaving or closing and at the same time your gov't is losing huge amounts of money by supplying electricity at far below its cost to produce? The chemical and car industries use large amounts of gas as well, which I doubt the gov't is subsidizing too. Energy cost, because of sanctions, is the only significant change in the industrial landscape of Germany. Russia has the fastest growing economy in Europe - so the sanctions have only hurt Europe. All because the US refused to stop surrounding Russia with hostile NATO client states.. What has this war gotten us? The loss of a quarter of Ukraine and growing, a million dead soldiers - and the threat of nuclear war. I would have preferred a neutral Ukraine with no loss of territory and no collapse of the European economy.

[@kasperchristiansen4234]

What did they expect? Citizens of Germany have chosen a green agenda with higher energy costs and EV mandates, thus much lower living standard and higher unemployment. This is all very predictable and this information was available before the elections.

[@KallusGarnet]

😂😂😂

[@ahogQ]

It really amazes me that people are unable to connect the dots. Net zero = deindustrialisation = poverty, unemployment and crime. But hey, at least we set an example.

[@Angelos313]

"Citizens", yes))

[@danielwarton5343]

Exactly. The green agenda is killing industry and then people

[@kasperchristiansen4234]

@@ahogQ Yes I agree and very well put. But I’m not sure they yet fully understand the logical consequences of their policies. The GDP per capita in the US is 56% larger than that of Germany and 2x of the EU. Now they’ve just chosen a new administration promising cheaper energy, drilling for oil & gas, skipping the EV mandate, lower taxes and less regulations. The European response is borrowing more money and sticking to their failed policies.

[@PeronuPeric-wm9hx]

50.000 euros for a car, you greedy bastards.

[@solidkreate5007]

Same here in the US. Our own manufacturers do this to us too. They want $70 grand for a damn Jeep Wrangler. Some of them going for over $100K USD.

[@larry365]

The new Toyota Prado starts at €100k. It's insane

[@floxy20]

A well maintained gas powered car will last over 20 years, easily.

[@jooseppib1082]

Where i live you won't get any car under 65 thousand

[@SD_Says]

​@@solidkreate5007what is the profit per vehicle on the cars you listed. The profit at the manufacturer level.

[@hyuxion]

Sure, VW keeps blaming China for their own failure.

[@Patrick-yh5yd]

Bring back the orginal Beetle.

[@FrunkensteinVonZipperneck]

Executive fools thought they could fool Chinese people forEVer...

[@TienyeeTien]

In North America VW is beaten up by Japanese and Korean brands. There is NO China at all.

[@maxmaxie1328]

@@Patrick-yh5yd stop living in a past

[@eugenec7130]

@@Patrick-yh5yd Sea animals (dolphin, seal, sealion, seagull) dominate now.

[@DavidGitongawriter]

No more cheap energy. We saw this coming over 2 years ago when sanctions hit and NordStream was destroyed.

[@kftito31]

🤫

[@СидорСидоров-ю6ж]

I think there are more reasons, this is only one of the consequences. The same USA also wants MAGA for a reason.

[@Fishnone78]

Natural gas never played a big role in a automotive industry. Its a high taxes, CO2 fines and labor cost.

[@dandydoodigery9854]

@@Fishnone78that is not accurate. Energy prices play a huge role in manufacturing. VW buys energy futures and for about a year they had to go into government regulated slow downs to curb their energy demand. Right as they started increasing production back up in 2023, energy futures were trading at their highest in 15 years. That impacted production and thus sales. Severing themselves from Russian energy had a massive impact on all German industry.

[@Fishnone78]

@@dandydoodigery9854 If you compare a percentage of an energy cost to the rest of things I have mentioned, its going to be less then 10%. For automotive, of course. For chemistry or steel production its sofficient but we are talking about cars production. And LPG is not too much expensive in comparison to pipelines gas from Russia if you have enough storages.

[@Jeffcrocodile]

Reality: VW is collapsing Workers: We want more money. Sure, why not, maybe Santa can work some magic.

[@Mako2401]

I don't understand this protest, the company is closing factory and losing money, but they want payrise?

[@c2757]

Try listening to the program or reading the video description. VW have paid substantial amounts out as dividends, Dividends are a distribution of profits - by law you can't pay dividends if you have no profits so closing the factory because they are losing money is not exactly the whole truth is it? In reality they're closing the factory because they can get their cars made cheaper in China.

[@Itakaification]

@@c2757 Just to clarify, VW has DROPPED their earning expectations for the next year, which is how they are justifying layoffs and plant closures. They are anticipating lower profits and reacting in response.

[@vikkimg5986]

@@c2757 What you are saying is not true. Every fraudulent company takes on debt and pays itself dividends. Later they declare bankruptcy.

[@Kghhtnj]

The owners own the company, they make decisions for next 10 years not just doing excel math with salaries and dividends to sum zero.

[@randomguy4989]

@@c2757 Dividends are for the worldwide business. The closing factories are in Germany. In Germany they will operate certain factories with losses, but elsewhere they operate with profit. That is why you can have dividends for profit elsewhere while still having losses on the local factories. That is like saying you have 10 good people on your team and one drunk guy who never shows up to work. Maybe all 10 combined bring good money and form a good team, but you still have to deal with the one guy who doesn't do anything.

[@ReasonableGuy-l7o]

Paying over 4 billion dollars in fines in the US didn't help VW either.

[@AG-un7dz]

True, they would be 4 billion dollars richer if they didn't cheat on diesel emissions.

[@167mm167]

Volkswagen should export her cars to EU ...so simple..!!

[@NighthunterNyx]

Had VW quit diesel instead of lying to consumers they would not go belly up. Now they are doomed. VW is dead. They cannot recover. Only hope to save investors is to stop building cars and outsource design and production to China.

[@tomkartz1347]

VW had planned to build a very fancy VW headquarter in Beijing, but that 4 billion fines paid to U.S government cancelled the plan

[@matthewbaynham6286]

That was years ago.

[@Adrian_Nel]

It is strange that German workers don't understand that they have no leverage if their factory is already on the chopping block.

[@alexhumble7653]

This is result of poor education in Germany

[@schan9908]

those workers know nothing about the industry's situation , it's at the edge of the cliff！😮

[@alexhumble7653]

We can observe very ignorant people in German government. How less any understanding could be among ordinary factory workers.

[@jakubbukaj322]

Come to Poland to work for VW, at 1/4 of the salary.

[@julianpetkov8320]

Because 1 German Herr = 4 Polaks?

[@vikkimg5986]

1/4 is around 1200 euros. That's a very good salary in Poland!!!

[@thekenthouse6428]

IG Metall will never allow that, they'd rather see the German car industry implode first.

[@maxs351]

the smart ones learned German and have been working for VW in Germany for a long time. Now all they learn is English. But GB is now closed.

[@georgewong6615]

Come to China 300 euros

[@andreaisonline]

Pay increase? Did they understand the company is failing?

[@kondgeo]

While failing they managed to buy a F1 team 😜

[@ladeutschevitabyGraziaCosta]

Time to wake up. Job security is no longer guaranteed.

[@gaborrajnai6213]

Really, then whith higher risks comes higher costs...

[@maestrovso]

There is no job security in animal kingdom, so nothing new. You have to work deligently everyday and take charge of your destiny.

[@HellBot-gi5si]

No, that is not the problem. You cannot talk about the real problem the German media is forbidden from talking about it.

[@kifkroker6483]

Has it ever been? :(

[@tomwechsler22]

Never was

[@gordonnorris4202]

I just asked an offer for a Golf hybrid and the price (with so called discount) was 48k eur. An MG3 hybrid is 23k. So why is VW in trouble...well duuh.

[@DummyUseless-er3dn]

True

[@Jack-lo1uc]

Yeah but those MG's are nasty

[@gordonnorris4202]

@@Jack-lo1uc not half the price nasty

[@MrRedsjack]

MG is a 100% Chinese brand now. Nothing in the west left. WV could also just send it's cars made in china to Germany and would be a lot cheaper depending on import taxes and that is what is likely going to happen after they close their factories in Germany because the German government failed to keep the energy, regulatory and taxation frameworks competitive.

[@nagasako7]

When you drive across Africa, do you use a VW or Bugatti or a Toyota Land Cruiser? German engineering should be asking themselves this.

[@michaelprovence]

Do you really think that Africa is the biggest market for VW?

[@ethimself5064]

@@michaelprovence Anywhere works

[@HellBot-gi5si]

No, it not German engineering that is the problem. You are trying to solve the wrong problem.

[@TienyeeTien]

Exactly. Don’t know why they keep bringing China up. In North America VW is eliminated by Toyota honda and Hyundai Kia

[@TienyeeTien]

@@michaelprovenceChina is the biggest maker for VW but VW doesn’t export cars to China. They are manufactured in China

[@branbran9129]

US: let's deindustrialise Germany Germany : yes yes yes😂😂😂

[@harmonk8012]

Germans deindustrialized themselves with their flawed energy policy. They shut down their nuclear plants, relied on Russian fuels. On top of that, they transferred technology to China as a means to do business in China. It smacks of ignorance to blame the US their own policies.

[@dwaynebell7705]

Oh now its the US fault? Come one man!

[@mutkaluikkunen3926]

The US has absolutely nothing to do with this .. haha. ruzzkie bots are so clueless.

[@ValentineL806]

@@dwaynebell7705 For starters, Nordstream down.

[@chadreshpatel2339]

These workers are dilusional. Some of these technicians make 100k for working in factory. If they get fired today, they wont get another for even 40k. They literally blackmail the company. But ok. Go ahead. Create more trouble. When the company goes belly up, no one will have anything. No job, no salary, neither workers nor CEO.

[@Patrick-yh5yd]

Mcdonalds will hire them........Part Time.

[@eugenec7130]

@@Patrick-yh5yd Right. Learn from Donald Trump. Working at McDonald's part time brought him luck.

[@167mm167]

no worry ..workers may get money from Government !!

[@Wasengenyie]

Exactly like Leyland.

[@ankpms830]

​@@167mm167yeah...but German government is now busy with Ukraine

[@cshan5424]

More German factories will close without cheap energy

[@bebravehonest8411]

Agree

[@st-ex8506]

The cost of energy is, by itself, the reason of NO plant closure... save perhaps an aluminium smelter! It is a combination of factors, starting by non-competitive products, continuing by inefficient manufacturing (3x the time to assemble a VW than a Tesla, as reported by the VW Chairman himself), dated manufacturing techniques and tooling, high labor costs... and, away down the list, energy price!

[@mikethebloodthirsty]

​@@st-ex8506keep telling yourself that.

[@st-ex8506]

@@mikethebloodthirsty Well! How simple would life be if something as complex as the survival of an industry could be reduced to a SINGLE cause! I ask you one question: how can Swiss manufacturing companies survive, and thrive for some of them, with energy cost as high as Germany, and labor costs 50-100% higher???

[@MrRedsjack]

​@@st-ex8506 no sorry, the cost of energy affects all the upstream supply chains in Europe. From the people making the metal, to the guys melting the plastics into shapes to the headlight manufacturers etc... it snowballs. Add on top a million green regulations that add costs and complications and slow production. The labor costs nowadays is not so much of a factor anymore. And inefficiency in production compared to Tesla is not really fair as electric cars are so much simpler than gas engines.

[@whateverthismeans2024]

At 0.50 the voiceover can be done better - English louder and the German voice softer, otherwise it is hard to listen to. Thank you.

[@NewBron-w3f]

Its DW. German quality like german trains.

[@durwoodmaccool890]

English subtitles would be great too.

[@tangsokchev1550]

Yes it Real

[@sampsalol]

Yeah I didn't make out anything that was said there so I just skipped that part. Horrible sound design.

[@Oneofakind123]

Soft german? that’s a paradox. 😂

[@haochunlee1976]

Blame the countries who bombed the natural gas pipeline which in turn caused the energy cost (and manufacturing cost) in Germany to skyrocket and become uncompetitive.

[@mgronich948]

They should but no western media outlet will say that.

[@pauld3327]

The US ?

[@burninskin]

LoL don't make a fool of yourself! The German automotive industry was predicted to dive in near future way before that. Even before the war in Ukraine. No innovation and high wages were the final nail in the coffin.

[@mikethebloodthirsty]

​@@burninskinso energy costs have no effect?, tell that to China who use billions of tonnes of cheap coal to fuel their industry whilst pretending to be green.

[@lukazupie7220]

@@haochunlee1976 gas pipeline that was destroyed was never operational i believe?😀

[@sibaraku2023]

German factories are closing down one by one without cheap Russian energy. What do you expect?

[@xena2559]

They can do coal and/ or SMRs.

[@jogana6909]

Ursula said “why Europe doesn't import CHEAPER natural gas from the US?"

[@NoName-md5zb]

Well they use even cheaper local energy now.

[@theo4691]

Electricity costs are not the main cost when producing a car. Russian bot

[@robupsidedown]

​@@xena2559 SMR? When?

[@wanglao3437]

Germany's automotive industry is facing overcapacity.

[@emilsohn1671]

This is spun incorrectly. Volkswagen isn't facing stiff competition from China; it is experiencing stiff competition IN China from local chinese manufacturers. That is a lie by omission. In Europe, they are facing stiff competition by Tesla. Also a lie of omission.

[@jogana6909]

They blamed everyone, but didn't blame themselves.

[@gaborrajnai6213]

Oh comeon Tesla is a shtty american car, with all cheap plastic interiors and subpar systems, which look like a Honda for the pricetag of a Mercedes. Its not competitive in European markets and never will be. Thatswhy they are sucking tax incentives like theres no tomorrow.

[@YSKWatch]

sales decreased in their biggest market, they have no choice but to cut the inefficient parts of the company.

[@NoName-md5zb]

​@@gaborrajnai6213 "cheap plastic interiors" is your takeaway?😂

[@rkan2]

​@@gaborrajnai6213Yet Tesla has the most sold electric vehicles everywhere where they are sold. And if Tesla is your benchmark for interior quality, maybe don't try to benchmark VW with the same. 😂

[@emendoz1]

Asking for job security while you stop doing your job makes no sense.

[@sumeettanwar1608]

It make perfect sense, people forgot how we got weekends off and 8 hours work day.

[@lukazupie7220]

@@sumeettanwar1608 by demanding pay rise from factory that is already closing?? Cmon😂

[@sumeettanwar1608]

@lukazupie7220 you know vw is not a random factory. It's one of the biggest company of the country and have more responsibilities similar to how they enjoyed more privilege from country and it's tax payer.

[@lukazupie7220]

@@sumeettanwar1608 they provided more then they were given, by far. Tax payer and country can just say “thank you”, and even more so, workers that work/ed there.

[@wgemini4422]

@@sumeettanwar1608 By being the most productive workers and the only/best choice the employers have. At the minimum, by making the company profitable working 8 hours work days. Certainly not by threatening a company that is already closing and/or have better alternatives.

[@ebutuoyYT]

What amazes me is the arrogance of German industry, when Tesla launched the Model S, over 10 years ago, did no German car company attempt to make a prototype rival, to see if they were competitive or not, then make the required investments in software development/ EV tech?

[@thewingedringer]

Yes, Tesla the company who made the Cybetruck... Sorry I just can't take you seriously.

[@farhansukarno5299]

Don't ever compared VW to Tesla, Tesla is garbage, Chinese EV miles better with much lower price. VW competition is Toyota, yet Toyota also much more reliable and cheaper than VW

[@burninskin]

@@thewingedringer Aaand this is why VW are a sang song now. They did not innovate nor cut costs and now they will drag their employees and Germany as a whole down the drain.

[@lucasfunkt]

@@thewingedringer Also the company with the world's best selling car and a company increasing sales and profits year on year, unlike VW and other German brands who continue to lose market share.

[@saltymonke3682]

Lol, investing in EV is what makes VW go bankrupt

[@rodeocowboy]

My wife and her sister both bought new VW cars two years ago, both got rid of them this year. One bought a Toyota and the other a Dodge because both of the VW’s were absolute garbage. They were plagued with problems and break downs. Americans used to love “German engineering,” but people in America are very disappointed in German goods as of the last few years.

[@georget10i]

Toyota is having quality issues too these days.

[@shunmyomasuno3248]

​@@georget10i I agree. I bought mine(Toyota) in 2021, just a few months later it had a failure to one of its sensors. In 2022, the brake had issues and needed to be replaced, I had to wait for about 2 weeks for the parts to be installed. A year later, the water pump rattled and got replaced. I was disappointed with such a new car- it's not as reliable as how we usually think of Toyota brands.

[@NorthernComfort-p9u]

These workers are living in dreams. How hard is to understand VW is in trouble ? Yet, demanding salary increase? If they kept doing these, there would be no more VW.

[@HellBot-gi5si]

You need to understand, they trying to solve the wrong problem.

[@Leaf8823]

Could just decrease the overblown Management salaries at the top and use it pay the workers

[@NorthernComfort-p9u]

@@Leaf8823 hmm, sounds Soviet solution.

[@gustavomercado1599]

@@Leaf8823 While the top does earn a lot, dividing the salaries will pay for no more than a couple hundred workers.

[@Mako2401]

@@Leaf8823 Buddy, even if you don't pay the management anything, if the cars don't sell, how do you keep the company afloat?

[@rohitkhosla8110]

I own a VW. The injectors started failing at 100,000 km. They cant be repaired. Each injector is very expensive and I had to change 4 of them. My next car wont be a VW.

[@Ronick-Q-46]

Tell me what car has cheap injectors, 🤔

[@CowboyPants-h5p]

@@Ronick-Q-46 Not the point. Tell me that injectors should fail at 100k. Can't do that, can you? lol

[@yuvingoonewardene7920]

This protest make no sense and future strikes will only make the situation worse. VW is reducing wages and closing factories for a reason. If the cars being made aren’t being sold at the same rate how do people expect the company to survive? Do they want to keep the factories open and keep the wages the same where the company will most definitely go bankrupt or do they take things as it is and hope it gets better in the future?

[@zeritho6073]

This is so true. VW for sure dont want to close 3 factories selling less cars and waste the money invested in the plants. But since they dont sell enough cars they are forced to close. In Sweden we got strong unions. They focus on salaries, benefits and so on. When companies are forced to downscale they very rarely try to make the situation even worse. Because its better that a few plants close than all the plants to close.

[@eliotness4029]

they blow up gas pipelines, and now gas is not cheap, and they stop sell cars in russia, and they will close factories

[@91StefaNs60]

@@zeritho6073they definitely want to close them…they will move them to countries where labor is cheaper…for real now guys are you serious now?…they made billions this year they definitely afford to raise wages and still make billions…

[@zeritho6073]

@@91StefaNs60 VW lost 42% of their profit. So something clearly is not good. The people that buy cars dont seem to be ready to pay more for the higher salaries... sadly. Should the company keep doing the same and just hope that it suddenly work the next year? What happen if the bad trend continue? Is it worth to risk all plants instead of 3 plants? We live in a competive world. I work at a company that closed factories the unions didnt protest... why? Because they understand we live in a competative world and if you not are competative you sooner or later will go bankrupt and then everyone lose. A 42% dropp is not a trend that can continue for to long

[@1972Ray]

The reason ofr the reduced wages and possible layoffs is to protect the bottom line.

[@directxxxx71]

No Chinese market & Russian Cheap energy: RIP Europe

[@ilovebarcelona9256]

🎯

[@skyworks1621]

Sad story but car market is changing, less sales more players in the market and VW has to many workers. Tesla makes 16 % profit on a car and VW 3 %....

[@Hypocrisy.Allergic]

Tesla is ahead of its time plus its a huge brand. VW is boring af

[@nassax7741]

​@@Hypocrisy.AllergicPlus Tesla is a software company

[@chrisfournier6144]

@@Hypocrisy.AllergicTesla's successes will be fewer and further between in the years to come.

[@steak5599]

VW Union workers are actually some of the highest paid Labors in EU. VW pays like 1.5x what other automakers and manufacturing industry pays, yet, they want more and blame corporate greed. People doesn't seem to understand how Investors and Corporation work. The S&P 500 Index Fund grows like 10-15% anually, if running an expensive and complex operation like a Car making company can't at least double or triple that ROI, why would any investor wants to invest into a Car Company?

[@peethasaccent]

1. Boring looking car 2. Unreliable That's VW today.

[@Onion_Knights]

expensive, no resale value

[@mariovegas5699]

3. Incredibly overpriced

[@pauld.b7129]

Probably will have some major issues that costs thousands to fix then you can sell it at a loss. To be fair though VW was trying to give people good diesels that actually work. Most of the issues can be blamed on the EU and their ridiculous emissions laws, while a billion people in India don't even know what a catalytic converter is....

[@bobdebouwer7835]

Just stick to a Golf mk1. Reliable and the value only goes up.

[@fallinloveatfirstdream4222]

The current situation is entirely the fault of EU President Ursula von der Leyen and also of Olaf Scholz, Chancellor of Germany.

[@richardstaples75]

How is it that the French kept their clean nuclear power and (rational) Germans mothballed theirs😢

[@samlatooni]

Their demands: " more luxurious benefits, less work!"

[@NicolasHaufe]

Considering These companies forced Migration and atroscities Like 2015 new years Sollingen etc on us its more than fair

[@gaborrajnai6213]

Will they get 1 million euro annually like their top managers who wrecked the company for that sum?

[@rahulv7530]

​@@gaborrajnai6213More work, more pay , more productivity, better economy . More intelligence -better comments

[@burninskin]

@@gaborrajnai6213 well, I guess no one stopped them becoming top managers and getting 1 million annually. Shouldn't be that hard?

[@D1ARBO]

Welcome to Germany!

[@timantsons616]

@04:35 "Germany is such an export heavy economy" But they were never called out for "overcapacity"

[@PtYt24]

I usually support union in their efforts when companies are doing well. But while the company is struggling this strikes are not going to help them instead might harm them if company just no longer exists. I feel the CEO should just cut his salaries as measure of good faith and union should end the trike with that.

[@eliotness4029]

they blow up gas pipelines, and now gas is not cheap, and they stop sell cars in russia, and they will close factories

[@triglavbog7527]

Hahahahah VW payed bots are in full force

[@PtYt24]

@@triglavbog7527 Not a bot, this seems like logical bargain. If your employer does not exist it does not benefit you! Specially, when the employer is big part of economy which is already struggling.

[@bojanm986]

😂 😂😂

[@gaborrajnai6213]

There was never in the history of capitalism a single good year when the opressors had to pay taxes or wages. Ever!

[@theninethrees8044]

VW, Jaguar and Nissan WTF IS HAPPENING?!?

[@robertrussell3264]

The German auto industry has been dependent on great advertising here in the US for decades. At some point people will start noticing that their cars are a terrible value. Then things will really crash.

[@Kghhtnj]

IG metal is the worst union, the German factory workers salaries are the highest and they don’t allow automation, block every project. The union and employees live in a bubble.

[@TienyeeTien]

China? It’s Toyota, Honda, Subaru, Hyundai and KIa who kick VW out of market all over the world or At least in North America.

[@AG-un7dz]

Agree. Someone in Germany goofed on the US market. Volkswagen tried to penetrate the American market by alienating it's fanbase. They went from selling European fun drive vehicles to selling overpriced or bland vehicles aren't appealing to most Americans. Then when you throw in the overly touchscreen centric radios and switching from manual gearboxes to GSG you alienated your core customer. So they never was able to gain any market share from Honda and Toyota while turning off those that like to drive VW's.

[@oguzkaanklc2014]

😂😂😂😂😂 China EVs.

[@slaveoth5114]

What is Subaru or Hundai? Small indie companies compared to VW.

[@TienyeeTien]

@ Hyundai and Subaru aee small companies? 🤣Hyundai is the fourth largest auto group in the world and Subaru is a part of Toyota.

[@dhc8guru]

Demanding wage increases when the company is at a low isn’t the way to do it. Demand when the company is doing well. It’s like stocks, buy low, sell high.

[@aaronparys1750]

Big Problems ... Over Capacity, Over Product, Over Pricing and Now a Shrinking Global Trade !!

[@saeidmomtahan4728]

Nordstream II. No one seems to remember it any more

[@xingxing85]

Isn't this even clearer for the company to shut plants in Germany because they have such strikes that gives them problem ?

[@JohnDoe-pk2hs]

By all means, spend all the money to move it somewhere else while having a boycott worldwide called for. Those executives at had better have good security because people are good at finding folks these days.

[@Haya12234]

The strikes are very rare. The news about closing down came before

[@josephdouglas6260]

It’s pretty standard that if your product is comparatively undesirable, it’s going to sell less. Nobody wants a Volkswagen- not because of the price or the brand, but because the cars are uncompetitive.

[@lukazupie7220]

@@josephdouglas6260 aren't they selling the most cars out of any car company?🤔

[@renatopimazzoni9133]

Meanwhile VW executives pocketed millions in bonus

[@Patrick-yh5yd]

Like the Disneyworld chief.

[@sosososososo4148]

Those executives are not easily replaceable while those workers are not

[@167mm167]

yes!! just let the union to manage the company, everything will be fine!!

[@thewingedringer]

@@sosososososo4148 You had a stroke while writing this?

[@thewingedringer]

@@167mm167 I think they might have had a better chance to be fair.

[@vladdefence1447]

Cheapest Polo 20k, cheapest Golf 25k, cheapest Passat 35k. 10-12y ago those prices where 7-8k lower. Enough said.

[@almac9203]

There is a concept called inflation 😂

[@ponzitizen]

​@almac9203 Apparently, not on wages 😂😂😂

[@ricktharp1]

Keep your old car as long as possible. Everything new is garbage.

[@liva236muzika]

I am not sure VW workers understand how free market works.

[@Максим-ы4й6ф]

Wake up, there is nothing like "free market" in this world

[@YellewBhee]

By the way China building entrepreneurship all over Africa….duty free ….No tariff ,No sanction

[@johndavid5618]

Its all about their greed....!!! ""I dont blame the workers.

[@Athanasp911]

Has anybody heard of sound editing? Please turn the volume of the interview during translations/voiceovers. Other than that, thank you very much for the reportage.

[@mikkokosonen1035]

VW quality has always been way much lower compared to BMW or M-B. Now the workers are finally doing same thing as in Britain at the 1960's and 70's. Bye bye.

[@mutkaluikkunen3926]

and I wouldn't praise the quality of BMW or M-B either too much, compared to Toyota.

[@ianelliott518]

Instead of sacking Herbert Dietz, they should have listened to him

[@slaveoth5114]

who?

[@tapiwamj7958]

​@slaveoth5114 the former VW CEO

[@adjeiboateng1671]

Herbert Diess ghost is hunting VW. No one is waiting for German’s slow transitioning into EVs. At least not China. The problem is that German EVs are not as compelling as Tesla and the Chinese EVs. The decline is going to be fast and painful.

[@saltymonke3682]

No one is buying EV, even chinese😂

[@adjeiboateng1671]

@@saltymonke3682 😏😏😂

[@st-ex8506]

@@saltymonke3682 I have seen a 35% p.a. growth rate of EVs in China. That does not seem to confirm your ill-informed comment. No need to put an emoji to laugh at the ineptitude of your comment!

[@saltymonke3682]

@@adjeiboateng1671 loom at their retail numbers

[@saltymonke3682]

@st-ex8506 ah yes, said by who? CCP? hahahaha.... if they are, those state backed EV wouldn't go bankrupt, and all of them don't have to sell cars at loss. BYD, Xiaomi, GWM are all selling their EV at loss.

[@SD-cs1ti]

Afterwards, when you have a hearse-type design, it doesn't make you want to ,Not to mention that they pay the workers 4000 euros to tighten screws.

[@Medal-EED]

As a consumer: i wouldn't buy a used VW in the secondary market let alone a new one.

[@Pvemaster2]

All these fools will be unemployed when VW cant reorganise and goes bankrupt

[@trumpeldorf]

They produce unreliable, disposable cars at an abnormal price and then complain 😂

[@slaveoth5114]

VW cars are top 3 in reliability. After VW I think there is KIA and Toyota but VW still makes the best cars. Have you seen 30years old Prius or Aygo? NOPE. But you can see plenty of 20-40 years old Golfs, Polos and Beetles.

[@kennylast2565]

@@slaveoth5114 Buddy, lookup Volkswagen Mechatronic Unit failure then come back here if you still think it is reliable. It is a widely known issue amongst mechanics and consumers worldwide that this expensive unit cost commonly fails and cost more than the car itself and is recommended to just dispose the car and buy another one.

[@pauld.b7129]

Emissions laws are to blame. All part of the strategy. They want gas cars to be less reliable in the final push to get people to buy an EV

[@trumpeldorf]

@@slaveoth5114 😂😂😂

[@user333-us4qz]

VW should focus on Bicycle’s instead of cars. Green energy and cheaper production cabability’s 🤣💀. !

[@jogana6909]

I think they should switch to armored vehicles.

[@YSKWatch]

how about make simple & cheap cars?

[@d1p70]

​@@YSKWatch German workers and cheap don't go together. Their wages and benefits are among the highest in the world.

[@harmonk8012]

​@@jogana6909Again?

[@richardnaysmith6040]

And the horse of course

[@krisefor]

So the workers thought that a car industry is something like being a public servant that never gets redundant.

[@hekeng]

German workers are too expensive, and the workers in developing are more productive than before. German workers should face the truth and try to improve their productivity. Protesting is not working.

[@frikandelkroket9335]

If the car industry is so important then why not make good affordable vehicles?

[@KallusGarnet]

😂😂😂😂

[@amahana6188]

I feel bad for anyone that loses their job. But If your company is losing money, protesting for higher wages and keeping facilities open…makes little sense to me. What am I missing?

[@Clint-stanley]

Old ways of building cars is unable to compete with Tesla and Chinese manufacturing processes. Will the unions lead the industry to better production methods? I don't think legacy automaker management will either. Something will have to change but all I see right now is finger pointing. At least Nissan and possibly Stellantis will be out of the game soon and some serious corrective actions may happen after they are gone.

[@richardstaples75]

Leave it to 2 female journalists to IGNORE the crises caused by the country's MISGUIDED Green Energy policies.

[@Itsallgood842]

And the sanctions on Russia that have caused huge energy prices

[@clp91009]

The world has changed. The German car industry is at risk of going the way of the UK coal mining industry in the 1980s. Unfortunately I don’t see any easy solutions.

[@Jack-lo1uc]

Remove the net zero nonsense and ev mandates

[@richlam8358]

Volkswagen's experience in the Chinese market is also for a long time, I belong to the older generation, I still prefer German products, I have bought the fourth German car, but I feel that my patience has also been exhausted, I am hesitating whether to choose a germen car for the next car. my children for example, they are not interested in German cars, Japanese cars, American cars at all, they grew up in the era of Chinese manufacturing, and they have confidence in Chinese brand

[@bearlogg7974]

Dear VW. All you need to do is make an $20,000 EV with windup windows that goes from A to B. We never bought Beetles, Golfs & Minibuses for their features and safety

[@Максим-ы4й6ф]

Golfs are the most popular car in Germany in decades.

[@DANPOLO1]

You price yourself out of work when you make your labor so expensive that the final product doesn't sell because of being too expensive

[@hmao4466]

You can't keep making cars the public doesn't want to buy...

[@SteveI-fg5qt]

China already makes 75% of the world's EVs and their auto makers are improving on quality and highly price competitive. Its only going to get tougher to compete unless we see a big uptick in innovation.

[@teinspringz]

Do not blame China for your problems VW, this all started at dieselgate, shame on you.

[@ilovebarcelona9256]

🎯

[@Snackz11]

It's definitely a bad time for a pay raise. They shouldn't even protest that this minute Their Lucky to have a job. I live in detroit And people are getting laid off no one Buying cars at all

[@Archeaon]

Corporate forgots unions in social democracies.

[@williamshade927]

This is the end of the European union 😅😅😅😅😅

[@draganpenchev]

Fantastisch .

[@snomx2809]

That is so crazy. They want increased wages and more security. Their demands are the reason why the company is failing

[@nitinkumar29]

Not easy to keep manufacturing to same level as before if people are not buying the product. Question asked by all parties involved is why people are not buying the product and what could be done so the people will buy the product. Until all involved get realistic, nothing will solve and sadly the employees will most likely lose their jobs. Sadly, in all news and elsewhere in Germany, the people involved never seems to ask these two questions and keep blaming external factors. Japanese and Korean cars are doing well elsewhere and even in Germany so that is not the reason.

[@FrunkensteinVonZipperneck]

Japan companies will collapse too. Hyundai/KIA seem to have a good plan with their electric vehicles. ICE is kaput.

[@nitinkumar29]

​@@FrunkensteinVonZipperneck If you think, then you don't know about Japanese companies and their timeline. Hyundai is raking losses even in ICE across Asia. Japanese are not. Japanese are already planned for EV, they are pioneer in Hybrid vehicles and battery technology since decades. Of course, it is not easy competition with Chinese and only in software they can beat Japanese, but they are not good when it comes to reliability and performance because of how much lie about the longevity and so on. Japanese on other hand are some of the very honest nationalities on this planet.

[@randomguy4989]

German economy will have that issue in a lot more sectors. Car is a quick industry to notice it because if you are struggling with 2k net a month minus living costs then you will of course not be buying a brand new golf for 30 to 50k Euros. So basically 50% of all newly employeed german employees already are priced out of most of their cars. But ultimately the issue is a lot more systemic, wage are low, living costs are high, energy costs are high, bureacracy, taxes and regulation are high. The result will be less consumer spending, less intake for the economy and lower tax returns which also means Germany will keep cutting self-investments due to their debt ceiling policy. The only way around it is to change the constitution and make heavy investments, but there probably won't be a political majority for that.

[@timstevens3361]

company says our costs are too high n we cant compete. workers say ok we are going on strike and we want more $. what am i missing here. energy costs + material costs + labour costs are too high, so company is going to start shrinking until there is no company. in US a pickup truck is a $100,000 vehicle now. who can afford a pickup truck today ? doctors lawyers gov employees, not really pickup truck ppl tho.

[@pauld.b7129]

All part of the plan. Half of the plan of pushing EVs is to increase emissions laws until gas engines can hardly function. Then people will switch to EVs because they made gas cars so terrible. Same reason everyone is making trash CVT and 10 speed transmissions to try and save that 1mpg that politicians demand

[@一苇杭之]

No one dare say anything about the blowup of the gas pipe?

[@SimonMester]

No fan or modern corporate bs... but, it sounds like they are already struggling. So if you strike or threaten to quit, sounds like they will just take it, since they are downsizing or going bust anyways.

[@HenrykŁowicki]

Mreckel, van den Layen this is what happens when you put the wrong people in charge.

[@Bryan-lg3fn]

I laugh when union workers or any workers for that matter demand job security ?? sure in a perfect world it would be great but thats not reality .The only people who come close are those lazy bureaucrats in Brussels , they seem to be exempt from layoffs

[@jasonong3906]

Salary increase.? Madness

[@lucasfunkt]

VW is a failing company, where do the employees think they're going to get the money from to pay them more? They should leave to companies not on the decline before they get forced out with redundancies. The strikes only quicken VW's demise. China and Tesla are the future for car manufacturing and many legacy brands will shrink or cease to exist entirely, striking and asking for money that isn't there isn't going to help the situation.

[@coasttocoastphoto]

I was a loyal VW customer having owned seven VW’s and one Audi, but after what they did to me with the diesel, I’ll never buy another one. They should have bought it back- it never ran right after they “fixed” it.

[@debl9957]

Blame management for overseeing the production of poorly designed vehicles. VW is not known for reliable, long-lasting vehicles.

[@Kyle-sr6jm]

You can reliably expect a VW to fail.

[@shawnz3307]

i think DW also points out the dividend. But to me, it's like the interest you pay for your debt.

[@colinyuan5404]

German can ask support from US, you’re friends… US will help you 😊

[@alexhumble7653]

No, Germany is the US' puppet.

[@TBonerton]

My 2012 GTI had a special "Built in Germany" card inside a metal tin with a letter from the engineer who built it. He went on about how special we are because we share this car together. I had to replace the clutch before reaching 55,000 Km. My sisters 2005 golf built in Mexico had 289,000 km when she sold it. No work done whatsoever.

[@hclau218]

Maybe they should be angry with the Govt picking fights with its biggest, cheapest and most reliable energy supplier. 😂😂

[@167mm167]

[@mgronich948]

Voters need to remember in the comming election.

[@hclau218]

@mgronich948 I doubt it..

[@alexhumble7653]

Such logic is too complicated for them considering what's going on there.

[@smanpreet2612]

When such assumptions were made, they should prefer that factory will not close instead of asking higher wages 😢

[@MrMollyMoff]

Fight for the right to be unemployed

[@decencydecorum]

So many youtube ads coming during watching

[@jurgen9568]

A former employer of mine also said they were in "emergency mode". A year later they didn't exist anymore.

[@johnadkins5918]

I seem to remember something very similar here in the UK some years back, the well paid workers at car manufacturers wanted even more money for doing far less than their counterparts, the end result, the UK is no longer noted for making cars anymore. Always remember, you are not so special that you can’t be replaced, there are millions of people all over the world that are more than capable of doing what you do, so stop digging your heels in and burying your head in the sand. Compete for less or lose everything.

[@samgriggs4226]

The company is facing an existential crisis, but the workers want higher pay and to keep making expensive cars that the markets don’t want. Instead of plugging the leaks to keep the ship afloat, let’s all sink it.

[@hughmann1908]

It never ceases to amaze me when the manufacturer is in trouble the unions strike to ask for more money? Read the room…

[@harisoepangkat6085]

VW didn't want to change. They don't want to leave their comfort zone. It is too late to start all over again in the EV market. It is better to join with China in EV technology or license from Chinese EV manufacturers or declare bankruptcy.

[@Jack-lo1uc]

EV pipe dream has destroyed the car industry, no one wants to buy them

[@harisoepangkat6085]

@Jackson Oh my God. You didn't know Tesla's sales per year. Did you read the news?