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I've never had the slightest interest in any Volkswagen car. I can't even think of anybody I've known that had a Volkswagen.... Except a friend's brother in high school had a Jetta...1983. You know who makes the best cars..... Honda and Toyota. Everything else isn't even a consideration. My car search usually ends on the Honda lot it started on
@stefan2796 the Messiah came to save the world from Sin, Diess was only trying to save a dying company from certain bankruptsy and they canned him because he went against the unions A "real mature" moment if you ask me, unions are just the popular circles on the playground that you get socially ostracised if you disrespect in any way, even if you do it to save a multi billion dollar company from getting bankrupted by them Their replacement tried desperately for years to reassure investors that nothing was wrong, but none of the CEOs are clueless, they just don't want to admit they were and are wrong
The group did plenty of investment in EV's. But their tactics were wrong: -continued to break promises while recovering from Dieselgate -design and innovation suffered from cost cutting In order to regain trust and be the people's car they need a new 3L car and an EV around the 10K mark. Audi has to beat Skoda in design.
I am not asking for an argument about EV, I am just saying that as former big fan of VW, they sort of lost me a long time ago when they got away from being a brand known for reliability and a lot fun driving machines that weren't outrageously expensive. But I admit, I am not the masses, people loving going into debt to buy cars that cost 1/2 of what a small house cost. I am the antithesis of that and thus I am not indicative of what the market wants. I am long since been out of step with debt accumulation and simply want affordable, reliable transportation. I don't want nor need 10K of gadgets added to my car just so I can impress the neighbors.
@@meersde thats not exactly true... in a ship like VW you´re fighting always against the stream with new ideas. So most of his ideas (included the software) was a good start... but got washed out by many management levels.... till it was crap.
The golf is a good example of the descension of VW. The 7/7.5 was a great car, but the 8 went backwards in quality and usability while being more expensive.
No big deal, history is cyclical. Once upon a time, British machine tool manufacturing died, then British aircraft manufacturing died. Once upon a time, European consumer electronics died, then Japanese consumer electronics. The time has come for the German auto industry. Everything in this world changes.
Energy costs aren't the problem. Yes, prices were high for a couple of months, but have since come down a lot. And every now and then, the price for electricity is negative. Which means that you receive money for using electricity.
Welp the latest industry news showed between q2 of 2022-q2 of 2024? Lagacy ice oems went from 53% of the Chinese auto market share to 33%. 😀 where will they be in another 24 months eh? Firmly in their death spirals, flying their private jets to meet with the crooked bastards running their countries hand out looking for to big to fail bailouts again of course! Any company imo whose existed for more than a decade and takes in tens of BILLIONS in sales should automatically be excluded from ANY subsidies or taxpayer funded schemes. Unless those schemes swap shares of those company's into public holdings which will some day benefit the same taxpayers bailing them out. Oh and NO stock buybacks ever after taking taxpayer/citizen sponsored funds either.
Weren't the Beetle, the Mini, the Citroën CV, the Renault 5, the Ford Fiesta, the VW Rabbit/Golf, the Toyota Corolla all cash cows? Quite inexpensive, no frills cars. Why don't they make similar electric cars? It's almost as if they don't want the lower income population to own a car at any cost, including their bankrupcy.
Those cars all existed during a time of a rising middle class. That era began to end in the 1980s. Now only the comparatively wealthy can afford to buy new cars, so carmakers must build according to their preferences as cheap cars have become unprofitable. Thus the overabundance of plush interiors, infotainment gadgetry, and motor-assisted everything. The rest of us have to buy their cast offs as used cars.
They never invested in battery r&d. They never invested in automation. So now Tesla and China produce a car twice as good for half the price. It is like Apple and Blackberry.
@@robertkirchner7981 You're probably right but I still have a feeling that if Tesla or any other, made an Ev under 20k it would sell like hotcakes. Byd is doing it in China. Dacia, the best selling brand in europe, is mainly under 20k and I own one, it's reliable. Problem is everyone is fooled into thinking they need all that useless gadgetry.
As a worker at the plant in Chattanooga, it makes sense why they turned down the Union’s contract. Thanks for the info, I’m definitely going to look more into this.
Actually, if we are to be honest, EVERYTHING is expensive in the west. Because, let's face it, whatever the west creates, they expect to charge a lot more extra due to that vaunted "intellectual property" value. Heck, they even once tried to patent different varieties of Indian rice grains after they'd genetically tweaked them to produce "new" derivative varieties. Asians have been eating that stuff for millennia and never gave any thought to "patenting" so they could exact some funny fees on the rest of the world - you follow the drift here. A lot of fluff baked into western capitalism. And this shit is coming home to roost. Western capitalism is in pieces, as it deserves to be.
Energy is not the problem. Why can Tesla successfully produce cars in Germany, while VW has to close plants? It has to do with efficiency and performance. As an owner of two VW cars (one BEV), I must say that the problem with the new cars is that they are not as good as they used to be and prices are too high. As a car maker for the millions, they lack an entrance model. The Polo (only ICE) costs more than similar sized EV's on the European market. After ending the production in 2022 of the EV Up model (I own one), Volkswagen did not replace it by a new cheap full electric model. The ID.2 never came, will it ever come or is it already too late?
@@michaelnurse9089 exactly that is happening all over the world. Here in Australia the car manufacturers died off and our government rehired the workforce into defence industry. With the war, the German car industry can be tooled up to produce weapons again.
The closure of the Audi Q8 etron plant in Brussels (Belgium) was this week announced as well… 2500+ FTE - direct employment at the plant so not including suppliers.
Maybe all these workers out on the street throughout Europe can march on Ursula (vdL)'s residence and demand she rescind those pesky tariffs so that BYD, Xpeng, etc can come and set up factories and JVs in the continent and put them all back to work.
In 1997 Clayton Christensen published one of the most important business books of the 21st century - The Innovator's Dilemma. There is no doubt that the future edition of this book will include VW Group as a new case study along with the old examples Kodak and Nokia.
Don't forget Toyota. They're having a beer with VW as we speak. Two top dogs lamenting a time when nobody else could get into the ring with them save for each other.
As an investment professional I can tel you VW assets are defined as ‘stranded assets’ they are now entering the destructive phase of the death spiral. They are too late to save the brand. Sacking Deis was the moment of no return. Profits are dropping at an accelerating pace while their debts don’t. Unions plus too many layers of bureaucracy is fatal.
Yep, it's their cost of goods and cost of production (well done the UAW!), and the move by GM/Ford/Stelantis to producing very high cost (and high margin) vehicles that no one can afford.
Kodak had the first digital camera. The main people evaluated it saw what is comming and that changing the ship direction would simply be too expensive. So they decided.. sell stuff until we can, then die. These dinosaurs are simply too fat to do anything about it now. And as in an upper post.. the politicians messed it up severelly (this is still an understatement)... well they were american puppets and americans only think about them selfs. So adapt and continue is the name of the game now and lots of them can't do that.
Volkswagens current debt, as reported June 30, 2024, is reported by Finbox, 275.5 billion! Yikes. in year 2000 their debt was $32.5 billion. Couple this massive debt with plummeting sales in their largest market, China along with falling sales in other car markets, along with the US, it doesn’t look good for Volkswagen group.
Some people might remember that Volkswagon fired the CEO about four years ago because he recognised the problem and tried to convert production to electric cars. The unions recognised the fact that they would only need half the staff to man a real automated production line and got rid of him. It was lost time and thats why heritage companies are going to fail.
My mother just ordered a new VW ID3 here in Denmark. They lowered the prices, and giving 5 yrs 90,000 miles full warranty / 8 yrs on the battery on the cars vs 2 yrs before, so they are actually competitive with their product products now. They need to bring out ID2 at a low price, that could be a real winner.
@@michaelnurse9089 I wonder how much they spent on the Phaeton? The Arteon? Precious resources wasted on vanity projects for management, which have no place in the lineup of a mainstream brand. Leave those to Audi or Bentley.
@@michaelnurse9089 then why waste money building ID7s which nobody wants with software that takes 43 minutes to configure? Simple ID2 would sell thousands
@@Newstradamus.77 Those were built in a very limited numbers. People here in Europe are buying Golf, Polo, Passat, and other small to middle sized cars.
Just on there debit I think you will find that nearly all belongs to there financial service division which means loans to customers for automobiles and the debt they needed to take on for that, unless customers start defaulting on payments on mass this isn’t a problem and actually a good thing to have as they both get sales and earn interest on this
When you look back the last several years, the worst thing VW did was to fire Herbert Dietz. He was their last hope for VW to at least have a chance to be a decent EV producer. Now they face a possible apocalypse because of their stubborn refusal to adjust to the new paradigm…that is…EVs. Their arrogance didn’t help either. Neither did the unreasonable unions. VW have no one else to blame but…VW😞😞
Herbert Diess was "dead on arrival". A complete dud. It's a surprise that he actually managed to hang on for a few years merely imitating Tesla and Elon Musk. His bet on CARIAD failed miserably. VW failed with the ID.X. It had already lied on Diesel emissions because it knew it was failing. The problem for the entire German economy, not just VW, is that they were all complacent and resting on past laurels. They didn't realize that they were falling behind behind on creativity, initiative and innovation.
@@rudypieplenbosch6752 EV or no EV, the legacy OEMs are failing anyway. It is not just VW. BMW, Daimler, Volvo, GM, Ford, Toyota, Nissan, Renault and so many others are struggling to build the automobile of the future. EV just happens to be one type that they are struggling with. They are struggling with the modern automobile in general. Even Tesla is not doing great if you consider its promise and its delivery. It just took a lead in EVs and is therefore pushing in that particular segment although with decreasing value so early in its existence.
VW debt: Total debt on the balance sheet as of June 2024 : $215.44 B Toyota long term debt for 2024 was $145.973 B, a 15.53% increase from 2023. Tesla long term debt for the quarter ending June 30, 2024 was $5.481 B, a 528.56% increase year-over-year. Tesla long term debt for 2023 was $2.857B
@@skierpage Of course it's a problem. How many macro cycles of the financial system does one need to be aware of to know that if enough of those people can't repay their loans at the same time, like global financial crises' usually do, then VW will be begging Germany and EU union for a bailout or perish as they stand. Precisely because they had too much debt (in the form of loans) tied up in people who couldn't "truly" afford the cars. They are playing musical chairs with that debt and when the music stops, their time might well be up.
@@skierpage it's always a problem if the debt is large enough and it's about that time in the broader macro economic cycle. How many GFC's does one need to know about to know that lending too much to people who can't "truly" afford their cars is a one way ticket to dying as they stand or begging Germany or the EU Union for a bailout. It's musical chairs, except when the music stops, everyone loses their livelihoods.
How can you “for once I agree”. Our host does his research and honestly reports it. Consider keep listening as his show has good and needed info on lost of changes going on in the world
VW is smart. The debt they have will be underwritten by EU central bank with below 0% rates. The more debt they have the more money they will earn. You have to live in EU to understand that.
VW made a lot of money off China as it was the top brand in China. If GM can make $2 billion a year, VW would hv made more. Today China is buying EVs due to govt incentives, cheaper purchase price and going green & clean. China has not even started selling its cars in US and EU properly and the import taxes has started.
These legacy brand companies had screwed the Chinese customers for too long. The Chinese people realized that now and they are buying their own EVs which are better quality, with better technological features and most of all cheaper and beautiful looking.
@@WingPoyLeong They kept selling the original Santana until 2022 I believe. The first time I went to China 15 years ago I couldn't believe all the old VW stuff, it was like taking a trip back in time. As you say they thought they could screw the Chinese consumer forever. Its now so bad that it doesn't really matter what they offer them, many Chinese consumers don't want to be seen in a VW, especially Audi's.
@@michaelnurse9089 reduce salaries? Because the cost of living in Germany is far higher than in China. That's just not an option. 'Economics Explained' (youtuber) has shown that the productivity of German workers is among the highest in the world, in terms of economic value produced vs hours worked. That is not the problem. The problem for Germany, is that the chinese government pumped half a trillion dollars into their ev industry over the last 10 years. Over 100 chinese auto companies, all partially or fully funded by the chinese government. Most of them are operating at a loss, and will go bankrupt, or be bought by another company. At the moment, the only ev car companies making a profit, are Tesla and BYD. How can anyone compete with this?
I'm not sure if there's a connection but the main VW dealership locally has changed its name from "Inchcape", here in the UK. Inhchcape, as VW only dealership has been going for donkeys years. To see its name taken off and replaced by something completely anonymous is quite something. Whether this is just the case with the local Inchcape branch or is much wider across their dealership network, I don't know? The local BMW branch, again established for years, has also changed its name too.
there is a big geopolitics componemt most people are not well verse in. german leadership like all of EU are no longer have sovereign policies. there are much more details but YT will not agree with.
Makes no difference. If VW falls Germany will fall and with it the EU. Just like Germany made a deal with the US after WW2 VW should make a deal with Tesla - shares for technology.
@@michaelnurse9089 Don't worry. Germany and EU will never let VW fail. They (like many other automakers) overestimated EV demand and invested too much in a product/technology that doesn't make financial contributions to the firm.
Sad but true. I have been following you for a long time and you haven't changed your tune and have been proven right. Pre the EV era, I have owned numerous VW products starting with the original Beetle through Golfs, Jetta, Audi and Amarok. They were all great products at the time. It is now sad to witness the slow but inevitable decline and demise of VW. Firing Herbert Diess was a huge error, in my humble opinion.
I owned a 1998 vw diesel bug. I liked the car but it was very hard to work on. I won’t ever buy a VW. Germans make repairing cars expensive and difficult. No thanks. I now drive a model Y . Love it.
They already announced the production stop for Electric Audis in Belgium. Technically, the plant itself is not owned by VW, but thousands of workers are loosing their jobs. Unless they can produce cars for another manufacturer. Probably Chinese. But labor cost in Belgium is even more expensive than in Germany ...
I agree with the direction of VW. It's ironic to hear if from Musk though, Tesla will meet the same fate as Tesla in China, being outcompeted by local brands. And Tesla is losing market share in EU too.
Owned new VW’s since 2002 (Passats mainly, and Touareg as main car) and personal experience is quality took a dive 2008 ish, and by 2015 it’s well well below average for durability. Diesel gate didn’t bother me, VW were the scapegoat for ALL manufacturers who do it. It’s component quality that killed it for me and durability crashing. VW got arrogant, and honestly they deserve what’s coming. I’ve sold all new cars and now have one newish (3 year old) Merc but reality the main car is a 2006 Subaru and 2012 Holden shares at the house. Honestly my savings on running costs are huge…way way cheaper than the extra fuel costs
diesel gate should have bothered you bcuz it wasn't just fudging numbers by just any old co, it was doing specific intentional deception to gain big advantage over the competition (the others were NOT doing anything like what VW did which was actually writing the software so that the system would be efficiency maxxed and thus dirty. It then dug its hole far deeper obstructing investigations after suspicions rose and that is why criminal charges and potential jail time was in store for the execs who are german nationals. MB, BMW and others never did anything of the sort! Stop the both sidesing ignorant trash talk of very decent companies
VW is a brand built on trust and reliability. The (beetle) people's car had an under-stressed engine that would run flat out all day, no liquid coolant to boil or loose, a noise that was well behind the driver and a tough chassis that did not break on broken roads and cobblestones. People continued to buy them when they were archaic because they were predictable, kept their value, and parts were available for ever it seems. In short, VW became a trusted brand. Then they threw it all away with dieselgate despite other manufacturers being similarly culpable. The value of anything is what someone is prepared to pay for it at any moment in time, and trust is always worth paying extra for. What price a broken promise?
@@NoMoreVoxPops Remember a friend having one, every time he drove up the High St. he'd set off all the car alarms of the parked cars because of the noise.
not having to commute is incredibly valuable, and not doing busy work, just focusing on real work that makes the business more money, so much more valuable
In late 2020 I was driving a Chevy Bolt and I went to the VW Dealership to drive an ID.4. It was by far the WORST EV I had ever driven and ranked in the top 5 worst cars I have ever driven. My 2013 Chevy Volt was a better EV than the ID.4. It was at that point I knew VW was completely hosed. I had also just come from the Kia Dealership where I test drove a Niro EV. It was fantastic. I reminded me of an early 2000's Nissan Maxima. Everything about the Niro screamed I am a great car (Except the price). This was directly contrasted by the ID.4 which screamed I was made by people that had no intention of making a good EV and planned to use this steaming hunk of crap to show how bad EV's are and why you should buy one of their ICE vehicles. Porsche on the other hand (Part of the VW Group) seems to be making fantastic EV's, although at a price point that is not at all competitive but that never stopped anyone from buying a Porsche. Porsche needs to separate itself from VW. As far as assets go. Any car factory should never be listed as a substantial asset and any bank that accepts the value of a factory at the build cost should be investigated. Because at no point in history has a car factory ever been sold for anywhere close to the construction value or even the listed value by the company. Usually they are sold for pennies on the dollar because the companies that can afford to buy them are not dumb and realize there is a substantial cost to re-tool the facility and many times re-tooling an existing factory costs more than just building a new one. Toyota is in the same boat. VW and Toyota are the carriage makers of the early 1900's.
I don't know about being the Carriage Makers of the early years, but they sure are making junk of the highest order. Imagine, Toyota truck engines that only last 20,000 miles. Even a Ford Model T engine can rack up way more miles that than if you treat it right.
I agree with Sam's comments and I own a Skoda Enyaq. I purchased it new in 2021 as it was the best car available then but not now, as the current model in the showroom is hardly any different to my 2021 model. The Oil Industry has been pulling strings to slow down the growth of EV sales and the result will be the failure of several large car makers - no problem with that as these manufacturers have been lying and cheating for years - we need to get over the 'brand,' which will be impossible for Porsche and BMW owners, who have only the brand and a very flawed vehicle to grasp.
KODAK: How Could the Industry Pioneer Fall so DEEP? is a video which chronicles the fall of Kodak, I think there will be a number of these videos coming out in the early 2030s which run through a number of car companies, and how they failed to see the rise of battery powered vehicles. If only Tony Seba was not such a shy retiring chap, and yourself Sam, who has amplified this message for anyone who is interested in the future of the vehicle industry.
VW execs should all be made to watch that Kodak video if its not already too late. I don't think people in the west realise just how bad things are for them given not many are aware of whats happening in China with their EV's.
At chengdu car show last week, people were skipping german and japanese car stands..most were hovering around the chinese cars...huawei with their latest lineups on their stand was enough to visit...avatr..Aito..stelato...luxeed... Legacy auto in china is in terminal decline...some brands still have loyalists but they are purely in the ICE segment...since the market is moving to NEVs their market share is shrinking along..
And many old automakers believe, they have the old world with the old high sales back when they sell ice cars... But the world has moved and will continue to move away from ice cars.
It is just a part of the world, called China domestic car market. Other parts of the world wouldn't care about that cars much. They still avoiding Chinese products.
Love your channel, Sam. As a promoter of EV adoption, extolling the demise of fossil fuels you are a breath of fresh air. Not like your nemesis MGUY in Sidney. He even has 74k followers! Mad, deluded, blind to the future, drowning in right wing memes and rejoicing at fossil fuel use. Keep it up, mate.
I have been driving VW Golfs for 25 years. I’ve now switched brands, selling my Golf GTE and bought a Polestar 2. I don’t regret it at all. VWs latest user interface is awful. I had a Golf 8 courtesy car last year and had to pull over to work out how to turn off the air-con and demist the windscreen. My friends bought an ID.4 and can’t believe VW ‘forgot’ to illuminate the heater sliders.
Here im Sweden couple of years VW el cars was the most sold brand. Then last 5 years almost no one buys those. They cannot compare to Tesla or cheap China cars here. Just look at that ID7, no one buys here or in any other country. They are in big, big problem…
Basically Elon is famous for cutting cost by mass produce parts or reuse the rockets. How come that is not cheap but chinese cars are frequently labelled as cheap. How i wish Sweden has that kinda ability to produce decent EVs too.
Hi Sam, thank you. Australians love VW. We have a long history with the Beatle and Kombi. It's sad to see this company in this predicament. As you point out, EV development has been so fast in 20 years, companies that didn’t recognise that are now in scrambling mode. VW is obviously doing everything it can. Nobody wins in this car crisis worldwide, but this is the reality of technology today.
VW closed the Westmoreland PA plant and built and sold a car assembly plant that it never opened in Sterling Heights MI that’s now owned by Stellantis.
@@michaelnurse9089 The Sterling Heights plant was previously the Michigan Army Missile Plant, and in 1974 the parking lot was full of thousands of unsold Dodge Darts and Plymouth Valiants.
As a young boy in the 1960's I loved VW and the whole vibe around the brand. Sadly, they lost their mojo years ago. Dieselgate, poor quality, a boring product line up, the list goes on. I was intrigued by the ID Buzz, but it suffers from limited range and poor software. My next car will be a Tesla.
The golf - I couldn't stand the thing, never understood why it was rated so highly. I Aside from the Beetle and the camping thing I cant name another VW - I agree though, boring brand
History is repeating itself in a sense before VW bought Audi they looked distinctively extinct with the major product being the rear engine, air cooled ancient Beetle. What saved VW back then was Audi's front water cooled engine layout which was if not the best then one of the best in the World. In this case EV comes as icing on the cake. VW was already struggling with quality implementation of much lesser details, resulting in growing loss of reputation regarding quality in the first place. That is something that is not nearly as often mentioned as it should. Most people still buy cars firstly based on perceived quality. In my case, my last VW was a 4-gen GTI that had so many problems with ignition coils I did not dare to go anywhere further than 50km from the city after several years of ownership. If I remember correctly, they did at least 3 revisions of such design that in principle was about as old as the modern car itself. By the time they finally fixed the problem, I was dead sure that was my last VW. And my dad had a Beetle, then Golf Mk1. I had Golf Mk1 as well, a Passat, then that GTI- a very loyal customer. What puzzled me at the time I was having such big problems with coils, VW was super busy emitting so cheeky VW commercials about German engineering that bordered on bad taste. And if I remember correctly, the cars they promoted so lavishly would be also part of the dieselgate scandal. Therefore in my mind VW is about as it was about 50 years ago- a slow and lumbering giant in terms of innovation that could buy its innovation back then. What changed meantime, in a word, China. Secondly, equally important, Germany is no longer the top innovative place in terms of know how, technologies, engineers, people. The heck, most German businesses still predominantly use faxes and I cannot remember when I saw it the last time in Canada. The third thing that changed, massively important, VW is no longer a synonym for quality.
People I speak to about the automotive market can't seem to understand the scale of the disruption that is taking place. Instead, they are listening to the mis/dis/information being spewed from the usual sources. If VW goes down maybe they finally get it.
When discussing VAG(or any other German manufacturer) production costs,it is impossible to underestimate the effect of the sabotage of NordStream2 on energy costs or even supply.
Firing Herbert Diess, who basically said all this years ago (to worse than deaf ears), now turns out to be a move that is breaking the back of this company.
Herbert Diess was no better. He was equally a clueless idiot. He saw the fire but he didn't know how to put it off. If you think that was genius, God save you and Germany.
Making cheap touchscreen dashboards reduces the car quality enormously. I have a 7.5 golf. Best one ever.. also a non Ford made Amarok. I'll be holding onto both... Both new versions now nothing like the ones i have now.....
You think Tesla is in any better position? They dont have the tech either. The Chinese companies are the leaders. Toyota might have battery tech that makes them competitive and if they can build a supply chain that isn't too expensive, maybe Toyota can compete effectively for BEV sales in 2027. Battery tech is the driver here. These manufacturers need to be willing to invest in new manufacturing facilities that can be much more efficient. American car makers need to stop being lazy and stupid. They need to fire the "chicks and men who act like women" and get some smart tech-oriented guy in charge. US industry, outside of high tech, is being horribly mismanaged by incompetent Ivy League idiots. A degree is not what makes someone great at leading a company.
What Tesla technology? VW APP550 motor in ID4 has more torque (545 Nm) than a Tesla Y LR with dual motors. APP550 motor has hairpin windings, Tesla 3 and Y motor use old style wound wires. VW has augmented reality HUD, Tesla has nothing. VW ID4 has front radar that avoids phantom braking. VW ID4 has 3 radars, one front and 2 rear at the corners that checks cross traffic when you reverse. Tesla has no detection for cross traffic. ID4 has cockpit display in front Tesla 3 and Y have nothing. ID4 can preheat battery on user demand. In Tesla preheat battery only works if you navigate to a Tesla Supercharger. VW ID7 has glass roof option with electrochromic shading by a button press. Tesla has nothing. ID cars has tight turning circle. Tesla cars need more space. VW has stalks on steering column for safe use of turn signals. VW ID7 has faster charging curve 10-80% than Tesla 3 LR. VW EVs can plug and charge at any brand of charge station using ISO 15118. Tesla still can not use ISO standard. VW EVs has Android Auto and Apple CarPlay integrated. Tesla do not. VW has 360 degree cameras with topview. Despite 8 cameras Tesla has no 360 degree view. VW has hires (20K pixels) IQ LED matrix lights. Tesla in 2024 to get basic matrix lights working. VW has working rain sensor. Tesla still can not make it work.
Energy is extremely expensive in Germany, loss of the Nord stream pipeline, and geopolitical sanctions, have played an extremely important part in this issue.
@@softwarephil1709 No. It's a tragedy for millions of workers, their families, and the primary folk represented by big institutional investors: teacher's unions, public employee unions, 401K accounts, grandma's annuity -- just normal everyday middle class folk who put 5 or 10 percent of their weekly pay into these huge, professionally managed funds, year after year for 40 years, and then when the time comes to retire, VW or one like them, collapses in a rubble. Real people like your mom and dad are betrayed after a lifetime of doing the right thing.
A work colleague had a Volkswagen,it skipped a tooth on the timing belt, and wouldn't run properly, the Volkswagen specialist told him it was a leaking rocker cover!!! and charged 900 to fix it, which made no difference,he ended taking to an old timer,who fixed it in his backyard, otherwise it would have cost 4500$
It's stunning when potential buyers won't spend 15 minutes or an hour to experience just how much better Tesla vehicle software is... They simply don't know what they're missing.
@@yankeewog the vast majority have a smartphone. And in China, where 50% of VW's profits came from, people don't understand why they can't have the same thing in their car, like Tesla and the Chinese manufacturers offer.
I’m old enough to have owned a couple of air cooled original beetles. And I still have VW nostalgia. But that can carry you only so far. However, while VW has no plans to bring back the bug in EV form it would make a great EV. It had a frunk back in the 60’s. Structural battery pack, electric motor in rear but with real trunk. 200 miles of range. The perfect EV. Id buy one if it was $25k or less.
EVs need sophisticated software, VW could not cope. Tesla very good at it, they trade IT types with Space X, for example and hire top notch software engineers. VW could not do SW.
@@Chainyanker007 No Tesla is not good at software. Does Tesla have augmented reality HUD? VW does. Has Tesla integrated Android Auto and Apple CarPlay? VW does. Tesla does not support the ISO 15118 plug & charge standard. VW does. Tesla had matrix headlight for 2 years but no working software, only came in 2024. VW had working matrix headlights since >10 years. Tesla can not make the software for their rain sensor work. Works well in VW.
If I were CEO of VW and our cars weren't stellar, I'd get a new design team since our touch-sensitive button controls are one of the things our customers hate us for. Emphasize that we need to build cheaper EVs to compete. Get our EVgo charging stations under control or sell it somehow. Also, think about selling or discounting one of our Luxury brands.
The price for doing business in China was that western car companies had to share their intellectual property with the Chinese while entering into joint ventures with Chinese partners., in effect teaching the Chinese how to build vehicles. So the Chinese learned how to do so and are doing it cheaper, with the support of heavy governmental subsidies. Having done so, the Chinese are essentially now kicking those western companies out of the country and invading western markets. Thanks to us, the Chinese manufacturers will soon be the only ones left standing.
@@mihailprokopenko6174 No he's not. China is kicking ass because it had the foresight to invest in EVs knowing it entered too late in the ICE game. If sharing low technology IPs used in assembling ICE vehicles is responsible for today's "invasion" of western markets than countries like Thailand and Mexico which also host many western ICE companies long before China should be just as successful.
@@junkee2511 Yes, he's totally right. And Mexico and Thailand did not advance in EV production like china is because 1. They don't have bad attitudes like chinese do and subsidize cars sold in foreign countries , to destroy other car producers and 2. They dont' have rare earths required for production of EVs that china has monopoly of. And 3. They dont exploit slave labor like chinese do. Chinese cars are anyway crap that are being sold on the wave of the hype they created through marketing and paid influencers like Sam, but as soon as people realise it they are done, because they crack and rust quickly.
Additional information regarding labour costs and VW shutting factories in Germany. By 2023 figures from the world bank, 23% of the German population was 65 or over.
For decades the VW Golf was revered the world over as a high quality high volume motorcar. But now the ID range is almost twice the price and invisible on the roads today. VW have discounted the car 20-30% and yet the sales remain low. Tic Toc the supranational government EV mandate will end the Western auto industry, but maybe that’s the intent.🤔
"On June 4, 2024 Volkswagen AG was distributing a total of EUR 4.5 billion to its shareholders for the 2023 financial year". If they are so broke they wouldn't pay dividends. As of now Tesla has never payed a single buck in dividend
That's just another reason why VW is going to go bankrupt fast. This is just like Intel dying to TSMC. Stock buybacks, dividends and inferior products.
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Vw brand are really fall into weird niche where the luxury buyer see them as cheap and the cheap buyer see them as luxury.
VW were ALWAYS cheap cars. Nobody interested in a luxury car thinks VW, and never have.
IMO if buyers want luxury they go to Audi not VW
I've never had the slightest interest in any Volkswagen car. I can't even think of anybody I've known that had a Volkswagen.... Except a friend's brother in high school had a Jetta...1983.
You know who makes the best cars..... Honda and Toyota. Everything else isn't even a consideration. My car search usually ends on the Honda lot it started on
@@Fabulousprofound168😂 what? They are literally rebadged vw.
I have never owned one and always wanted to. When my Tesla shares reach 2000 I will buy the last VW ever sold.
But they had to fire the CEO when he said a massive change was urgent.
It's called denial, the first step is admitting that there is a problem
wrrr
Had to ? In their Arrogance maybe … oh well I guess that’s evolution for you…
Diess is not the Messiah. Most CEOs don't know what they are talking about.
@stefan2796 the Messiah came to save the world from Sin, Diess was only trying to save a dying company from certain bankruptsy and they canned him because he went against the unions
A "real mature" moment if you ask me, unions are just the popular circles on the playground that you get socially ostracised if you disrespect in any way, even if you do it to save a multi billion dollar company from getting bankrupted by them
Their replacement tried desperately for years to reassure investors that nothing was wrong, but none of the CEOs are clueless, they just don't want to admit they were and are wrong
Diess had the right idea. And he was axed. Who getting axed now?
Very good question.
Should be the Porsche family+ unions.
I would say: reduce salaries of all board members and pay bonus only if volumes will be above 9 Mio units!!
Without Diess, VW dies.
I’ll get my coat……
Remember, employees vote as shareholders in Germany. This is normally a good thing but when it requires big cuts they always vote the wrong way.
THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU LET ISREAL RUN YOUR COUNTRY
Yes they kicked the can down the road for the last few years and now they've run out of road.
The group did plenty of investment in EV's.
But their tactics were wrong:
-continued to break promises while recovering from Dieselgate
-design and innovation suffered from cost cutting
In order to regain trust and be the people's car they need a new 3L car and an EV around the 10K mark. Audi has to beat Skoda in design.
@@unorodriguez3368 Their EV software was crap.
It's too late
The pun is apt.
gritty turn of speech. But true.
Try saying it in a preposterously gravelly voice, like a Hollywood film trailer. It's hilarious ! 🐸😂
I am not asking for an argument about EV, I am just saying that as former big fan of VW, they sort of lost me a long time ago when they got away from being a brand known for reliability and a lot fun driving machines that weren't outrageously expensive. But I admit, I am not the masses, people loving going into debt to buy cars that cost 1/2 of what a small house cost. I am the antithesis of that and thus I am not indicative of what the market wants. I am long since been out of step with debt accumulation and simply want affordable, reliable transportation. I don't want nor need 10K of gadgets added to my car just so I can impress the neighbors.
They are a trash brand now.
Okay.
Cool story.
@@oggyoggy1299 German engineering is garbage now.
I kinda follow you but don't exactly know what you're trying to get at.
@@kindface He thinks he is an outlier when he is just a reflection of what we are seeing in market trends.
You were absolutely right all the time. I know because i am one of your early followers ❤
VW under Herbert Diess was recovering from diesel gate then they kick him out and the management is not saying we are screwed.
Yes, Herbert must be suffering terrible schadenfreude right now! ;-)
But Herbert Diess is also responsible for the design, the software and the terrible interior of the ID models.
@meersde what are you on about. The Chinese liked it so much they got tesla to give them a special model 3 with id lighting inside. LOL
@@onederment Maybe they like it, but they don´t buy it 😉
@@meersde thats not exactly true... in a ship like VW you´re fighting always against the stream with new ideas. So most of his ideas (included the software) was a good start... but got washed out by many management levels.... till it was crap.
The golf is a good example of the descension of VW. The 7/7.5 was a great car, but the 8 went backwards in quality and usability while being more expensive.
Love my Mk7 GTI. It is actually quite reliable too. Mk8 is not for me.
MK4 was last good golf
They making the car cheap plastic and charging more
Lol the mk8 is better than the mk7 in every way possible
@@paulherbert5548mk 7 is a great car. The GTI wasn’t cheap but reasonable priced. But the mk 8 is not a good car and GTI is way more expensive.
No big deal, history is cyclical. Once upon a time, British machine tool manufacturing died, then British aircraft manufacturing died. Once upon a time, European consumer electronics died, then Japanese consumer electronics. The time has come for the German auto industry. Everything in this world changes.
Sic transit gloria mundi.
@@peteralflat281 it better come back again !!
Oh wait, AI .... hooray !! 🎉📯🌟🚀
I suspect this is an accurate comment.
It’s horrible that everything is going ti china, I like European stuff.
@@cw3728 like what? we dont do anything efficiently
Thanks!
Welcome!
The NordStream sabotage isn’t so funny now that energy costs are threatening the deindustrialization of Germany.
Sabotage or not the NordStream was controlled by Putin and he would have held all Europe hostage as the was goes very badly for him
Energy costs aren't the problem. Yes, prices were high for a couple of months, but have since come down a lot. And every now and then, the price for electricity is negative. Which means that you receive money for using electricity.
@@stefan2796 lo what world are u living in compare the prices today to what they were in 2018
Tesla Berlin doesn't complain about energy costs.
@@janeleveld3669Tesla model 3 prices:
China-made EUR 29K
USA-made EUR 36K
Germany-made EUR 43K
Without Chinese market, VW is toasted
Welp the latest industry news showed between q2 of 2022-q2 of 2024? Lagacy ice oems went from 53% of the Chinese auto market share to 33%. 😀 where will they be in another 24 months eh? Firmly in their death spirals, flying their private jets to meet with the crooked bastards running their countries hand out looking for to big to fail bailouts again of course!
Any company imo whose existed for more than a decade and takes in tens of BILLIONS in sales should automatically be excluded from ANY subsidies or taxpayer funded schemes. Unless those schemes swap shares of those company's into public holdings which will some day benefit the same taxpayers bailing them out. Oh and NO stock buybacks ever after taking taxpayer/citizen sponsored funds either.
Its gone. China is 50% EV sales last month. Will be at 80% in a year. 100% in 5 years. What can VW sell them?
@@michaelnurse9089 their logo perhaps ?
.....same all other brands!@@michaelnurse9089
@@michaelnurse9089China will reach 100% EV new sales well before 2030.
Weren't the Beetle, the Mini, the Citroën CV, the Renault 5, the Ford Fiesta, the VW Rabbit/Golf, the Toyota Corolla all cash cows? Quite inexpensive, no frills cars. Why don't they make similar electric cars? It's almost as if they don't want the lower income population to own a car at any cost, including their bankrupcy.
Those cars all existed during a time of a rising middle class. That era began to end in the 1980s.
Now only the comparatively wealthy can afford to buy new cars, so carmakers must build according to their preferences as cheap cars have become unprofitable. Thus the overabundance of plush interiors, infotainment gadgetry, and motor-assisted everything.
The rest of us have to buy their cast offs as used cars.
They never invested in battery r&d. They never invested in automation. So now Tesla and China produce a car twice as good for half the price. It is like Apple and Blackberry.
Aqui no Brasil eu só podia comprar os new fiestas da Ford. A Ford agora só faz carro caro pra mim. Vou migrar para BYD.
@@robertkirchner7981 You're probably right but I still have a feeling that if Tesla or any other, made an Ev under 20k it would sell like hotcakes. Byd is doing it in China. Dacia, the best selling brand in europe, is mainly under 20k and I own one, it's reliable. Problem is everyone is fooled into thinking they need all that useless gadgetry.
@@leonelgaldinomonteiro4783 Se o Brasil não está a impor taxas extra aos carros chineses em breve vai ser tudo chinês por aí.
As a worker at the plant in Chattanooga, it makes sense why they turned down the Union’s contract. Thanks for the info, I’m definitely going to look more into this.
Labor is expensive in Germany, when compared to developing countries. Energy is expensive in Germany, when compared to EVERYWHERE. We all know why.
They are full of people with management jobs through political affiliations. Carrying dead wood
yes but in the west nobody is mentioning the cheap russian energy and the ukraine war money pit.
Actually, if we are to be honest, EVERYTHING is expensive in the west. Because, let's face it, whatever the west creates, they expect to charge a lot more extra due to that vaunted "intellectual property" value. Heck, they even once tried to patent different varieties of Indian rice grains after they'd genetically tweaked them to produce "new" derivative varieties. Asians have been eating that stuff for millennia and never gave any thought to "patenting" so they could exact some funny fees on the rest of the world - you follow the drift here. A lot of fluff baked into western capitalism. And this shit is coming home to roost. Western capitalism is in pieces, as it deserves to be.
@@rodolfodoce Closing nuclear plants more important than supporting a criminal
Energy is not the problem. Why can Tesla successfully produce cars in Germany, while VW has to close plants?
It has to do with efficiency and performance. As an owner of two VW cars (one BEV), I must say that the problem with the new cars is that they are not as good as they used to be and prices are too high. As a car maker for the millions, they lack an entrance model. The Polo (only ICE) costs more than similar sized EV's on the European market.
After ending the production in 2022 of the EV Up model (I own one), Volkswagen did not replace it by a new cheap full electric model. The ID.2 never came, will it ever come or is it already too late?
Chickens have come home to roost
Yes. But what now? Germany cannot let its car industry go to nothing. Too many will suffer.
@@michaelnurse9089 exactly that is happening all over the world.
Here in Australia the car manufacturers died off and our government rehired the workforce into defence industry.
With the war, the German car industry can be tooled up to produce weapons again.
The closure of the Audi Q8 etron plant in Brussels (Belgium) was this week announced as well… 2500+ FTE - direct employment at the plant so not including suppliers.
Maybe all these workers out on the street throughout Europe can march on Ursula (vdL)'s residence and demand she rescind those pesky tariffs so that BYD, Xpeng, etc can come and set up factories and JVs in the continent and put them all back to work.
@@kindface we can't win .... the die is cast. The chinese auto industry is going to destroy the western auto industry.
@@kindface You're confused. Chinese car companies would build EV plants in Europe _in response_ to those tariffs. As BYD plans to do in Hungary.
@@skierpage and for other reasons that are very very valid, HU's days in the EU are numbered !
Writing on the wall was in place before they fired Diess.
I wrote them off after they fired Diess.
And here we are.....the last gasps.
Diess is getting the last laugh.
In 1997 Clayton Christensen published one of the most important business books of the 21st century - The Innovator's Dilemma. There is no doubt that the future edition of this book will include VW Group as a new case study along with the old examples Kodak and Nokia.
Don't forget Toyota. They're having a beer with VW as we speak.
Two top dogs lamenting a time when nobody else could get into the ring with them save for each other.
This is a great book, and key to understanding what's going on with the EV transition.
@@kindface they are not in the same unverse of cars, engineering or management. VW has been a joke vs Toyota for 40 years straight
As an investment professional I can tel you VW assets are defined as ‘stranded assets’ they are now entering the destructive phase of the death spiral.
They are too late to save the brand. Sacking Deis was the moment of no return.
Profits are dropping at an accelerating pace while their debts don’t.
Unions plus too many layers of bureaucracy is fatal.
The USA car companies aren't even trying. It's amazing !
Yep, it's their cost of goods and cost of production (well done the UAW!), and the move by GM/Ford/Stelantis to producing very high cost (and high margin) vehicles that no one can afford.
They have the u.s. govt to save them.
Kodak had the first digital camera. The main people evaluated it saw what is comming and that changing the ship direction would simply be too expensive. So they decided.. sell stuff until we can, then die. These dinosaurs are simply too fat to do anything about it now. And as in an upper post.. the politicians messed it up severelly (this is still an understatement)... well they were american puppets and americans only think about them selfs. So adapt and continue is the name of the game now and lots of them can't do that.
The gov will give them taxpayers $
Because it is impossible for a private company to compete against the Japanese government.
Volkswagens current debt, as reported June 30, 2024, is reported by Finbox, 275.5 billion! Yikes. in year 2000 their debt was $32.5 billion. Couple this massive debt with plummeting sales in their largest market, China along with falling sales in other car markets, along with the US, it doesn’t look good for Volkswagen group.
Some people might remember that Volkswagon fired the CEO about four years ago because he recognised the problem and tried to convert production to electric cars. The unions recognised the fact that they would only need half the staff to man a real automated production line and got rid of him. It was lost time and thats why heritage companies are going to fail.
My mother just ordered a new VW ID3 here in Denmark. They lowered the prices, and giving 5 yrs 90,000 miles full warranty / 8 yrs on the battery on the cars vs 2 yrs before, so they are actually competitive with their product products now. They need to bring out ID2 at a low price, that could be a real winner.
no ID3 4wd, no ID2, they are not listening to the possible customers.
It costs a couple billion to develop models. Their pockets are empty.
@@michaelnurse9089 I wonder how much they spent on the Phaeton? The Arteon? Precious resources wasted on vanity projects for management, which have no place in the lineup of a mainstream brand. Leave those to Audi or Bentley.
@@robertkirchner7981 exactly who the hell wanted those expensive cars the Phaeton and the Arteon.
VW is a very poorly run company
@@michaelnurse9089 then why waste money building ID7s which nobody wants with software that takes 43 minutes to configure? Simple ID2 would sell thousands
@@Newstradamus.77 Those were built in a very limited numbers. People here in Europe are buying Golf, Polo, Passat, and other small to middle sized cars.
ANOTHER KODAK MOMENT IS EMINENT
More like a blockbuster sears or Redbox moment. Now you see them, then all of a sudden you don't! 😀
Imminent lol
Just on there debit I think you will find that nearly all belongs to there financial service division which means loans to customers for automobiles and the debt they needed to take on for that, unless customers start defaulting on payments on mass this isn’t a problem and actually a good thing to have as they both get sales and earn interest on this
When you look back the last several years, the worst thing VW did was to fire Herbert Dietz. He was their last hope for VW to at least have a chance to be a decent EV producer. Now they face a possible apocalypse because of their stubborn refusal to adjust to the new paradigm…that is…EVs. Their arrogance didn’t help either. Neither did the unreasonable unions. VW have no one else to blame but…VW😞😞
Herbert Diess was "dead on arrival". A complete dud. It's a surprise that he actually managed to hang on for a few years merely imitating Tesla and Elon Musk. His bet on CARIAD failed miserably. VW failed with the ID.X. It had already lied on Diesel emissions because it knew it was failing. The problem for the entire German economy, not just VW, is that they were all complacent and resting on past laurels. They didn't realize that they were falling behind behind on creativity, initiative and innovation.
Nobody's buying EV's..they do like Hybrid's though. Look at Toyota
EVs "new paradigm" LMAO
Adjusting to the new paradigm, is what is killing them, just look at the ones that didn't do that..
@@rudypieplenbosch6752
EV or no EV, the legacy OEMs are failing anyway. It is not just VW. BMW, Daimler, Volvo, GM, Ford, Toyota, Nissan, Renault and so many others are struggling to build the automobile of the future. EV just happens to be one type that they are struggling with. They are struggling with the modern automobile in general. Even Tesla is not doing great if you consider its promise and its delivery. It just took a lead in EVs and is therefore pushing in that particular segment although with decreasing value so early in its existence.
I heard that the debt of VW is bigger than the National Debt of the Republic of South Africa, a country with 60m inhabitants.
VW debt:
Total debt on the balance sheet as of June 2024 : $215.44 B
Toyota long term debt for 2024 was $145.973 B, a 15.53% increase from 2023.
Tesla long term debt for the quarter ending June 30, 2024 was $5.481 B, a 528.56% increase year-over-year. Tesla long term debt for 2023 was $2.857B
That debt includes a LOT of debt so that VW 's finance division can offer car loans to buyers. That's not necessarily a problem.
@@skierpage Of course it's a problem. How many macro cycles of the financial system does one need to be aware of to know that if enough of those people can't repay their loans at the same time, like global financial crises' usually do, then VW will be begging Germany and EU union for a bailout or perish as they stand. Precisely because they had too much debt (in the form of loans) tied up in people who couldn't "truly" afford the cars. They are playing musical chairs with that debt and when the music stops, their time might well be up.
The debt is borrowing money from market to lend money to consumers (i.e. autoloans).
@@skierpage it's always a problem if the debt is large enough and it's about that time in the broader macro economic cycle. How many GFC's does one need to know about to know that lending too much to people who can't "truly" afford their cars is a one way ticket to dying as they stand or begging Germany or the EU Union for a bailout. It's musical chairs, except when the music stops, everyone loses their livelihoods.
For once I completely agree, VW group is in serious trouble.
How can you “for once I agree”. Our host does his research and honestly reports it. Consider keep listening as his show has good and needed info on lost of changes going on in the world
Misery loves company so Toyota's buying VW the beer.
So are other legacy auto makers, their failure to jump on the EV bandwagon will doom them.
I agree, I really love VW but they seem to be lost.
VW is smart. The debt they have will be underwritten by EU central bank with below 0% rates. The more debt they have the more money they will earn. You have to live in EU to understand that.
You mean bailout in future?
It won't save them.
This comment just says it all about the brainwashing off the evil non elected EU empire builders
So glad we had the sense to vote and leave the EU
VW made a lot of money off China as it was the top brand in China. If GM can make $2 billion a year, VW would hv made more. Today China is buying EVs due to govt incentives, cheaper purchase price and going green & clean. China has not even started selling its cars in US and EU properly and the import taxes has started.
GM has lost 3/4 of their sales in China. It will disapear from China in less than a year from today.
These legacy brand companies had screwed the Chinese customers for too long. The Chinese people realized that now and they are buying their own EVs which are better quality, with better technological features and most of all cheaper and beautiful looking.
@@WingPoyLeong They kept selling the original Santana until 2022 I believe. The first time I went to China 15 years ago I couldn't believe all the old VW stuff, it was like taking a trip back in time. As you say they thought they could screw the Chinese consumer forever. Its now so bad that it doesn't really matter what they offer them, many Chinese consumers don't want to be seen in a VW, especially Audi's.
BYD bought a selling network in Germany, meaning that they now have total control over the sales of their own brands. This will kill VW even faster.
It is the right choice for Volkswagen to close the factory.
In fact, they should have done this a long time ago.
Nobody is arguing that. They are arguing why can VW not reduce salaries to make it more competitive with China.
@@michaelnurse9089 reduce salaries? Because the cost of living in Germany is far higher than in China. That's just not an option. 'Economics Explained' (youtuber) has shown that the productivity of German workers is among the highest in the world, in terms of economic value produced vs hours worked. That is not the problem.
The problem for Germany, is that the chinese government pumped half a trillion dollars into their ev industry over the last 10 years. Over 100 chinese auto companies, all partially or fully funded by the chinese government. Most of them are operating at a loss, and will go bankrupt, or be bought by another company. At the moment, the only ev car companies making a profit, are Tesla and BYD.
How can anyone compete with this?
Absolutely 💯 agree Sam, VW has been going downhill rapidly since diesel gate. They have huge debts and declining quality and sales across the board.
Off-shoring is what has destroyed their quality.
Good man, fair Analysis. Don't you worry, the whole German industry is with a foot in the ground. Nice to meet you, ciao
They closed a plant in Pennsylvania in 1987, actually.
I think he means in Germany.
I wonder if that diesel emissions scandal contributed to their bleak financials?
There's no question.
I'm not sure if there's a connection but the main VW dealership locally has changed its name from "Inchcape", here in the UK.
Inhchcape, as VW only dealership has been going for donkeys years. To see its name taken off and replaced by something completely anonymous is quite something.
Whether this is just the case with the local Inchcape branch or is much wider across their dealership network, I don't know?
The local BMW branch, again established for years, has also changed its name too.
I saw this coming, I did not bye a new Audi because they got rid of the controls and replaced with a touch screen! Cheap driving experience
there is a big geopolitics componemt most people are not well verse in. german leadership like all of EU are no longer have sovereign policies. there are much more details but YT will not agree with.
They work for the US
Makes no difference. If VW falls Germany will fall and with it the EU. Just like Germany made a deal with the US after WW2 VW should make a deal with Tesla - shares for technology.
@@michaelnurse9089 Don't worry. Germany and EU will never let VW fail. They (like many other automakers) overestimated EV demand and invested too much in a product/technology that doesn't make financial contributions to the firm.
Sad but true.
I have been following you for a long time and you haven't changed your tune and have been proven right.
Pre the EV era, I have owned numerous VW products starting with the original Beetle through Golfs, Jetta, Audi and Amarok. They were all great products at the time. It is now sad to witness the slow but inevitable decline and demise of VW.
Firing Herbert Diess was a huge error, in my humble opinion.
I owned a 1998 vw diesel bug. I liked the car but it was very hard to work on. I won’t ever buy a VW. Germans make repairing cars expensive and difficult.
No thanks. I now drive a model Y . Love it.
@@MultiSilversalmon did you try to repair your model Y ? If not you are in for a big suprise.
My 09 jetta is still going fine. Good luck for the future VW
My wife’s golf is due to be replaced soon. I think we need to be very careful about which car companies will survive.
I'm thinking the same myself, so hard to know.
And if you are thinking this way …. Many others will be thinking the same, hence speeding up the negative spiral
@@jasonmugridge - Get a Tesla, you won't regret it. Go test drive one, zero sales pressure.
I'm slowly becoming a Mazda man.
Korea or Japan.
They already announced the production stop for Electric Audis in Belgium. Technically, the plant itself is not owned by VW, but thousands of workers are loosing their jobs. Unless they can produce cars for another manufacturer. Probably Chinese. But labor cost in Belgium is even more expensive than in Germany ...
I agree with the direction of VW. It's ironic to hear if from Musk though, Tesla will meet the same fate as Tesla in China, being outcompeted by local brands. And Tesla is losing market share in EU too.
They betted everything on Chinese market. That was a big mistake.
Owned new VW’s since 2002 (Passats mainly, and Touareg as main car) and personal experience is quality took a dive 2008 ish, and by 2015 it’s well well below average for durability. Diesel gate didn’t bother me, VW were the scapegoat for ALL manufacturers who do it. It’s component quality that killed it for me and durability crashing.
VW got arrogant, and honestly they deserve what’s coming. I’ve sold all new cars and now have one newish (3 year old) Merc but reality the main car is a 2006 Subaru and 2012 Holden shares at the house. Honestly my savings on running costs are huge…way way cheaper than the extra fuel costs
diesel gate should have bothered you bcuz it wasn't just fudging numbers by just any old co, it was doing specific intentional deception to gain big advantage over the competition (the others were NOT doing anything like what VW did which was actually writing the software so that the system would be efficiency maxxed and thus dirty. It then dug its hole far deeper obstructing investigations after suspicions rose and that is why criminal charges and potential jail time was in store for the execs who are german nationals. MB, BMW and others never did anything of the sort! Stop the both sidesing ignorant trash talk of very decent companies
Well said as well, hit the nail right on the head.
VW is a brand built on trust and reliability. The (beetle) people's car had an under-stressed engine that would run flat out all day, no liquid coolant to boil or loose, a noise that was well behind the driver and a tough chassis that did not break on broken roads and cobblestones. People continued to buy them when they were archaic because they were predictable, kept their value, and parts were available for ever it seems. In short, VW became a trusted brand. Then they threw it all away with dieselgate despite other manufacturers being similarly culpable. The value of anything is what someone is prepared to pay for it at any moment in time, and trust is always worth paying extra for. What price a broken promise?
Having been a passenger in a Beetle, the engine noise dB level was terrible!
@@NoMoreVoxPops Remember a friend having one, every time he drove up the High St. he'd set off all the car alarms of the parked cars because of the noise.
Agree. Quality = Trust.
not having to commute is incredibly valuable, and not doing busy work, just focusing on real work that makes the business more money, so much more valuable
In late 2020 I was driving a Chevy Bolt and I went to the VW Dealership to drive an ID.4. It was by far the WORST EV I had ever driven and ranked in the top 5 worst cars I have ever driven. My 2013 Chevy Volt was a better EV than the ID.4. It was at that point I knew VW was completely hosed. I had also just come from the Kia Dealership where I test drove a Niro EV. It was fantastic. I reminded me of an early 2000's Nissan Maxima. Everything about the Niro screamed I am a great car (Except the price). This was directly contrasted by the ID.4 which screamed I was made by people that had no intention of making a good EV and planned to use this steaming hunk of crap to show how bad EV's are and why you should buy one of their ICE vehicles. Porsche on the other hand (Part of the VW Group) seems to be making fantastic EV's, although at a price point that is not at all competitive but that never stopped anyone from buying a Porsche. Porsche needs to separate itself from VW.
As far as assets go. Any car factory should never be listed as a substantial asset and any bank that accepts the value of a factory at the build cost should be investigated. Because at no point in history has a car factory ever been sold for anywhere close to the construction value or even the listed value by the company. Usually they are sold for pennies on the dollar because the companies that can afford to buy them are not dumb and realize there is a substantial cost to re-tool the facility and many times re-tooling an existing factory costs more than just building a new one.
Toyota is in the same boat. VW and Toyota are the carriage makers of the early 1900's.
I don't know about being the Carriage Makers of the early years, but they sure are making junk of the highest order. Imagine, Toyota truck engines that only last 20,000 miles. Even a Ford Model T engine can rack up way more miles that than if you treat it right.
Looking forward to the electric Viking reporting the Australian EV sales results for August 2024.
I agree with Sam's comments and I own a Skoda Enyaq. I purchased it new in 2021 as it was the best car available then but not now, as the current model in the showroom is hardly any different to my 2021 model. The Oil Industry has been pulling strings to slow down the growth of EV sales and the result will be the failure of several large car makers - no problem with that as these manufacturers have been lying and cheating for years - we need to get over the 'brand,' which will be impossible for Porsche and BMW owners, who have only the brand and a very flawed vehicle to grasp.
Well other than a few 911 owners they'll soon get over it just like Nokia owners did.
KODAK: How Could the Industry Pioneer Fall so DEEP? is a video which chronicles the fall of Kodak, I think there will be a number of these videos coming out in the early 2030s which run through a number of car companies, and how they failed to see the rise of battery powered vehicles. If only Tony Seba was not such a shy retiring chap, and yourself Sam, who has amplified this message for anyone who is interested in the future of the vehicle industry.
Tony Seba should be the next president's science, technology and economics Czar. I don't care who's elected.
VW execs should all be made to watch that Kodak video if its not already too late.
I don't think people in the west realise just how bad things are for them given not many are aware of whats happening in China with their EV's.
Great video Sam, great content
Glad you enjoyed it
Idiots went premium while been cheap on materials with the ´peoples car`.
💯% 🎯
I've owned VW group cars (all bought new) since 1999. They are screwed.
At chengdu car show last week, people were skipping german and japanese car stands..most were hovering around the chinese cars...huawei with their latest lineups on their stand was enough to visit...avatr..Aito..stelato...luxeed...
Legacy auto in china is in terminal decline...some brands still have loyalists but they are purely in the ICE segment...since the market is moving to NEVs their market share is shrinking along..
And many old automakers believe, they have the old world with the old high sales back when they sell ice cars...
But the world has moved and will continue to move away from ice cars.
It's the same in Malaysia too.
It is just a part of the world, called China domestic car market. Other parts of the world wouldn't care about that cars much. They still avoiding Chinese products.
Even DW news which is german is mentioning VW is losing market share and facing a long term decline
They are done. So much cheap plastic. German engineering is garbage now.
Love your channel, Sam. As a promoter of EV adoption, extolling the demise of fossil fuels you are a breath of fresh air. Not like your nemesis MGUY in Sidney. He even has 74k followers! Mad, deluded, blind to the future, drowning in right wing memes and rejoicing at fossil fuel use. Keep it up, mate.
shove your EV where sun doesn't shine
I have been driving VW Golfs for 25 years. I’ve now switched brands, selling my Golf GTE and bought a Polestar 2. I don’t regret it at all. VWs latest user interface is awful. I had a Golf 8 courtesy car last year and had to pull over to work out how to turn off the air-con and demist the windscreen. My friends bought an ID.4 and can’t believe VW ‘forgot’ to illuminate the heater sliders.
Here im Sweden couple of years VW el cars was the most sold brand. Then last 5 years almost no one buys those. They cannot compare to Tesla or cheap China cars here. Just look at that ID7, no one buys here or in any other country. They are in big, big problem…
Basically Elon is famous for cutting cost by mass produce parts or reuse the rockets. How come that is not cheap but chinese cars are frequently labelled as cheap. How i wish Sweden has that kinda ability to produce decent EVs too.
@@rayl2505 How I wish that WV can compare to Tesla, China car manufacturers, but unfortunately they are just a joke comparing to those…
@alexa795 Nonsense. ID7 sells very well. 190K sedan + tourer estate in less than one year.
@@Foersom_ Even in Germany almost no one will buy such…. In rest of EU, no one is stupid to pay such money for Passat…
This must've been how the dinosaurs felt when they saw the fiery asteroid falling from the sky.
Bring back The Thing, I'll buy one.
thinking the same.
As well as closing Factories, VW can also sell brands like Lamborghini, Bentley and Porsche. It is a rocky road ahead for VW.
VW sales in America is close to nil, I saw only one VW car last week driving around in San Francisco Bay Area
They were at home watching German economic news...
sell a lot of Tiguans. I don't like them but they sell like hot cakes here in the states.
@@paulherbert5548 I have not spotted any. The one I saw was VW Atlas
same goes basically for all EU car brands....
and this also make an very good explanation for the stupid tariffs
Almost all the brands we new are going to die
Knew
The only auto manufacturers left in 5 years are Tesla and Chinese ev manufacturers
They will be back. Volvo, MG - they are back - made in China, of course.
@@michaelnurse9089 I'm looking forward to them taking over LandRover, then we'll have some great reliable EV versions.
Good, we don't need to pay overpriced cars anymore 🎉
Hi Sam,
thank you. Australians love VW. We have a long history with the Beatle and Kombi. It's sad to see this company in this predicament. As you point out, EV development has been so fast in 20 years, companies that didn’t recognise that are now in scrambling mode. VW is obviously doing everything it can. Nobody wins in this car crisis worldwide, but this is the reality of technology today.
My 71 Kombi will be fine. VW stopped making replacement parts for it 30 years ago.
VW closed the Westmoreland PA plant and built and sold a car assembly plant that it never opened in Sterling Heights MI that’s now owned by Stellantis.
No worries. Stellantis will soon sell it too. Tesla will buy it to store Cybertrucks before delivering to customers.
@@michaelnurse9089 The Sterling Heights plant was previously the Michigan Army Missile Plant, and in 1974 the parking lot was full of thousands of unsold Dodge Darts and Plymouth Valiants.
@@michaelnurse9089 who in the hell would buy a cyber truck, honestly?
I remember the Pennsylvania built Rabbits. They were a little different in appointments from the German-built ones, but they were still good.
@@paulherbert5548 Got me. I don't see what it can be used for.
Looks like it’s time to test drive a PoleStar before they go under like Fisker 😅
As a young boy in the 1960's I loved VW and the whole vibe around the brand. Sadly, they lost their mojo years ago. Dieselgate, poor quality, a boring product line up, the list goes on. I was intrigued by the ID Buzz, but it suffers from limited range and poor software. My next car will be a Tesla.
Plus its double the price it should be
ID Buzz is so pretty. When my Tesla shares go up I might buy one.
The buzz really seemed like they could start something new... To bad it didnt pan out.
65 k £ in UK and have 200 mile range , i like but Tesla is 55 k £ long range and 300 mile range so what u chose ????
The golf - I couldn't stand the thing, never understood why it was rated so highly. I Aside from the Beetle and the camping thing I cant name another VW - I agree though, boring brand
I've been buying as much as i could in the 3s and 4s..
Worse Germany does not hat the talents to produce the software and innovate the electronic car.
Cars shouldn't have software at all. We don't need computerized cars.
History is repeating itself in a sense before VW bought Audi they looked distinctively extinct with the major product being the rear engine, air cooled ancient Beetle. What saved VW back then was Audi's front water cooled engine layout which was if not the best then one of the best in the World. In this case EV comes as icing on the cake. VW was already struggling with quality implementation of much lesser details, resulting in growing loss of reputation regarding quality in the first place. That is something that is not nearly as often mentioned as it should. Most people still buy cars firstly based on perceived quality. In my case, my last VW was a 4-gen GTI that had so many problems with ignition coils I did not dare to go anywhere further than 50km from the city after several years of ownership. If I remember correctly, they did at least 3 revisions of such design that in principle was about as old as the modern car itself. By the time they finally fixed the problem, I was dead sure that was my last VW. And my dad had a Beetle, then Golf Mk1. I had Golf Mk1 as well, a Passat, then that GTI- a very loyal customer. What puzzled me at the time I was having such big problems with coils, VW was super busy emitting so cheeky VW commercials about German engineering that bordered on bad taste. And if I remember correctly, the cars they promoted so lavishly would be also part of the dieselgate scandal.
Therefore in my mind VW is about as it was about 50 years ago- a slow and lumbering giant in terms of innovation that could buy its innovation back then. What changed meantime, in a word, China. Secondly, equally important, Germany is no longer the top innovative place in terms of know how, technologies, engineers, people. The heck, most German businesses still predominantly use faxes and I cannot remember when I saw it the last time in Canada. The third thing that changed, massively important, VW is no longer a synonym for quality.
People I speak to about the automotive market can't seem to understand the scale of the disruption that is taking place. Instead, they are listening to the mis/dis/information being spewed from the usual sources. If VW goes down maybe they finally get it.
Mercedes A class and bmw series 1 just destroy vw golf sales in my country. There cars are just too expensive for what they offer
When discussing VAG(or any other German manufacturer) production costs,it is impossible to underestimate the effect of the sabotage of NordStream2 on energy costs or even supply.
Firing Herbert Diess, who basically said all this years ago (to worse than deaf ears), now turns out to be a move that is breaking the back of this company.
Herbert Diess was no better. He was equally a clueless idiot. He saw the fire but he didn't know how to put it off. If you think that was genius, God save you and Germany.
Viking nice reporting as always. E is the future. Euro and US will not adapt.
*Denial is not a river in Africa.*
It runs thru Germany.
Making cheap touchscreen dashboards reduces the car quality enormously. I have a 7.5 golf. Best one ever.. also a non Ford made Amarok. I'll be holding onto both... Both new versions now nothing like the ones i have now.....
If I were the CEO of VW I would give Musk a call and offer Tesla 50% of the shares of VW in exchange for open access to Tesla technology.
They def need to offer him something. I see they're already using Chinese software in China.
You think Tesla is in any better position? They dont have the tech either. The Chinese companies are the leaders. Toyota might have battery tech that makes them competitive and if they can build a supply chain that isn't too expensive, maybe Toyota can compete effectively for BEV sales in 2027.
Battery tech is the driver here. These manufacturers need to be willing to invest in new manufacturing facilities that can be much more efficient. American car makers need to stop being lazy and stupid. They need to fire the "chicks and men who act like women" and get some smart tech-oriented guy in charge.
US industry, outside of high tech, is being horribly mismanaged by incompetent Ivy League idiots. A degree is not what makes someone great at leading a company.
What Tesla technology?
VW APP550 motor in ID4 has more torque (545 Nm) than a Tesla Y LR with dual motors.
APP550 motor has hairpin windings, Tesla 3 and Y motor use old style wound wires.
VW has augmented reality HUD, Tesla has nothing.
VW ID4 has front radar that avoids phantom braking.
VW ID4 has 3 radars, one front and 2 rear at the corners that checks cross traffic when you reverse. Tesla has no detection for cross traffic.
ID4 has cockpit display in front Tesla 3 and Y have nothing.
ID4 can preheat battery on user demand. In Tesla preheat battery only works if you navigate to a Tesla Supercharger.
VW ID7 has glass roof option with electrochromic shading by a button press. Tesla has nothing.
ID cars has tight turning circle. Tesla cars need more space.
VW has stalks on steering column for safe use of turn signals.
VW ID7 has faster charging curve 10-80% than Tesla 3 LR.
VW EVs can plug and charge at any brand of charge station using ISO 15118. Tesla still can not use ISO standard.
VW EVs has Android Auto and Apple CarPlay integrated. Tesla do not.
VW has 360 degree cameras with topview. Despite 8 cameras Tesla has no 360 degree view.
VW has hires (20K pixels) IQ LED matrix lights. Tesla in 2024 to get basic matrix lights working.
VW has working rain sensor. Tesla still can not make it work.
@TalkingPoint773 ICE for me as well.
Two empty factories? That's two closed factories! How long have they been empty?
Never buy a VW. Never forget diesel gate!
Amen
Energy is extremely expensive in Germany, loss of the Nord stream pipeline, and geopolitical sanctions, have played an extremely important part in this issue.
It's over. They're done.
I hope so. 🙏
@@softwarephil1709 No. It's a tragedy for millions of workers, their families, and the primary folk represented by big institutional investors: teacher's unions, public employee unions, 401K accounts, grandma's annuity -- just normal everyday middle class folk who put 5 or 10 percent of their weekly pay into these huge, professionally managed funds, year after year for 40 years, and then when the time comes to retire, VW or one like them, collapses in a rubble. Real people like your mom and dad are betrayed after a lifetime of doing the right thing.
A work colleague had a Volkswagen,it skipped a tooth on the timing belt, and wouldn't run properly, the Volkswagen specialist told him it was a leaking rocker cover!!! and charged 900 to fix it, which made no difference,he ended taking to an old timer,who fixed it in his backyard, otherwise it would have cost 4500$
It's stunning when potential buyers won't spend 15 minutes or an hour to experience just how much better Tesla vehicle software is... They simply don't know what they're missing.
I'm not looking for a computer but a car
@@davidwestwater2219 Almost everything has software now. Not just computers. I just bought a blender and it has software.
@@yankeewogYou are so right.
@@yankeewog the vast majority have a smartphone. And in China, where 50% of VW's profits came from, people don't understand why they can't have the same thing in their car, like Tesla and the Chinese manufacturers offer.
Xpeng entered the chat
I’m old enough to have owned a couple of air cooled original beetles. And I still have VW nostalgia. But that can carry you only so far. However, while VW has no plans to bring back the bug in EV form it would make a great EV. It had a frunk back in the 60’s. Structural battery pack, electric motor in rear but with real trunk. 200 miles of range. The perfect EV. Id buy one if it was $25k or less.
Don't worry, the Chinese make you one. :)
But Viking, I thought VW was one of the big boooooys!! Mass Producing compelling EVs was supposed to be easy! What happened?!?
EVs need sophisticated software, VW could not cope. Tesla very good at it, they trade IT types with Space X, for example and hire top notch software engineers. VW could not do SW.
@@Chainyanker007 No Tesla is not good at software.
Does Tesla have augmented reality HUD? VW does.
Has Tesla integrated Android Auto and Apple CarPlay? VW does.
Tesla does not support the ISO 15118 plug & charge standard. VW does.
Tesla had matrix headlight for 2 years but no working software, only came in 2024. VW had working matrix headlights since >10 years.
Tesla can not make the software for their rain sensor work. Works well in VW.
If I were CEO of VW and our cars weren't stellar, I'd get a new design team since our touch-sensitive button controls are one of the things our customers hate us for. Emphasize that we need to build cheaper EVs to compete. Get our EVgo charging stations under control or sell it somehow. Also, think about selling or discounting one of our Luxury brands.
The price for doing business in China was that western car companies had to share their intellectual property with the Chinese while entering into joint ventures with Chinese partners., in effect teaching the Chinese how to build vehicles. So the Chinese learned how to do so and are doing it cheaper, with the support of heavy governmental subsidies. Having done so, the Chinese are essentially now kicking those western companies out of the country and invading western markets. Thanks to us, the Chinese manufacturers will soon be the only ones left standing.
Victimhood narrative is strong in this one.
@@junkee2511 he's right
@@mihailprokopenko6174 No he's not. China is kicking ass because it had the foresight to invest in EVs knowing it entered too late in the ICE game. If sharing low technology IPs used in assembling ICE vehicles is responsible for today's "invasion" of western markets than countries like Thailand and Mexico which also host many western ICE companies long before China should be just as successful.
VW needs time, precious time to try save itself! The only way it can do this is with tariffs!
Forget VW China! VW China is dead!
@@junkee2511 Yes, he's totally right. And Mexico and Thailand did not advance in EV production like china is because 1. They don't have bad attitudes like chinese do and subsidize cars sold in foreign countries , to destroy other car producers and 2. They dont' have rare earths required for production of EVs that china has monopoly of. And
3. They dont exploit slave labor like chinese do.
Chinese cars are anyway crap that are being sold on the wave of the hype they created through marketing and paid influencers like Sam, but as soon as people realise it they are done, because they crack and rust quickly.
Additional information regarding labour costs and VW shutting factories in Germany.
By 2023 figures from the world bank, 23% of the German population was 65 or over.
First viewer!! Amazing job Sam
And I'm all out of cookies 😢
For decades the VW Golf was revered the world over as a high quality high volume motorcar. But now the ID range is almost twice the price and invisible on the roads today. VW have discounted the car 20-30% and yet the sales remain low. Tic Toc the supranational government EV mandate will end the Western auto industry, but maybe that’s the intent.🤔
"On June 4, 2024 Volkswagen AG was distributing a total of EUR 4.5 billion to its shareholders for the 2023 financial year". If they are so broke they wouldn't pay dividends.
As of now Tesla has never payed a single buck in dividend
Lots of broke companies pay dividends. Lots of well off companies don't.
Dividend is what broke companies do.
Without a huge dividend (currently over 9%) who would buy their stock?
That's just another reason why VW is going to go bankrupt fast. This is just like Intel dying to TSMC. Stock buybacks, dividends and inferior products.
What's a shame is that they could have made something iconic like a VW eBeetle.