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Agreed I have been observing these prices skyrocket for 5 years now trying to buy a car in the uk but never could I buy and afford to keep it in London with purchase price £50k + insurance prices and maintenance etc . Might as well ask my company to pay my salary directly to bmw / Mercedes / I love these cars in general and brands and what they offered in the past but I cannot ever afford to own one of these
@@alexius8111 its not worth it unless you have a side business and can depreciate the asset or deduct payments if it's a lease. i dont have such a luxury, so i tend to buy used. if the toyota has been running for 50k miles, it's likely it will do 150k more.
Until recently I was a mystery shopper and 90% of my work was test driving cars. I drove almost every brand of cars from Porshe and Aston Martins down to Dacia and everything in between, electric, hybrid and petrol. My conclusion - almost all modern cars are shit, no soul, poor driving experience and completely bloated with unwanted systems and apps.
The stock price will crash, if VW took loans with stock as collateral, the banks will be chasing VW to fill the gap. They won’t be able to fill it and company gets sued
Usually the CEO will run out of money before going bankrupt. The CEO of NorthVolt ( VW owns the most shares) spent $14 billion and owed $6 billion, and then resigned.
Parts are incredible expensive. I recently updated the throttle body electric plug and cables, parts only $220 USD and I had to assembled everything. I have a ford explorer and the same part already assembled is 10 USD. Bye bye VW.
What's so great about big American corporations? When they can't compete with Chinese corporations/car makers, they demand the government to impose tariffs?
Their customer service in Australia made me to by elsewhere after I bought a brand new GOLF R. They decided that I needed a new gearbox for $9000 and if I bought there and then they would give me 10% off. I ended up finding a mechanic that did his time in Germany and all it ended up being was a software update which I told VW that it’s happening all around Australia. I ended reporting the dealership to VW Australia and they couldn’t find that they had done anything wrong even though all of my evidence proved otherwise.
The corporate guys at VW-Australia probably don't have a clue how modern transmissions operate on a modern car so they just went along with the dealership's findings. They started over-engineering their cars back in the 1990s when a lot of the legacy engineering staff got pushed out and new folks came in with no idea about including serviceability in designs (similar with Mercedes-Benz).
Lets supose the cut that in half. VW has to save 11 billion dollar , and in addition pay 1.6 billion dollars in India for a total of 12.6 billion US dollars. Now substract half of 1.5 billion euros and the inmediate debt stays at 11.1 billion US dollars or 10.5 million euros. VW still has to close plants ,and had to reduce work force, and also reduce salaries of white collar , and bule collar employees. If the union can not see this , the days of VW can become easy to count.
A lot of that, especially recently, was because the unions were too hard to deal with. Big companies in Germany must have a workers council by law. The state of Lower Saxony owns 20% of the shares and is dominated by Social Democrats (and Greens) who don’t want big changes.
Those two families should stay inside the next few months as that thing in New York proves that the people have had enough of this kind of theft by rich people.
@Junyo Well, Americans have chosen to be exploited and impoverished on a national scale by a coterie of billionaires under the aegis of a very useful idiot.
@@peterfireflylund Same in The Netherlands. Any company with 50 employees or more must have a workers council. However, in my country the workers councils tend to be more progressive, more adventurous than the boards. That must be different in Germany.
In Germany there are like 100000 electric cars sitting in stockpile. This includes Tesla's. I think a lot of car companies will leave the building this decade.
@@beachlife3572this pre-dates Biden with that whole Paris climate crap, Europe forcing their car makers to go all electric by a certain date despite what the consumer wants and now it’s affecting the car makers who were just doing what they were told by the corrupt governments.
Volkswagen originally said it would be 5 factories, not 2 or 3. They didn't lie to "us". When a video opens like this one did, consider getting your news from a more reliable source.
Doesn't make sense. You are competing for these people. These people work like 20 hours a day for years. There is no, I'm not working hour. Every hour is work hour. You are managing tens to hundreds of thousands of people. Including mass engineering teams, the most special people to manage on the planet. People have no idea. Just attempt to imagine walking those shoes and what that would entail. How many years of life that would take, what would you trade for it?
Yes agreed, just look at the last Ebay CEO, totally ruined it allowing scams & fraud to take over what was a winner so more profit could be generated, the nameless twat has gone, eBay highly distrusted now!
Sam, I am convinced that the leadership groups at legacy automakers don’t have the skill set or even the motivation to save themselves. Whenever I see these CEOs taking about how dire things are, I see men that are slightly younger than me that are financially set for life and have built their careers on managing huge bureaucracies while making incremental improvements. They have no clue on how to compete against modern car makers, which make stunning improvements that you highlight on an almost daily basis.
Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares was just 'fired' and sent off with a $100 million golden parachute. With rewards like that for utter failure why would anybody be incentivized to perform competently when they get rewarded so handsomely regardless of whether they succeed or not?
Tesla were first in the game. There was a honeymoon period because of that. They did not really do anything innovative. The tech was all there ready to be bolted together.
Yes it amazes me there're not aware of history, its easy to see what would happen. The British Motorbike industry also gave the exact same lesson before.
@@jasonmugridge and British shipbuilding. I’m from Glasgow and remember the Clyde full of shipyards. All gone now due to atrocious management that didn’t read the future of global shipping. They too tried to blame their workforce instead of themselves. Look at what happened at Sunderland, Brit management and Brit workforce equalled failure, then Nissan came in with Japanese management and turned them completely around. What does that tell you?
Cost of living rose sharply within the last 2-3 years in Germany, my perception is around 30-50 %, so for sure the workers will not accept a 10% wage cut.
Salaries should be according to value created. Personal costs are no parameter for salary determination. One can do and it's often done, but finally the jobs might go somewhere else.
As a Michigander, I have been through this. It sucks. But there isn’t an option to downsizing the corporation if you aren’t selling the cars. The US has seen AMC disappear, and the remainder of the Big Three dwindle to fractions of their former size. Being German doesn’t change the forces of consolidation.
saw the news today in Chinese media that VW is closing the factory in Nanjing, Jiangsu. it's a JV with SAIC sized at 360,000 cars per year, making VW Passat, Skoda Kamiq and Skoda Superb.
@@GallAnonim-jx2cz I used to like Skoda very much for their reasonable price and practicality, but VW here in china position Skoda as a cheap alternative to VW and done too much cost-cutting.
Given the substantial borrowings and the loss of sales, It is surprising that VW can issue or should issue a dividend at all. Even if VW achieves plant closures and wage reductions, they will still be in financial trouble. Thus far apart from closures and wage adjustments we do not have a plan for change that over time will turn the company around.
Would orders for 5 million cars per year from Russia help to eliminate the 60% utilisation problem ? Germany used to produce and sell 6 million cars until 2022. Then they halved production to 3 million and a further 1 million cut in subsidiary EU country factories hence the 60% utilisation. Allow cars exports to Russia again and their factories will be at over 90% near full production.
I just drove my ID 4 for 1st service and the cost was 450 €, for brake fuid and new air filter. For same stuff I paid 200 € on Tesla model 3. If you scam your clients they go away.
Salaries are crazy high at VW company. Not only the factory workers but especially management and higher levels. There is a lot of potential to save money.
I make the number VW need to save 11 billion euros , plus a fine of 1.6 billion euros from India, then reducing executives salaries by half (no one will take that) the company will save less than .8 billion euros leaving then with 11.2 billion dollars to save or go bust. Hugher salaries at white workers has an efect, but they are few and the whole picture does not change much after cutting their pays by 50% instead of 10%. VW need to close plants, reduce workforce, and reduce salaries if it wants to stay in bussiness.
Have a look at this and compare to a Chinese factory. German factories have far less automation and consequently, are much more labour intensive. Chinese cars are built almost entirely by robots. Tesla Shanghai is a notable example.
The biggest issue I see is many manufacturers are focusing on cars that cost $€£80,000+, while inflation has been stressing them on food, utility bills, housing, etc. The last thing people need is to sink a huge amount of money into a depreciating asset.
I've ordered a VW Golf last summer and it was planned to enter production phase last week at the Wolfsburg factory. So if they stop working or if they don't work seriously, my future car will be impacted...
@@yankeewog Indeed. But I've chosen most options such as automatic gear, massage seat and sunroof. They say it takes more time to gather all parts from suppliers.
@@dougm659 Yes I wanted a Tesla 3. I could get it in two weeks indeed. But I really wanted a sunroof and Tesla don't make it (only panoramic). Plus, a Tesla is too big for my underground parking...
@@yankeewog No I wait 6 months to get a sunroof because I love to enjoy some fresh air and the sun. I've had a sunroof on all my cars for the past 25 years and with most EV and Tesla it's not possible. So I don't want to order "the car of the future" while not having options we had in the 80's...
This is a proper conundrum: on the one hand I understand why workers demand salary increases, inflation is eating they earnings every month. On the other hand, increasing salaries will lead to even more expensive VW cars, which are already too expensive for most people to buy new. It doesn't matter what is the factory utilization at VW, if the cars are too expensive, they will still remain unsold. And that is the core reason of the crisis, not only at VW but for Germany in general - everything is getting unaffordable very quickly.
Tesla will offer more affordable models next year, BYD seems to prepare for a price war, Chinas plan seems to be to flood Europe with hybrids, because the higher tariffs are only on the EV´s. The question is just, how long it will take till VW is bankrupt or bought by the Chinese. With lower sales numbers VW loses scale effects, which makes the cars even more expensive. It is a death spiral........
If you think the shop floor workforce are to blame for the position VW is in, you’re very wrong. While VW management has been managing its decline, they’ve been paying insanely high dividends and top executives packages. Plus, the amount a shop floor increase would mean in respect of the selling price of a vehicle is routinely exaggerated to a crazy degree. It’s actually quite insignificant. The management isn’t going to criticise itself, is it?
@@229andymon i dont think the workforce is to blame, nor have i written such a thing. If anything, i wrote i understand their demands. It's just a difficult situation to solve, and corporate greed definitely plays a part in this.
@@milhad.salihi Sure, I see that, I just get a bit frustrated when I see people routinely default to blaming the workforce for what are clearly management faults. If you analyse what the difference to the selling price a, say, 10% shop floor wage increase vs a 5% would mean to the selling price of a car you’d be surprised just how incredibly small it is. You then have to ask yourself - are there alternatives to simply adding that cost into the selling price, could not the company cut sky high executive packages, or dividends or try to lower the energy bill, or, heaven forbid, make cars people want to buy? You have to ask those questions, because you can bet your bottom dollar the management won’t.
I have no idea why the CFO would be recommending a 30% dividend... if the company is in such serious peril, it makes absolutely no sense at all. I woulkd think that the company should be battening down the hatches, and making planms to save as much of the company as possible. Instead they're doing not much more than paying the orchestra to play while the icy waters creep up their legs. Unfortunately, it seems that senior management across the legacy auto industry is in complete denial about what they are facing. Stellantis appears to be badge engineering their way into oblivion, VAG don't appear to have a plan out of their self-inflicted management nightmares, BMW seem to think that they can carry on regardless, M-B appear to think that a little bit of a joint venture might save them. Ford appear to think that ICE SUVs are going to ensure the company's survival and GM have pulled their horns into the US market. The Japanese appear to be in absolute and complete denial, which leaves the Regie and Hyundai/KIA the only ones capable and interested in holding back the tide.
Didn't you hear that the VW board had decided to maintain its dividend payout policy of 30%? Why should the workers be expected to sacrifice but not the shareholders when times are bad? Another thing. Why blame the workers but not the management for losing out to their competitors?
@@adamiskandar5107 if that is "30% of profits" I can't see how that equals maintaining the dividend. Note he said "not changing our dividend policy of 30%" in the video, not that the dividend is maintained.
@@TheGast4321 They should not take out any dividends until the ship is turned around. Otherwise any worker can assume, the investors are not intersted in turning the ship around.
Piech family is not budging either with 1/3 ownership. Investor greed is a thing in some cases however, all are tired of seeing their money wasted and padding the pockets of the upper management. Electrify America has not helped their EV sales due to their horrendous reliability issues. I went through the Dieselgate scandal with my TDI. Software issues with the ID4 and MEB Platform I'm sure were born out of siloed programming by non automotive people, that don't understand each module vendor has their own software stack behind common CAN data buss protocols which adds to the complexity with testing and compatibility, plus the covid era chip shortages. Don't feel sorry for management not being proactive instead they are reactive now. I saw the writing on the wall 7 years ago.
The first red flag was when their software division was completely and utterly replaced by a Chinese company and then “investing” in Rivian for its software stack??
@@stopthefomo Germans think in terms of bolts and nuts, not in bits and bytes. That’s their problem. They’re stuck with ‘Bradwurst with curry souce' and are unable to change. Also their entire governmental apparatus is still in paperwork and not automated. Not to mention their bureaucracy, not only their government but also in companies.
They went all in on electric cars and lost. I cant say I feel sory for them. 40 000 euros for a ID 3 is crazy price when similar Golf is 25 000. Do they think we are dumb?
That's what the idiots are saying. They didn't go into electric cars enough. Take note of at which automotive companies are turning profits and which cars they build. They tried to squeeze as much money out of internal combustion engine vehicle production lines as possible for as long as possible. What we are seeing is the result of this indecisiveness.
@@danielhultenius5506 You need to do some research. The fastest growing market in the world at the moment is China. It's also now one of the biggest. 55% of cars sold in China are EVs. Eve are taking over and in ten years, there will be no new ICE cars. The ICE, as means of personal transport, is as good as DEAD.
EU regulations require automakers to go electric to meet their average fleet emissions target. UK even mandates a certain EV share. 2025 will see these regulations tighten more. All automakers in Europe are struggling with this at the moment one more than the other.
They ate all the profits as dividends instead of reinvesting and then assumes selling £40k+ boxes that depreciate by 80% in a few years is a good idea to remain profitable as people would forever take loans to buy expensive cars they cannot afford to buy
same thing happened at British Leyland/Austin Rover 80s/90s. Made shitty uncompetitive products noone wanted. Overbloated management wanted to cut wages/hours in a cost saving measure, strikes,closures, etc.
Sam, you called it years ago! Isn’t it crazy and so sad! All of these OEM’s they have the same problems. Ownership and mgmt corporate greed caused a lack of proper investment in new technology. So the media blames it on Elon and the Chinese. In the US it’s even worse because the government gave them grants and loans. Now that they’ve pulled away from EV’s does the American taxpayer get their money back? If Elon says anything being now part of the government these companies will say he’s trying to give Tesla an even greater advantage. 😢😢😢
Perhaps the car industry as we know it is coming to an end. After all what's the point in making cars that no one can afford to buy. Too much tech, couple that with very high prices and people can't afford to buy. Drop the prices, remove the junk tech and people may buy.
@@adamiskandar5107How do you come to this conclusion ? A failure to adapt and evolve to climate demands reality is a leadership and management issue. Human wars come and go… Climate Change effect all of us to various degrees and are protracted long term consequences.
The VW range of cars is an odd mixture: old designs (Polo,Golf, Passat ), multiple SUV designs (Toureg, T-Cross, T-Roc, Tiguan and now Tayron) for no good reason and EV designs which were poor, over-priced and just outclassed not just by Chinese manufacturers but also by Skoda and Cupra - their own in house brands. Couple that with some dubious design choices that no one wanted, a recent history that inclines customers not to trust them and you have the perfect recipe for a disaster. This was all entirely predictable and it is VW management who have failed not the workers
True, they did not took any action 5 years ago, but both white , and blue collar workers will have to pay for that. To make it worse VW need to close enire manufacturing plants, and invets money (that they do not have) to modernize the remaining manufacturing plants or it is the end of the story.
Outclassed by Chinese cars? LOL. In Norway, both the ID.3, 4/5 and 7 are in the top ten list of new car sales, along with the Skoda Enyaq. No Chinese cars on that list. The ID.7 is as large as a Tesla S, at half the price. And is in almost all respects a better car; more spacious, better drive, better quality. And has now even caught up with the software.
" ... the CFO said that Volkswagen has no plans to change its dividend policy and is sticking with a payout ratio of at least what that means ...", What that means is that VW management is delusional. Which do the investor prefer? Lose their investment almost entirely to bankruptcy and fire sales or forgo the dividends for the foreseeable future to maybe have them reinstated later when the situation has improved (if it VW is even salvageable)? VW leadership should not be taking a pay-cut, they should all be fired, starting with Oliver Blume, and replaced with competent people
Would orders for 5 million cars per year from Russia help to eliminate the 60% utilisation problem ? Germany used to produce and sell 6 million cars until 2022. Then they halved production to 3 million and a further 1 million cut in subsidiary EU country factories hence the 60% utilisation. Allow cars exports to Russia again and their factories will be at over 90% near full production.
I am keeping my Caddy mk4 2016 for as long as possible, the equivalent caddy model now has nearly doubled in price and has a infotainment touch screen to control most dash controls which I have tested and is very fiddly to operate.
I'm a 35+yr IT guy and honestly seeing all these car makers shoving all kinds of pointless tech into their vehicles scares the vrap out of me. I made a point buying my last car (2016) of looking around to find the one with minimal tech crap... it's got heat/AC and a stereo (radio/CD), that's all I need.
It needed to be said 15 years ago but everyone thought it was mad. Volvo at least did something about it ten years ago and they will probably survive. /Audi/Skoda/VW, BMW, Mercedes Benz, Peugeot, FIAT/Stellantis, Honda, Mazda, Subaru... they're all going to be fighting to survive in the next ten years. Very few of them did anything like enough work on EVs. It's Kodak all over again. Evolve or die.
@@JeeGee114 Volvo isn’t dead. They’re still making cars, including electric cars. They were the first European company to commit to move fully to electric by 2030. Polestar seems to have gone from being their performance arm to their electric arm. I’m well aware of Geely’s involvement but I don’t know how much money Geely has in Volvo and whether the brand name will continue.
EVs holds only 14,4% of new cars sales in Germany. ALL EV brands are down, Tesla more than 60%. Buyers simply don't want EVs for many reasons: practicality, prices, resale value. Petrol cars are the bestsellers in 2024.
Would it not make sense to have an agreement with BYD so the plants can be used to produce BYD cars instead? BYD gets to produce cars in Europe with an experienced partner, BYD avoids EU tariffs since the cars are made in Europe, nobody loses their job, and consumers get better EVs. It's wins all around.
@tuesdayblues3646 Eventually, the USA will have to welcome Chinese EVs, they cannot isolate themselves from the world forever. American consumers will experience these cars abroad and want them at home, too. I suspect there will end up being something like what happens with Japanese trucks in the US. Chicken tax doesn't leave room to import foreign trucks, but they get made in America instead.
When they demanded technology transfer, the Chinese government decided to pull out. They should be negotiating instead of demanding, given that they are in a weaker position.
If the government lowered the 19% sales tax, the inventory would clear out. The German government, VW management and owners, and workers will need to come together to find solutions, or kiss VW goodbye.
Would orders for 5 million cars per year from Russia help to solve the 60% utilisation problem ? Germany used to produce and sell 6 million cars until 2022. Then they halved production to 3 million and a further 1 million cut in subsidiary EU country factories hence the 60% utilisation. Allow cars exports to Russia again and German EU factories will be at over 90% near full production.
Isn't Audi still involved in the World Endurance circuit? I always thought that was a more practical endeavor for a manufacturer of automobiles than the over-hyped F1 circuit
@@crosslink1493Audi quit WEC in 2016, we’re going to rejoin when porsche did but scrapped it for the F1 program. Now they’ve cut the customer racing program (R8 GT3) and the stability of the F1 program is constantly in question.
This level of inefficiency has become the norm and has been accepted as the industry standard, until Tesla came along. Telsa has shown the Germans that you can make an EV in 1/3rd the time and make a 20% profit making cars in Germany, with German workers so it has become the new norm and anyone that cant match it is doomed. The German manufacturers either up their game or they go out of business
Yeah, Tesla is the future; in Norway they have 12% of the new car market - and 50% of the complaints... And if Norway is anything to go from, Chinese cars ain't doing to well, either. Aside from Tesla, the top 10 list is dominated by EVs from VW, Skoda, Toyota and other legacy car makers. The only Chinese car on the top 20 list is in spot 16, XPeng G6.
@@TTTT-oc4eb Australian Tesla owners are very happy campers indeed. And you wonder why Tesla sells more EVs than their Chinese competitors. Tesla cannot be the market leaders with high customer dissatisfaction levels. This makes no sense.
@@TTTT-oc4eb Anecdotal evidence is not evidence. What is the basis for your opinion. I have 2 Teslas and I have been driving them for 4 years and they have never missed a beat. In the UK there is no evidence to back up your theory. I did have a rear light that misted up and an engineer came to my house and replaced it free of charge, so I have no complaints nor do I know anyone else with a Tesla that has a complaint
@@user-kc1tf7zm3b Your absolutely right, the unions wont allow change, the only way forward is for them to become bankrupt, shut the whole thing down and rebuild from scratch
Soaring energy cost have negatively impacted businesses and consumers. With way less disposable income, people are holding off on replacing their cars. Closing nuclear plants and blowing up nord stream pipelines, have really hurt European industries across the board.
Prices are nuts....that is VW's problem. The issue with Porsche is the crap they are making.....they used to be one of the most profitable car companies when they focused on what they were good at, building sports cars (air-cooled 911) instead of Japanese inspired SUVs.
The shrinking market is directly due to climate mandates/madness. If the free market, without any subsidies, was allowed to operate then the picture would be very different, as you well know. And as for expensive energy costs; in Germany [and the UK] high energy costs correlate, likewise, with imposition of renewable energy mandates. When will the penny drop?
Correct , Here in the UK we have the highest electric costs in the world but also threats of blackouts ( just like Australia and California ). Follow the green way go bankrupt and have blackouts. I've just had a letter from my energy supplier " what to do in a blackout" . And they want us all to have EV'S ? Trouble with VW is they have spent a fortune on EV development that no one wants and so people will just hang on to ICE cars
And if fools like you had it your way, the world would be ecologically and economically fucked up beyond repair in a few decades' time. For you, the penny will never drop.
Oil industry propaganda at its finest. Germany has high energy costs because they used to buy oil and electricity from Russia. The UK used to sell energy to Europe but then Brexit... Australia doesn't have a blackout problem any more. Fixed with storage batteries. In fact, Australia now produces more solar energy than the grid can absorb. All we need is to store it. The free market you refer to will eventually evolve to the EV. In China, where car ownership is still very low, EVs comprise 55% of the new car market. In other words, if you stared from scratch, consumers would still choose EVs in preference to ICE. The Chinese experience shows that. The ICE is as good as DEAD.
@@thethirdman225 those batteries would be dead in less than a decade due to the hot Australian climate. And then you'd get hit by the costs of having to constantly replace them. And lithium costs have been skyrocketing. So yeah sounds like bright future.
@@cagejones7757 Australia has some of the largest lithium deposits in the world so I have no concerns about the price of lithium. Furthermore, nothing is maintenance free. Don’t let’s make the mistake of making perfect the enemy of good. I’d add to that the point that the first battery unit is now seven years old. It started at 100MW and has since been expanded to 150MW. It’s going well thanks.
Crisis is the most overused word in all media. Painful restructuring is everywhere. All three manufacturers in Australia were closed down by an anti-union government and we ended up with tariff free choices. Good outcomes don't subsequently get coverage.however.
@@thethirdman225I can’t buy an Aussie made iPhone or TV either. Unsubsidised, we couldn’t afford to pay what it would actually cost to buy an Aussie made car.
@ All car factories are government subsidised to a greater or lesser degree. Whether it’s tax cuts for manufacturers or fleet buys or trade development schemes, they all receive government support. There were benefits in that for a lot of Australians and I’m not just talking about workers. My car is an Aussie built, ex-government car. I couldn’t have got it that cheap any other way.
EV's are cheaper. Everywhere outside of North America. VW used to sell 1/3 of its cars in China. And now its been decimated. Sales are down 82% in China over the past 10 years. And they have lost 40% of their European market share over that time period as well. The fewer cars that one sells? The more expensive it becomes to produce those cars, because of declining economies of scale in the value chains. Just as economies of scale need to be achieved to ensure a profit margin, losing those economies of scale has the opposite effect. This pattern is everywhere in the legacy automotive landscape today. And history shows that 99% of all the incumbent industries of the past? Have failed to survive major technological disruptions. While they are having increasing cost issues? EV's are at the opposite side of the spectrum and gaining greater economies of scale and profitability. And none of the legacy OEM's are prepared for the arrival of autonomous transportation and the decimation of the ownership model.
All their cars are expensive. Gas Deisel and yes EV. And none of them are selling. It’s not an EV problem. EV is the convenient skate goat. It’s a lack of vision and leadership problem.
Energy prices have quadrupled in the UK, EU and elsewhere in the world. Renewables are not reducing the price of electricity, per KWH because it's Unit cost is based on the price of Natural Gas used in peaker plants..The cost of which is going through the roof. Energy isn't getting cheaper any time soon either. So people better get used to it...
@@thethirdman225 It still is, the UK National Grid operates six electricity and three natural gas interconnectors to EU countries, which are currently running at full capacity. With more planned and in progress. Brexit is an illusion, we are more connected to Europe than we have ever been. Energy is desperately expensive because we have cut ourselves off from a Third of the worlds energy resources in Russia. US & Middle east LNG imported by tanker is four times as expensive...
@@Charlie-UK Yes but without the borderless EU, UK energy is a lot more expensive and less competitive. It was Brexit wot f*cked Britain, not renewable energy.
The only survivors will be the companies that abandon EV's and resume building low cost gas and diesel autos. These new cars will have to get rid of LCD screens, infotainment , heated seats, all the gingerbread must go, no one can afford cars that cost more than what I paid for my house 40 years ago.
German and EU politics and ideology are working out perfectly. It was never about replacing ICE with EVs. It was always about severely reducing the number of cars in cities, it was about forcing people into riding bikes, using trains and sharing, not owning cars. The CO2 tax is now 55,- EUR (USD) per ton. An average ID3 is 12 tonnes CO2 to produce (the comparable ICE-VW 7 tonnes) and emits 30-40 tonnes CO2 with the german energy-mix during its lifespan according to VW figures. One worker builds 15 VW per Year. Now imagine the huge savings for every car not produced by VW. They must be opening thousands of bottles of Veuve-Cliquot and Henessey Champagne in Berlin and Brussels for the upper echelons of EU politicians. The only one who does not get the CO2-compensation for not producing a car is the layed-off VW worker. There are more legacy brands to follow soon.
Will strikes bring back jobs? Perhaps not. But I understand that actual working people fight and raise political awareness. As long as benefits and dividends were flowing the decision-makers messed up.
When you move from selling a product that people want (affordable ICE cars) to making a product that nobody wants and cannot even be produced in a way that is profitable. You're company will die :). It's not complicated at all.
They never sold "affordable" cars. Especially in the last 10 years. ALL their cars are junk and VW won't honour their warranty. OF COURSE people will buy other cars. VW used to mean quality. Now it means buyer beware.
People wanted their Nokias and Crackberries… and then change happened. Hello my friends, wake up and see what’s actually happening. Game changing even.
They need to get back to doing what they used to be known for and that was building quality cars. I always viewed them as filling the segment between Audi/BMW etc and the run of the mill brands like Ford/Opal/Peugeot etc. Their interiors now are absolute junk, cheap plastics everywhere, terrible ergonomics and absolutely nothing to differentiate them from cheaper products. I walked past 2 golf's yesterday, a mark 7.5 and a mark 8. The interior of the 7.5 looked so much better. I can't really see them turning it around though because they seem hell bent on continuing with these awful designs that no-one wants to pay for anymore.
Your analysis is utter garbage. Petrol cars are totally obsolete, pointless and unwanted by wider society. The EV revolution is undoubtedly upon us and will not stop. Volkswagen cannot solve its existential crisis by making _more_ outdated petrol cars. The glory days of VW are well and truly over, and there is no going back.
Growing up VW cars were perceived as more durable and reliable than the likes of Ford and GM Europe, with thicker metal and paint, better chrome etc. Now as you say there is nothing to differentiate between them except higher prices. I see a lot of rusty VW's on UK roads, front wings, wheel arches etc. VW's are rustier than Japanese and Korean cars of the same age.
Back in the olden days my father paid for his VW beetle in cash. These days VW keep increasing prices and reducing quality and they charge ridiculous prices for cars. Drop your prices and you can still sell cars. They too interested in making profits and the execs lining their pockets. For the poor people that will lose their jobs hopefully they can get transfers to Audi, Lamborghini, Bugatti and all the other brands owned by VW
Companies prefer to give bad news and do bad things around the holidays. The idea is that support from family during the holidays will soften the blow.
The whole ID electric line up from VW is a big fail and a flop. The cars are really bad in design and tech. No wonder, they are struggling. Germany, in general, has always been behind with technology. In many citys, even the internet speed is really bad in 21st century. So what did they expected going forward like this?
Own a German 22 ID4 AWD Pro S, the last batch that came over to the US. Zero issues with the car and have 65k miles on it already. I don't mind touch controls, but where they are and the compromises (2 button window switches). A a techy guy, it's too much touch. A lot of the issues are operator error due to the delay and sensitivity of the controls. Response times are like my 10 year old Touareg X TDI, not like a modern Tesla or Rivian. ID Buzz to me is a fail with less range of my AWD ID4 and at $80 grand and goofy interior colors that don't go with the exterior is frustrating. Disliked "Americanized" VWs since the Westmoreland Rabbit in 84, Routan a rebadged Chrysler Minivan instead of continuing with the Eurovan/Transporter. Flops all the way around and they wonder why they're in crisis. They lost touch with their loyal customer base and priced them out of the market.
The VW Beetle was never a luxurious high-tech car, it wasn´t even safe. BUT it was cheap, very reliable, easy to fix and You could always get from A to B with it, albeit it took a bit longer. It became a cult car.
Something unions fail to realize. What good did a strike do when it drives the company out of business? The most important aspect of a strike is you count on the owner's desire or ability to continue with the business.
a company has to make money to pay its workers (who in turn pay their union fees)... if the company dies ALL workers are out on their arses xD If the bottom line shows the company is defintely in trouble, there should be a reasonable compromise from both sides here.
The shareholders have lost over half their investment over the past few years, while the workers have carried on getting full pay. The dividends don't come anywhere near close to making up for that.
Investors hold shares so they can collect dividends. That is the whole point. The purpose of company is to make profits for its shareholders. If investors consider that the dividends are inadequate they can vote to depose the directors and also have the option of selling the shares to move their money elsewhere.
@J.Harry.T agree completely. If the company is failing, paying dividends is irresponsible. Expecting workers to fully take the impact is also unreasonable.
@@stephenrye6474 A common point of conflict I am afraid. The law obliges company directors to act in the best financial interests of the shareholders. They have no such legal obligation with regard to employees or trade unions.
When they rather close factories and fire people, then to lower the prices on cars, no no must keep profits per car as high as possible, they rather sell less and more expensive then more units at lower prices 😂😂😂
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what
The problem is pricing, its ridiculous.
Wouldn't want one if they was 10k brand new...
Pricing is due to socialism and carbon circus
Agreed I have been observing these prices skyrocket for 5 years now trying to buy a car in the uk but never could I buy and afford to keep it in London with purchase price £50k + insurance prices and maintenance etc . Might as well ask my company to pay my salary directly to bmw / Mercedes /
I love these cars in general and brands and what they offered in the past but I cannot ever afford to own one of these
@@alexius8111 its not worth it unless you have a side business and can depreciate the asset or deduct payments if it's a lease. i dont have such a luxury, so i tend to buy used. if the toyota has been running for 50k miles, it's likely it will do 150k more.
no! problem is the forced ev agenda! let's call spade a spade ffs!
Until recently I was a mystery shopper and 90% of my work was test driving cars. I drove almost every brand of cars from Porshe and Aston Martins down to Dacia and everything in between, electric, hybrid and petrol. My conclusion - almost all modern cars are shit, no soul, poor driving experience and completely bloated with unwanted systems and apps.
Aston Martin
👍👍👍 AGREE
And how old are you Gareth? 60? The children of today do not care about the preferences of their grandparents toys.
I'm 47and tell that to my 7 year old daughter that loves nothing more than playing vinyl records @@davefroman4700
@@davefroman4700children of today are too stupid to have a drivers license.
Guess that will help cars sold due to stupid apps that can rip you off
Shouldnt there be no dividend if the company is suffering
The stock price will crash, if VW took loans with stock as collateral, the banks will be chasing VW to fill the gap. They won’t be able to fill it and company gets sued
Ask politicians in Hanover and Piëch family
They are in a death spiral. Savvy investors have left the building. Some may linger to short the stocks and further accelerate its demise.
100%. They want the cash out so they can invest it in another company.
Usually the CEO will run out of money before going bankrupt.
The CEO of NorthVolt ( VW owns the most shares) spent $14 billion and owed $6 billion, and then resigned.
The real problem is that Vw doesn’t make reliable cars anymore. They’ve been trying to take Vw upscale, which never had any hope of success.
Phaeton - to outclass S-Class?😂
Just bought a Toyota Corolla with a manual. Absolutely would have bought a VW GTI, BMW 2 series or Audi A3, but they’re junk!
Parts are incredible expensive. I recently updated the throttle body electric plug and cables, parts only $220 USD and I had to assembled everything. I have a ford explorer and the same part already assembled is 10 USD. Bye bye VW.
@@victormoreno2767 Go EV, bye bye most parts
VW owns most European brands across a series of price points from entry level to very high end super cars
Tesla layoffs were done in may and VW is still debating what to do. Tells you enough already.
What's so great about big American corporations? When they can't compete with Chinese corporations/car makers, they demand the government to impose tariffs?
Full of people with high salaries, no real function, and political affiliations
German and EU employment laws are very tough. You can't just fire people like you can in the US. That's partly why German cars are so expensive.
A few weeks ago an employee from VW said: "One sweeps the yard and four are watching".
Germans have employment contracts completely different structure from us in North America.
Their customer service in Australia made me to by elsewhere after I bought a brand new GOLF R. They decided that I needed a new gearbox for $9000 and if I bought there and then they would give me 10% off. I ended up finding a mechanic that did his time in Germany and all it ended up being was a software update which I told VW that it’s happening all around Australia. I ended reporting the dealership to VW Australia and they couldn’t find that they had done anything wrong even though all of my evidence proved otherwise.
That's bloody aweful
Shocking to me in Thailand that it happened in advanced market like Australia. And it's a German brand that is associated with quality here!
That’s disgraceful!
The corporate guys at VW-Australia probably don't have a clue how modern transmissions operate on a modern car so they just went along with the dealership's findings. They started over-engineering their cars back in the 1990s when a lot of the legacy engineering staff got pushed out and new folks came in with no idea about including serviceability in designs (similar with Mercedes-Benz).
they arent name stealerships for nothing
High energy costs, now i wonder why that would be...
They had nuclear power and cheap gas coming from Russia, and now they have neither,lol
They asked for socialism and now they got it
Tesla Berlin is doing well! Sounds like a VW problem
It’s like AOC ran their energy policy. Imagine what this naive socialist will do to the USA with her Green New Deal.
@@larryc1616what kind of subsidies did Tesla get to set up there? You’ll have to define doing well very carefully.
The VW workers and unions are particularly cross of the €1.5 billion in dividends to be paid to the two families after two decades of mismanagement.
Lets supose the cut that in half. VW has to save 11 billion dollar , and in addition pay 1.6 billion dollars in India for a total of 12.6 billion US dollars. Now substract half of 1.5 billion euros and the inmediate debt stays at 11.1 billion US dollars or 10.5 million euros. VW still has to close plants ,and had to reduce work force, and also reduce salaries of white collar , and bule collar employees. If the union can not see this , the days of VW can become easy to count.
A lot of that, especially recently, was because the unions were too hard to deal with. Big companies in Germany must have a workers council by law. The state of Lower Saxony owns 20% of the shares and is dominated by Social Democrats (and Greens) who don’t want big changes.
Those two families should stay inside the next few months as that thing in New York proves that the people have had enough of this kind of theft by rich people.
@Junyo Well, Americans have chosen to be exploited and impoverished on a national scale by a coterie of billionaires under the aegis of a very useful idiot.
@@peterfireflylund Same in The Netherlands. Any company with 50 employees or more must have a workers council. However, in my country the workers councils tend to be more progressive, more adventurous than the boards. That must be different in Germany.
Legacy Auto has left the building.
LEGA! Not LEGO - they’re good💜
Bidenomics...high inflation comes to the world.
In Germany there are like 100000 electric cars sitting in stockpile. This includes Tesla's. I think a lot of car companies will leave the building this decade.
@@beachlife3572this pre-dates Biden with that whole Paris climate crap, Europe forcing their car makers to go all electric by a certain date despite what the consumer wants and now it’s affecting the car makers who were just doing what they were told by the corrupt governments.
@@beachlife3572 what happened to "Trump winning the election is influencing the economy!" ?? 🤣🤣🤣🤡
Volkswagen originally said it would be 5 factories, not 2 or 3. They didn't lie to "us". When a video opens like this one did, consider getting your news from a more reliable source.
This is how it goes when you give the boards and ceo that fantasy salaries they get ! Nobody deserves it
Doesn't make sense. You are competing for these people. These people work like 20 hours a day for years. There is no, I'm not working hour. Every hour is work hour. You are managing tens to hundreds of thousands of people. Including mass engineering teams, the most special people to manage on the planet. People have no idea. Just attempt to imagine walking those shoes and what that would entail. How many years of life that would take, what would you trade for it?
It's when you listen to Greta thunberg for you product roadmap
@@philipkoekemoer4705 You are so cheap.
@@dootdoot1867 Hire 4 of these super talented people, reduce workload and salary. more will be achieved in the end.
Yes agreed, just look at the last Ebay CEO, totally ruined it allowing scams & fraud to take over what was a winner so more profit could be generated, the nameless twat has gone, eBay highly distrusted now!
Sam, I am convinced that the leadership groups at legacy automakers don’t have the skill set or even the motivation to save themselves. Whenever I see these CEOs taking about how dire things are, I see men that are slightly younger than me that are financially set for life and have built their careers on managing huge bureaucracies while making incremental improvements. They have no clue on how to compete against modern car makers, which make stunning improvements that you highlight on an almost daily basis.
Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares was just 'fired' and sent off with a $100 million golden parachute. With rewards like that for utter failure why would anybody be incentivized to perform competently when they get rewarded so handsomely regardless of whether they succeed or not?
Tesla were first in the game. There was a honeymoon period because of that. They did not really do anything innovative. The tech was all there ready to be bolted together.
@@ChristianThePagan Exactly
@@Random-es7yo You may be one of the only individuals on the planet who didn’t see innovation from the beginning from Tesla.
Well said. They are arrogant and greedy.
Porsche, a division of VW, has priced themselves out of sight. Base 911, here in the US, with all the options they tack on, runs over $150,000.00
A 911 is merely a 6 cylinder beetle.
Sounds like British Leyland before they went under. It’s over for VAG group.
VAG will exist for the next 15 years or so, if only to manufacture spare parts for existing petrol cars.
Yes, bad management destroying what was a good company.
Yes it amazes me there're not aware of history, its easy to see what would happen. The British Motorbike industry also gave the exact same lesson before.
@@jasonmugridge and British shipbuilding. I’m from Glasgow and remember the Clyde full of shipyards. All gone now due to atrocious management that didn’t read the future of global shipping. They too tried to blame their workforce instead of themselves.
Look at what happened at Sunderland, Brit management and Brit workforce equalled failure, then Nissan came in with Japanese management and turned them completely around. What does that tell you?
British brands are a different breed of failures ngl. Nothing British ever stays British
Cost of living rose sharply within the last 2-3 years in Germany, my perception is around 30-50 %, so for sure the workers will not accept a 10% wage cut.
@greenleader413 of course that will be done, there is no other solution in sight.
Live according to Your means!
Salaries should be according to value created. Personal costs are no parameter for salary determination. One can do and it's often done, but finally the jobs might go somewhere else.
No but all those slave wage workers they imported from the third world will. They’re certainly ‘enriching’ someone
Sure.
AFTER dividends and exhoribant management costs are cut.
As a Michigander, I have been through this. It sucks. But there isn’t an option to downsizing the corporation if you aren’t selling the cars. The US has seen AMC disappear, and the remainder of the Big Three dwindle to fractions of their former size. Being German doesn’t change the forces of consolidation.
It is surprising how developments seem to be surprising to the management. Long before they should have taken action.
About 5 years ago.
saw the news today in Chinese media that VW is closing the factory in Nanjing, Jiangsu. it's a JV with SAIC sized at 360,000 cars per year, making VW Passat, Skoda Kamiq and Skoda Superb.
the vw Xinjiang factory has also been reportedly closed
It sounds great!
Nobody buys skoda anymore
@@GallAnonim-jx2cz It is a damn cheap brand
@@GallAnonim-jx2cz I used to like Skoda very much for their reasonable price and practicality, but VW here in china position Skoda as a cheap alternative to VW and done too much cost-cutting.
Given the substantial borrowings and the loss of sales, It is surprising that VW can issue or should issue a dividend at all. Even if VW achieves plant closures and wage reductions, they will still be in financial trouble. Thus far apart from closures and wage adjustments we do not have a plan for change that over time will turn the company around.
Would orders for 5 million cars per year from Russia help to eliminate the 60% utilisation problem ? Germany used to produce and sell 6 million cars until 2022. Then they halved production to 3 million and a further 1 million cut in subsidiary EU country factories hence the 60% utilisation. Allow cars exports to Russia again and their factories will be at over 90% near full production.
@@hungrysurfer9471 It's an interesting thought. Since then China has been supplying their cars and I don't think you can change that now.
I just drove my ID 4 for 1st service and the cost was 450 €, for brake fuid and new air filter. For same stuff I paid 200 € on Tesla model 3. If you scam your clients they go away.
Return to building Internal Combustion cars which we can all afford.
That is the most simple solution
Serves VW right! Emissions scandal has come back to haunt them
Salaries are crazy high at VW company. Not only the factory workers but especially management and higher levels. There is a lot of potential to save money.
Lots of management redundant, solely exist because of political connection
I make the number VW need to save 11 billion euros , plus a fine of 1.6 billion euros from India, then reducing executives salaries by half (no one will take that) the company will save less than .8 billion euros leaving then with 11.2 billion dollars to save or go bust. Hugher salaries at white workers has an efect, but they are few and the whole picture does not change much after cutting their pays by 50% instead of 10%. VW need to close plants, reduce workforce, and reduce salaries if it wants to stay in bussiness.
Have a look at this and compare to a Chinese factory. German factories have far less automation and consequently, are much more labour intensive. Chinese cars are built almost entirely by robots. Tesla Shanghai is a notable example.
@@Ofelas1 The Porsche-Piech families are dodgy AF. If you ever read their history, you will never want to own one of their cars.
Germany in many ways is living in the past. A large part of the cost a car to the consumer is the worker's pensions.
The biggest issue I see is many manufacturers are focusing on cars that cost $€£80,000+, while inflation has been stressing them on food, utility bills, housing, etc. The last thing people need is to sink a huge amount of money into a depreciating asset.
I've ordered a VW Golf last summer and it was planned to enter production phase last week at the Wolfsburg factory.
So if they stop working or if they don't work seriously, my future car will be impacted...
Order a Tesla and get it in two weeks 😂😂😂
@@yankeewog Indeed. But I've chosen most options such as automatic gear, massage seat and sunroof. They say it takes more time to gather all parts from suppliers.
@@dougm659 Yes I wanted a Tesla 3. I could get it in two weeks indeed. But I really wanted a sunroof and Tesla don't make it (only panoramic). Plus, a Tesla is too big for my underground parking...
@@yankeewog No I wait 6 months to get a sunroof because I love to enjoy some fresh air and the sun. I've had a sunroof on all my cars for the past 25 years and with most EV and Tesla it's not possible. So I don't want to order "the car of the future" while not having options we had in the 80's...
With Audi also having "Issues", it's a bonfire on many fronts for the VAG..
This is a proper conundrum: on the one hand I understand why workers demand salary increases, inflation is eating they earnings every month. On the other hand, increasing salaries will lead to even more expensive VW cars, which are already too expensive for most people to buy new. It doesn't matter what is the factory utilization at VW, if the cars are too expensive, they will still remain unsold. And that is the core reason of the crisis, not only at VW but for Germany in general - everything is getting unaffordable very quickly.
#britishcarindustry ‘70s
Tesla will offer more affordable models next year, BYD seems to prepare for a price war, Chinas plan seems to be to flood Europe with hybrids, because the higher tariffs are only on the EV´s. The question is just, how long it will take till VW is bankrupt or bought by the Chinese. With lower sales numbers VW loses scale effects, which makes the cars even more expensive. It is a death spiral........
If you think the shop floor workforce are to blame for the position VW is in, you’re very wrong. While VW management has been managing its decline, they’ve been paying insanely high dividends and top executives packages.
Plus, the amount a shop floor increase would mean in respect of the selling price of a vehicle is routinely exaggerated to a crazy degree. It’s actually quite insignificant.
The management isn’t going to criticise itself, is it?
@@229andymon i dont think the workforce is to blame, nor have i written such a thing. If anything, i wrote i understand their demands.
It's just a difficult situation to solve, and corporate greed definitely plays a part in this.
@@milhad.salihi Sure, I see that, I just get a bit frustrated when I see people routinely default to blaming the workforce for what are clearly management faults.
If you analyse what the difference to the selling price a, say, 10% shop floor wage increase vs a 5% would mean to the selling price of a car you’d be surprised just how incredibly small it is. You then have to ask yourself - are there alternatives to simply adding that cost into the selling price, could not the company cut sky high executive packages, or dividends or try to lower the energy bill, or, heaven forbid, make cars people want to buy?
You have to ask those questions, because you can bet your bottom dollar the management won’t.
Don't forget all the supply companies too
I have no idea why the CFO would be recommending a 30% dividend... if the company is in such serious peril, it makes absolutely no sense at all. I woulkd think that the company should be battening down the hatches, and making planms to save as much of the company as possible. Instead they're doing not much more than paying the orchestra to play while the icy waters creep up their legs.
Unfortunately, it seems that senior management across the legacy auto industry is in complete denial about what they are facing.
Stellantis appears to be badge engineering their way into oblivion, VAG don't appear to have a plan out of their self-inflicted management nightmares, BMW seem to think that they can carry on regardless, M-B appear to think that a little bit of a joint venture might save them. Ford appear to think that ICE SUVs are going to ensure the company's survival and GM have pulled their horns into the US market. The Japanese appear to be in absolute and complete denial, which leaves the Regie and Hyundai/KIA the only ones capable and interested in holding back the tide.
"Warning Strikes" 🤣 These employees are in La La Land. When everyone else can make a (Cheaper & Better) vehicle... your days are numbered.... Facts !!
Didn't you hear that the VW board had decided to maintain its dividend payout policy of 30%? Why should the workers be expected to sacrifice but not the shareholders when times are bad? Another thing. Why blame the workers but not the management for losing out to their competitors?
@@adamiskandar5107 The management is to blame, it was a very dumb move to fire Diess he had the right direction.
@@adamiskandar5107 if that is "30% of profits" I can't see how that equals maintaining the dividend. Note he said "not changing our dividend policy of 30%" in the video, not that the dividend is maintained.
@@TheGast4321 They should not take out any dividends until the ship is turned around. Otherwise any worker can assume, the investors are not intersted in turning the ship around.
Piech family is not budging either with 1/3 ownership. Investor greed is a thing in some cases however, all are tired of seeing their money wasted and padding the pockets of the upper management. Electrify America has not helped their EV sales due to their horrendous reliability issues. I went through the Dieselgate scandal with my TDI. Software issues with the ID4 and MEB Platform I'm sure were born out of siloed programming by non automotive people, that don't understand each module vendor has their own software stack behind common CAN data buss protocols which adds to the complexity with testing and compatibility, plus the covid era chip shortages. Don't feel sorry for management not being proactive instead they are reactive now. I saw the writing on the wall 7 years ago.
small city car like vw polo costs 24k in europe. almost double money comparing few years ago. no thanks. i will wait for the chinese
Europe needs to protect its important brands and industries and not allow China to flood their markets. The US needs to do the same.
Germany can shift these factory and produce sausage instead. Make wurst great again!
There’s nothing wurst than sausages.
Beer und sausage sounds like a plan...
Germany should not continue to cling to the automobile industry, which is meaningless.
@@ix-Xafra
The Winning formula !
BYD is coming to buy them all up.. Thanks eu
The first red flag was when their software division was completely and utterly replaced by a Chinese company and then “investing” in Rivian for its software stack??
How so?
@@stopthefomo Germans think in terms of bolts and nuts, not in bits and bytes. That’s their problem. They’re stuck with ‘Bradwurst with curry souce' and are unable to change. Also their entire governmental apparatus is still in paperwork and not automated.
Not to mention their bureaucracy, not only their government but also in companies.
How's that a red flag?
They went all in on electric cars and lost. I cant say I feel sory for them. 40 000 euros for a ID 3 is crazy price when similar Golf is 25 000. Do they think we are dumb?
That's what the idiots are saying. They didn't go into electric cars enough. Take note of at which automotive companies are turning profits and which cars they build.
They tried to squeeze as much money out of internal combustion engine vehicle production lines as possible for as long as possible. What we are seeing is the result of this indecisiveness.
@@Kerbezena No , EVs will only me 25-30% of the cars in the world so EVs are not the way to go
@@danielhultenius5506 You need to do some research. The fastest growing market in the world at the moment is China. It's also now one of the biggest. 55% of cars sold in China are EVs. Eve are taking over and in ten years, there will be no new ICE cars. The ICE, as means of personal transport, is as good as DEAD.
EU regulations require automakers to go electric to meet their average fleet emissions target. UK even mandates a certain EV share. 2025 will see these regulations tighten more. All automakers in Europe are struggling with this at the moment one more than the other.
They ate all the profits as dividends instead of reinvesting and then assumes selling £40k+ boxes that depreciate by 80% in a few years is a good idea to remain profitable as people would forever take loans to buy expensive cars they cannot afford to buy
same thing happened at British Leyland/Austin Rover 80s/90s. Made shitty uncompetitive products noone wanted. Overbloated management wanted to cut wages/hours in a cost saving measure, strikes,closures, etc.
Sam, you called it years ago! Isn’t it crazy and so sad! All of these OEM’s they have the same problems. Ownership and mgmt corporate greed caused a lack of proper investment in new technology. So the media blames it on Elon and the Chinese. In the US it’s even worse because the government gave them grants and loans. Now that they’ve pulled away from EV’s does the American taxpayer get their money back? If Elon says anything being now part of the government these companies will say he’s trying to give Tesla an even greater advantage. 😢😢😢
Perhaps the car industry as we know it is coming to an end.
After all what's the point in making cars that no one can afford to buy.
Too much tech, couple that with very high prices and people can't afford to buy.
Drop the prices, remove the junk tech and people may buy.
Green and sustainable european poverty.
Instead of blaming the push for renewable energy, why not blame the push for war which was the major reason why Europe is suffering economically.
@@adamiskandar5107How do you come to this conclusion ?
A failure to adapt and evolve to climate demands reality is a leadership and management issue.
Human wars come and go… Climate Change effect all of us to various degrees and are protracted long term consequences.
@@Banyan314 There's truth in both arguments.
😁😁😁
@@kamilstrygner3994 Next you’ll be blaming immigrants and poor people.
Out of all Tesla EV TH-camrs ... This guy has the most hear say.. stuffs... But it's also good to listen.
The VW range of cars is an odd mixture: old designs (Polo,Golf, Passat ), multiple SUV designs (Toureg, T-Cross, T-Roc, Tiguan and now Tayron) for no good reason and EV designs which were poor, over-priced and just outclassed not just by Chinese manufacturers but also by Skoda and Cupra - their own in house brands.
Couple that with some dubious design choices that no one wanted, a recent history that inclines customers not to trust them and you have the perfect recipe for a disaster. This was all entirely predictable and it is VW management who have failed not the workers
No doubt they'll blame the inevitable outcome on the workers
True, they did not took any action 5 years ago, but both white , and blue collar workers will have to pay for that. To make it worse VW need to close enire manufacturing plants, and invets money (that they do not have) to modernize the remaining manufacturing plants or it is the end of the story.
VW have simply not done enough in the EV sphere.
@@oldchev2850 In VW's case they can share the blame, workers councils have been obstructive.
Outclassed by Chinese cars? LOL. In Norway, both the ID.3, 4/5 and 7 are in the top ten list of new car sales, along with the Skoda Enyaq. No Chinese cars on that list.
The ID.7 is as large as a Tesla S, at half the price. And is in almost all respects a better car; more spacious, better drive, better quality. And has now even caught up with the software.
In December 2022, media reported Tesla “in trouble” because of low efficiency, cutting Shanghai hours over Xmas to ONLY 93%!!!
" ... the CFO said that Volkswagen has no plans to change its dividend policy and is sticking with a payout ratio of at least what that means ...", What that means is that VW management is delusional. Which do the investor prefer? Lose their investment almost entirely to bankruptcy and fire sales or forgo the dividends for the foreseeable future to maybe have them reinstated later when the situation has improved (if it VW is even salvageable)? VW leadership should not be taking a pay-cut, they should all be fired, starting with Oliver Blume, and replaced with competent people
Titanic captain at the wheel....all good..until it isn't
Would orders for 5 million cars per year from Russia help to eliminate the 60% utilisation problem ? Germany used to produce and sell 6 million cars until 2022. Then they halved production to 3 million and a further 1 million cut in subsidiary EU country factories hence the 60% utilisation. Allow cars exports to Russia again and their factories will be at over 90% near full production.
They need Elon to help them cut waste
I am keeping my Caddy mk4 2016 for as long as possible, the equivalent caddy model now has nearly doubled in price and has a infotainment touch screen to control most dash controls which I have tested and is very fiddly to operate.
I'm a 35+yr IT guy and honestly seeing all these car makers shoving all kinds of pointless tech into their vehicles scares the vrap out of me. I made a point buying my last car (2016) of looking around to find the one with minimal tech crap... it's got heat/AC and a stereo (radio/CD), that's all I need.
Wonder if Deiss is sitting somewhere saying, "I told you this was coming 4 years ago".
It needed to be said 15 years ago but everyone thought it was mad. Volvo at least did something about it ten years ago and they will probably survive. /Audi/Skoda/VW, BMW, Mercedes Benz, Peugeot, FIAT/Stellantis, Honda, Mazda, Subaru... they're all going to be fighting to survive in the next ten years. Very few of them did anything like enough work on EVs. It's Kodak all over again.
Evolve or die.
❤❤❤❤
@@thethirdman225 Volvo is dead. It is Geely now.
@@JeeGee114 Volvo isn’t dead. They’re still making cars, including electric cars. They were the first European company to commit to move fully to electric by 2030. Polestar seems to have gone from being their performance arm to their electric arm. I’m well aware of Geely’s involvement but I don’t know how much money Geely has in Volvo and whether the brand name will continue.
EVs holds only 14,4% of new cars sales in Germany. ALL EV brands are down, Tesla more than 60%. Buyers simply don't want EVs for many reasons: practicality, prices, resale value. Petrol cars are the bestsellers in 2024.
Would it not make sense to have an agreement with BYD so the plants can be used to produce BYD cars instead? BYD gets to produce cars in Europe with an experienced partner, BYD avoids EU tariffs since the cars are made in Europe, nobody loses their job, and consumers get better EVs. It's wins all around.
if only usa let it happen
@@tuesdayblues3646 they build Polestars in the states
One Chinese firm builds cars in Yugoslavia
@tuesdayblues3646 Eventually, the USA will have to welcome Chinese EVs, they cannot isolate themselves from the world forever. American consumers will experience these cars abroad and want them at home, too. I suspect there will end up being something like what happens with Japanese trucks in the US. Chicken tax doesn't leave room to import foreign trucks, but they get made in America instead.
When they demanded technology transfer, the Chinese government decided to pull out. They should be negotiating instead of demanding, given that they are in a weaker position.
If the government lowered the 19% sales tax, the inventory would clear out. The German government, VW management and owners, and workers will need to come together to find solutions, or kiss VW goodbye.
Would orders for 5 million cars per year from Russia help to solve the 60% utilisation problem ? Germany used to produce and sell 6 million cars until 2022. Then they halved production to 3 million and a further 1 million cut in subsidiary EU country factories hence the 60% utilisation. Allow cars exports to Russia again and German EU factories will be at over 90% near full production.
They would have to finance that with tax increases or spending cuts. It's also really not a good idea.
And Porsche and Audi were wanting to spend big in F1. Wonder how the Audi F1 project is going?
Isn't Audi still involved in the World Endurance circuit? I always thought that was a more practical endeavor for a manufacturer of automobiles than the over-hyped F1 circuit
@@crosslink1493Audi quit WEC in 2016, we’re going to rejoin when porsche did but scrapped it for the F1 program. Now they’ve cut the customer racing program (R8 GT3) and the stability of the F1 program is constantly in question.
This level of inefficiency has become the norm and has been accepted as the industry standard, until Tesla came along.
Telsa has shown the Germans that you can make an EV in 1/3rd the time and make a 20% profit making cars in Germany, with German workers so it has become the new norm and anyone that cant match it is doomed.
The German manufacturers either up their game or they go out of business
Germany can never be as efficient as Tesla or the Chinese EV marques. They have too much legacy baggage.
Yeah, Tesla is the future; in Norway they have 12% of the new car market - and 50% of the complaints...
And if Norway is anything to go from, Chinese cars ain't doing to well, either. Aside from Tesla, the top 10 list is dominated by EVs from VW, Skoda, Toyota and other legacy car makers. The only Chinese car on the top 20 list is in spot 16, XPeng G6.
@@TTTT-oc4eb Australian Tesla owners are very happy campers indeed. And you wonder why Tesla sells more EVs than their Chinese competitors. Tesla cannot be the market leaders with high customer dissatisfaction levels. This makes no sense.
@@TTTT-oc4eb Anecdotal evidence is not evidence. What is the basis for your opinion. I have 2 Teslas and I have been driving them for 4 years and they have never missed a beat.
In the UK there is no evidence to back up your theory.
I did have a rear light that misted up and an engineer came to my house and replaced it free of charge, so I have no complaints nor do I know anyone else with a Tesla that has a complaint
@@user-kc1tf7zm3b Your absolutely right, the unions wont allow change, the only way forward is for them to become bankrupt, shut the whole thing down and rebuild from scratch
Soaring energy cost have negatively impacted businesses and consumers. With way less disposable income, people are holding off on replacing their cars. Closing nuclear plants and blowing up nord stream pipelines, have really hurt European industries across the board.
The petrol and diesel engines are finish so sad but thats the reality weather wee like it or not i hate it but that does not change were wee are going
Prices are nuts....that is VW's problem. The issue with Porsche is the crap they are making.....they used to be one of the most profitable car companies when they focused on what they were good at, building sports cars (air-cooled 911) instead of Japanese inspired SUVs.
The cayenne saved Porsche cashflow wise
I bougt a VW last month. New.
Streets are full of new VW-s here.
Likewise. Golf gti club sport. I’m delighted with it. I can see a bunch of veedubs up my neighbours drives too.
Germany can reopen these factories to increase military vehicle production and drones.
Reopen as Chinese brands hopefully.
They can't if they down own them anymore.
Germany doesn't even have enough personnel to run a military lol
And who's going to pay for it? Germany's economy is tanking thanks to the WEF following Angela Merkel.
@mistermood4164 lol, lots of factory workers tough!
Has the car manufactures economical issues in Germany any thing to do with the closure of the nuclear power?
The shrinking market is directly due to climate mandates/madness. If the free market, without any subsidies, was allowed to operate then the picture would be very different, as you well know. And as for expensive energy costs; in Germany [and the UK] high energy costs correlate, likewise, with imposition of renewable energy mandates. When will the penny drop?
Correct , Here in the UK we have the highest electric costs in the world
but also threats of blackouts ( just like Australia and California ). Follow
the green way go bankrupt and have blackouts. I've just had a letter from
my energy supplier " what to do in a blackout" . And they want us all to
have EV'S ?
Trouble with VW is they have spent a fortune on EV development that no
one wants and so people will just hang on to ICE cars
And if fools like you had it your way, the world would be ecologically and economically fucked up beyond repair in a few decades' time. For you, the penny will never drop.
Oil industry propaganda at its finest.
Germany has high energy costs because they used to buy oil and electricity from Russia.
The UK used to sell energy to Europe but then Brexit...
Australia doesn't have a blackout problem any more. Fixed with storage batteries. In fact, Australia now produces more solar energy than the grid can absorb. All we need is to store it.
The free market you refer to will eventually evolve to the EV. In China, where car ownership is still very low, EVs comprise 55% of the new car market. In other words, if you stared from scratch, consumers would still choose EVs in preference to ICE. The Chinese experience shows that.
The ICE is as good as DEAD.
@@thethirdman225 those batteries would be dead in less than a decade due to the hot Australian climate. And then you'd get hit by the costs of having to constantly replace them. And lithium costs have been skyrocketing. So yeah sounds like bright future.
@@cagejones7757 Australia has some of the largest lithium deposits in the world so I have no concerns about the price of lithium. Furthermore, nothing is maintenance free. Don’t let’s make the mistake of making perfect the enemy of good.
I’d add to that the point that the first battery unit is now seven years old. It started at 100MW and has since been expanded to 150MW. It’s going well thanks.
Not only the german loans are the highest in the European Union, but the consumer prices too.
Almost twice as high as in any other EU country.
Crisis is the most overused word in all media. Painful restructuring is everywhere. All three manufacturers in Australia were closed down by an anti-union government and we ended up with tariff free choices. Good outcomes don't subsequently get coverage.however.
australia takes stuff out of the ground and then sells it to china, that's your entire economy. Germany can't do that, they need industry
Good stories aren’t clickbait
But the prices only went down on luxury cars and those of us at the cheap end of the market couldn't buy Australian made cars any more.
@@thethirdman225I can’t buy an Aussie made iPhone or TV either.
Unsubsidised, we couldn’t afford to pay what it would actually cost to buy an Aussie made car.
@ All car factories are government subsidised to a greater or lesser degree. Whether it’s tax cuts for manufacturers or fleet buys or trade development schemes, they all receive government support. There were benefits in that for a lot of Australians and I’m not just talking about workers. My car is an Aussie built, ex-government car. I couldn’t have got it that cheap any other way.
Germany chose to get rid of nuclear energy. Now they're paying the price
Make products people want to buy …. Expensive EVs is not the answer
So why aren’t they buying petrol? Simple, no one is buying new cars accept for business and they are buying EVs, certainly in the UK.
EV's are cheaper. Everywhere outside of North America. VW used to sell 1/3 of its cars in China. And now its been decimated. Sales are down 82% in China over the past 10 years. And they have lost 40% of their European market share over that time period as well. The fewer cars that one sells? The more expensive it becomes to produce those cars, because of declining economies of scale in the value chains. Just as economies of scale need to be achieved to ensure a profit margin, losing those economies of scale has the opposite effect. This pattern is everywhere in the legacy automotive landscape today. And history shows that 99% of all the incumbent industries of the past? Have failed to survive major technological disruptions. While they are having increasing cost issues? EV's are at the opposite side of the spectrum and gaining greater economies of scale and profitability. And none of the legacy OEM's are prepared for the arrival of autonomous transportation and the decimation of the ownership model.
All their cars are expensive. Gas Deisel and yes EV. And none of them are selling. It’s not an EV problem. EV is the convenient skate goat. It’s a lack of vision and leadership problem.
do not forget that VW is 20% owned by the government of Niedersachsen, and they desparately need the dividend!
Energy prices have quadrupled in the UK, EU and elsewhere in the world. Renewables are not reducing the price of electricity, per KWH because it's Unit cost is based on the price of Natural Gas used in peaker plants..The cost of which is going through the roof. Energy isn't getting cheaper any time soon either. So people better get used to it...
This was the selling point: cheap energy but its not cheap at all
The UK was selling energy to Europe. Then Brexit... That's why energy is expensive in the UK.
@@thethirdman225 It still is, the UK National Grid operates six electricity and three natural gas interconnectors to EU countries, which are currently running at full capacity. With more planned and in progress. Brexit is an illusion, we are more connected to Europe than we have ever been. Energy is desperately expensive because we have cut ourselves off from a Third of the worlds energy resources in Russia. US & Middle east LNG imported by tanker is four times as expensive...
@@Charlie-UK Yes but without the borderless EU, UK energy is a lot more expensive and less competitive.
It was Brexit wot f*cked Britain, not renewable energy.
thanks for the update
Any time!
The only survivors will be the companies that abandon EV's and resume building low cost gas and diesel autos. These new cars will have to get rid of LCD screens, infotainment , heated seats, all the gingerbread must go, no one can afford cars that cost more than what I paid for my house 40 years ago.
Also the biggest reason is that they build crap cars.
Closing because Evs are not selling because that are crap
Yes they are. Too heavy too ineficient, and too costly. Perfect receipe for no sales.
@@EnriqueAThieleSolivan You have absolutely no idea what you're talking about. The ICE is DEAD.
First thing to do is a sweeping range of salary cuts for management.
all those solar panels on fabrics not delivering without the sun 😴😴😴😴😴
EV EV future
German and EU politics and ideology are working out perfectly. It was never about replacing ICE with EVs. It was always about severely reducing the number of cars in cities, it was about forcing people into riding bikes, using trains and sharing, not owning cars. The CO2 tax is now 55,- EUR (USD) per ton. An average ID3 is 12 tonnes CO2 to produce (the comparable ICE-VW 7 tonnes) and emits 30-40 tonnes CO2 with the german energy-mix during its lifespan according to VW figures. One worker builds 15 VW per Year. Now imagine the huge savings for every car not produced by VW. They must be opening thousands of bottles of Veuve-Cliquot and Henessey Champagne in Berlin and Brussels for the upper echelons of EU politicians. The only one who does not get the CO2-compensation for not producing a car is the layed-off VW worker. There are more legacy brands to follow soon.
Big companies like so should know to scale down if sales are going down.. But yea they are stubborn until it cant be helped ...
and they're still demanding a 7% raise
Lol. Free brain checks needed!
And they got it. 😂😂
Explains why we’ve been waiting 10mo for our Buzz. To date, not even got a build date.
Will strikes bring back jobs? Perhaps not. But I understand that actual working people fight and raise political awareness. As long as benefits and dividends were flowing the decision-makers messed up.
The VW workforce earns 30% more than at Mercedes
@@ravanpee1325 most of bot companies will loose their jobs mid/long-term
Good video, Sam. Hope you and your family are doing well.
Give them their pay rise, then sack them.
Germany is not America.
The difference is that VW does not care about workers leaving, they want less workers. They do care about money leaving as they need more money.
When you move from selling a product that people want (affordable ICE cars) to making a product that nobody wants and cannot even be produced in a way that is profitable. You're company will die :). It's not complicated at all.
and yet the profitable automotive companies are the ones making EVs
They never sold "affordable" cars. Especially in the last 10 years. ALL their cars are junk and VW won't honour their warranty. OF COURSE people will buy other cars. VW used to mean quality. Now it means buyer beware.
@@Kerbezena- profitable despite making EVs
Kodak!
People wanted their Nokias and Crackberries… and then change happened.
Hello my friends, wake up and see what’s actually happening.
Game changing even.
When i bought my Kodiaq a quarte ago the dealership told me that if I ordered a customized one it would take 6 months. I said hell no
I am driving an ID.4, and all I can say is: it is a great car!
They paid 4 billion Euros to their shareholders, just before announcing that they are in trouble and miss 5 billion Euros...
They need to get back to doing what they used to be known for and that was building quality cars. I always viewed them as filling the segment between Audi/BMW etc and the run of the mill brands like Ford/Opal/Peugeot etc. Their interiors now are absolute junk, cheap plastics everywhere, terrible ergonomics and absolutely nothing to differentiate them from cheaper products. I walked past 2 golf's yesterday, a mark 7.5 and a mark 8. The interior of the 7.5 looked so much better. I can't really see them turning it around though because they seem hell bent on continuing with these awful designs that no-one wants to pay for anymore.
Your analysis is utter garbage. Petrol cars are totally obsolete, pointless and unwanted by wider society. The EV revolution is undoubtedly upon us and will not stop.
Volkswagen cannot solve its existential crisis by making _more_ outdated petrol cars. The glory days of VW are well and truly over, and there is no going back.
Growing up VW cars were perceived as more durable and reliable than the likes of Ford and GM Europe, with thicker metal and paint, better chrome etc. Now as you say there is nothing to differentiate between them except higher prices. I see a lot of rusty VW's on UK roads, front wings, wheel arches etc. VW's are rustier than Japanese and Korean cars of the same age.
Their last reliable effort was the Golf 2.
The issue is not capacity utilization; that’s merely a symptom. The root problem lies in the low demand
for EVs
Everything you said 3 years ago is coming true. I have been telling people the same and getting laughed at but here we are!!
Back in the olden days my father paid for his VW beetle in cash. These days VW keep increasing prices and reducing quality and they charge ridiculous prices for cars. Drop your prices and you can still sell cars. They too interested in making profits and the execs lining their pockets. For the poor people that will lose their jobs hopefully they can get transfers to Audi, Lamborghini, Bugatti and all the other brands owned by VW
VW should go back to basics, build a simple inexpensive petrol car.
You are not very clever
Agreed, a global trade war is underway with nationalism on the rise. I wonder which political policies those fired workers will vote for?
The ICE is DEAD. In ten years they will only be used for things like construction machinery.
Thank God you're not the VW CEO
@@richlc The ICE is DEAD.
Companies prefer to give bad news and do bad things around the holidays. The idea is that support from family during the holidays will soften the blow.
The whole ID electric line up from VW is a big fail and a flop. The cars are really bad in design and tech. No wonder, they are struggling. Germany, in general, has always been behind with technology. In many citys, even the internet speed is really bad in 21st century. So what did they expected going forward like this?
Own a German 22 ID4 AWD Pro S, the last batch that came over to the US. Zero issues with the car and have 65k miles on it already. I don't mind touch controls, but where they are and the compromises (2 button window switches). A a techy guy, it's too much touch. A lot of the issues are operator error due to the delay and sensitivity of the controls. Response times are like my 10 year old Touareg X TDI, not like a modern Tesla or Rivian. ID Buzz to me is a fail with less range of my AWD ID4 and at $80 grand and goofy interior colors that don't go with the exterior is frustrating. Disliked "Americanized" VWs since the Westmoreland Rabbit in 84, Routan a rebadged Chrysler Minivan instead of continuing with the Eurovan/Transporter. Flops all the way around and they wonder why they're in crisis. They lost touch with their loyal customer base and priced them out of the market.
The VW Beetle was never a luxurious high-tech car, it wasn´t even safe. BUT it was cheap, very reliable, easy to fix and You could always get from A to B with it, albeit it took a bit longer. It became a cult car.
Something unions fail to realize. What good did a strike do when it drives the company out of business? The most important aspect of a strike is you count on the owner's desire or ability to continue with the business.
a company has to make money to pay its workers (who in turn pay their union fees)... if the company dies ALL workers are out on their arses xD
If the bottom line shows the company is defintely in trouble, there should be a reasonable compromise from both sides here.
They can work for Tesla Berlin
The shareholders have lost over half their investment over the past few years, while the workers have carried on getting full pay. The dividends don't come anywhere near close to making up for that.
That might be true but there is no income guarantee on investment or return on investment.
finally someone who thinks of the shareholders
If suppliers go bankrupt spare parts could be a serious issue for all german cars and the whole european economy!
Can't blame the unions for refusing to take pay cuts while the company continues to pay out large dividends.
Investors hold shares so they can collect dividends. That is the whole point. The purpose of company is to make profits for its shareholders. If investors consider that the dividends are inadequate they can vote to depose the directors and also have the option of selling the shares to move their money elsewhere.
@J.Harry.T agree completely. If the company is failing, paying dividends is irresponsible. Expecting workers to fully take the impact is also unreasonable.
@@stephenrye6474 A common point of conflict I am afraid. The law obliges company directors to act in the best financial interests of the shareholders. They have no such legal obligation with regard to employees or trade unions.
When they rather close factories and fire people, then to lower the prices on cars, no no must keep profits per car as high as possible, they rather sell less and more expensive then more units at lower prices 😂😂😂
Lack of chips (China) and lack of affordable energy (Russia) have led to technologically outdated expensive German cars
Blame the green agenda
It's all I think and what I thought would happen years back.
Look healthy and great man! Keep up the great content.
The market is shrinking. There are 20% less cars in Europe than before covid
True?
@callumpetrie8596 yes. All sales have fallen. The ev saled have risen.