Click here to get a free charger and installation when pre-ordering the G6 xpeng.com.au/?qr=726XPO The best solar company in Australia just installed my new solar system. Check them out here: www.resinc.com.au/electricviking
England lost its indigenous car industry through similar management incompetence and Union intransigence. If things don’t change the same result is inevitable.
It looks that way. At best, VW AG will develop vehicles in Germany and all of its manufacturing will be outside Germany, Eastern Europe and Mexico. Their time in China looks to be over.
This is not just a problem for Germany. This is an issue for many companies in Central Europe (Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia, Hungary....) as a large part o GDP is devoted to suppliers for the automotive industry and directly linked to German automakers. The knock-on effect will be wide spread.
Last year Volkswagen approved a 25% increase for Board members; and a 9% increased dividend for shareholders, but workers are supposed to accept a wage decrease? How about shareholders accept a few years of no dividends, and board members take a pay cut instead.
Shareholders are very important - more than workers. Why you Wonder? Because an unhappy shareholder will drop the VW Stock and as a result the stock is going down. The Problem of that is easy: if your stock is worth nothing, you become an easy Target to be bought up by an competator just to be than easily destroyed!
i wish to God that you are made to become single largest shareholder of vw . 240 billion loans hanging over your head ,profit tumbling , sales drop in double digit ,share prices halved in 2024 . And you will stick to what you said . Maybe ,maybe God will help you.
@@kgfgfg1 VW stock price has already been declining for 5 years, with traded volumes higher in 2023 than in the preceding 3 years. Shareholders have already been dropping stock, yet are being rewarded for their poor performance. Workers are right to want in on that stupidity. In fact, they are being pretty reasonable.
Exactly, dividends and bonus for the board should be paid out of profits, not loans. How would Sam feel if his boss got a 25% rise then told him he had to take a pay cut?
I lived through that period in the 1970’s and it was painful to watch the company commit suicide. The unions were completely out of control and helped destroy the company.
@grahamcampbell8297 absolutely the unions sat back in the warmth while the workers are outside in the cold and believing the unions had their best interest and as the workers suffered the union still got paid.they forced privatisation and people blame Thatcher and thatcher only did what the public demanded an end to the strikes but never try explaining it to the people. 1986 thatcher had to decide on the longevity of the UK and the long-term impact of Chernobyl the land in Scotland was and is contaminated so the milk was removed from school as Scotland had the school milk contract
As a German working in South America for the past 10 years I can say the Chinese brands have already won. The countries are flooded by Chinese EVs and only the top decile population still buys legacy German car brands but even they are getting burned by crazy depreciation on ther etrons etc. Now all chinese made VW/Mercedes EV from the Chinese market are sold here gray market at rock bottom prices as well, you can pick-up an ID4 brand new, straight from China for $16k USD. The local VW dealer tried to sue and block these imports but lost. He was selling ID3 at $50k which no one bought. VW is done, sad and big trouble for Germany.
So the goverments are failing by not applying tariffs? When your industries are gone China and Russia will own you. American won't be there to save you.
a brand new most basic ID 4 cost 17,000 USD in China. It will not be that cheap... but yes if someone directly import cars from China without high tax and tariff, spent a few K USD for delivery, it will destroy the market.
As German state you have made two major mistakes in your modern history. First you started a trade war on the US for decades. Imposing tariffs on American cars in Europe. While Usa supported you for decades in sales for your expensive vehicles. And your other tragic mistake, how you financially dismantled Southern Europe which supported you financially also for decades. The US responded by exposing the diesel gate and breaking up the Russian pipeline, that gave you access to very cheap fuel. In general, you as Germans, you have the "I want it all" mentality... While there should be cooperation on all contracting sides and everyone wins. Now you lost your allies and your clients both in USA AND EUROPE. 🤷
@@changshu6463 it still might be true because these ID4s simply can't find any buyers in China, so they are willing to sell elsewhere at a discount to prevent losses
For a whole decade money was cheap at 1% interest rate, and corporations loaded up on that debt. Most of it went on over-capacity, buying back shares, unjustified dividends to share holders, and Board of Directors pay. None of it went to pay off long term debt, or wage rises for workers, or ensuring worker's pensions. Now that interest rates have risen, it is the workers who are being attacked.
No wage rises? Have you looked at their balance sheet? Their payroll costs have gone up 10% every year like clockwork, despite the factory closures in China. It's currently at $50Bn per a year - $10Bn of which was for pensions. And this is for a company with a market cap of $43Bn, and around $250Bn of debt. The annual dividends payout is around $4Bn per year (less than 10% of the payroll cost), meanwhile VW made around $20Bn from shares sales last year. The shareholders aren't the problem here, they're the ones helping to keep the company afloat.
@@tomfahey2823banks should be regulated as well. Companies keeps getting overleversge. That money is not banks money. Its depositors aka citizens money
When people say about "collapse", people often think of "Roman Empire collapse" where a country ceases to exist. But hell no, no matter what happens, Germany will be still there. Even Greece who is heavily indebted still exists but much less relevant in the world. Germany will be like Greece.
Ha! If they go bankrupt, which is likely, who do you think will be the real victims? The old men or the workers? This is what happens when you allow unions too much control. They will never be in it for the survival as a whole, only for survival of the individual. This mentality eventually always takes down companies. Always. It's just a matter of time.
theres a lot of union and goc influence in VW. its a huge political mess. always has been. and the machinations of familiies like quandt(BMW) porsche and piech(VW) are the icing on the cake. goes on for almost a century by now. first go around with the evil moustache man - the game hasnt changed much ever since...it always has been a political cesspool at VW.
The executives won’t go short. They’ll still take every penny they can. The unions will be the final straw for VW. This is a growing problem in Europe. Sad to see the German auto industry go under, but inevitable.
When executives and workers both realize a company is doomed, they are going to grab all the cash they can in the short term. This is often blamed for the collapse, but it’s usually a symptom, not the cause
@@Stiffytheenlightened no one wants VW.....especially with FSD showing more than massive progress.....no one will want to drive due to FSD being safer....
Luxurious car companies like BMW/Mercedes/Porsch may still be ok because when a client pays 300,000 dollars for a car, they don't mind paying 50,000 dollars more. So high energy cost won't much affect those companies. But VW may die or vastly reduce their size in the medium term (5-10 years).
@@StiffytheenlightenedNot just that. I work with VW, Audi, Seat and more and the quality has gone down a lot. New vehicles have content issues and their vehicles just aren't that attractive anymore. Our company is bracing for the shit to shit to hit the fan
only option it seems is to send electric SKD kits from China based on the Xpeng chassis - with VW styling ..... to be assembled in Germany .... which is typically what advanced car companies do to enter "developing" markets gives you an idea how Europe has become a technology backwater ....
not so much a backwater as regressive. tamper-proof radiators for ICE vehicles? more plastic that acts like a self-destruct fuse? Recalcitrant DSG transmissions? The turbo as a third expensive element in every gas burning vehicle? They steered themselves into a cul-de-sac of irrelevance & tuned off potential buyers. Like Ford dropping their company car/people carrier Fusion for deluxe trucks & mustangs that spin out & attack pedestrians on sidewalks. All chasing cash. Now they wonder what went wrong. They went wrong. Once you toss the econobox that got your buyers in your product, you lose them for a lifetime.
Not sure what the union think they can do anything about it. They have leverage if VW still wants to make cars there. if they are closing down factories left and right, it's just made it faster.
The unions have to look like they're fighting for their ( paying) members. They will already have known the outcome before they started " talks". It's a club and the workers are not in it.
I am so sorry to hear about the woes of the VW Group I am the owner of a Tiguan and apart from involuntary problems like the widows winding down, the tailgate opening, the alarm sounding whilst the car is unattended, its been very good. The electronic brake activating itself whist driving was a little disconcerting. I was sorry to hear that my car was declared part of Dieselgate, the fuel economy was very good, until they applied the fix, and the mpg dropped by over 18%. The only criticism I have, was after the warranty expired I bought a new Fob Key and all the electronic problems disappeared, I was able to lock the car, and leave it unattended without the windows winding down. I found the windows are extremely handy in the rain. By then I had realised just how bad VW are and I was not in the least bit surprised when they did not even offer to pay for the key. Never got any compensation for Dieselgate, or any explanation why not. Do I feel bitter towards VW, just a twinge, but hopefully they will go into liquidation.
So wait, are you saying the VW’s electronic issues stemmed from a bad key fob, but took you years to realize it? So it sounds like two things are happening…..the vehicle itself was dependable (aside from the EPB) minus the key fob, plus your deduction skills are lacking. If the fob controlled every function you were having issues with, shouldn’t you have replaced it much much sooner?
All German companies are in trouble, in my country China is flooding the market with all sorts of cars, I have seen the data all German cars monthly sales are going down, including the luxury class such as Mercedes and BMW.
The era of German cars are quickly coming to an end. Just like how Kodak was finished with the film business in the 2000s. All high technology will eventually become obsolete, irrelevant and unwanted over time. Petrol cars are no exception.
@@stanleymabena3696 Not surprisingly, many Germans feel that if their car companies become more efficient and profuse ‘better’ petrol cars then they can reverse these massive drops in sales and profitability. This is absurd as this is not accepting the simple reality of the matter: the _entire_ world is rapidly shifting to EVs. This EV shift will happen whether the Germans like it or not. Germany ignored the EV revolution in the 2000s and 2010s and have now only realised this was the biggest mistake of their lives. Well done German car industry, you have just become bankrupt with your own intransigence.
@@stanleymabena3696 Not surprisingly, many Germans feel that if their car companies become more efficient and profuse ‘better’ petrol cars then they can reverse these massive drops in sales and profitability. This is absurd as this is not accepting the simple reality of the matter: the _entire_ world is rapidly shifting to EVs. This EV shift will happen whether the Germans like it or not. Germany ignored the EV revolution in the 2000s and 2010s and have now only realised this was the biggest mistake of their lives. Well done German car industry, you have just become bankrupt with your own intransigence.
@@user-kc1tf7zm3b Just an info.. Kodak is now doing very good. It's not what it was, but they are profitable... they changed completelly, but they managed to break it out.
I think Europe and the United States should drop the EV mandate and allow China to sell electric vehicles. Let people make the choice of what type of car they want.
According to estimates from German business magazines, the labor cost per Tesla car produced at their German factory is around €1,000 - €2,000 per vehicle
once the bots start building them from start to finish they will become far cheaper....... im looking forward to it......gas cars are a pain in the butt.
@@vitspinka1 tesla has designed=in ease of manufacture. Less parts, less human involvement. Just look at how VW have probably 1000s of extra parts that need human manipulation..... Its not engineering from another world, its the thinking that " we always done it this way....". The truth is , they have had at least 5 yrs to change their ways and they chose not to.
Role of politicians undermining normal evolution in industry should not be underestimated. What triggered chinese drive towards EV were Euro 6 and Euro 7 regulations. Chinese find out they won't be able to meet those regulations so invested heavily in technology bypassing this obstacle.
@JanNowak-q7m The result is that there are many european diesel cars in Japan now. They used to say that Japanese emission regulations were impossible to meet and were protectionist but they finally made it here 😂😂
He was also fighting an uphill battle, and was saddled with being head of Cariad, which was almost doomed from the start and became the "official reason" for demotion.
@@PaleBlueDotCitizen- not in the US. I predict that only Tesla will survive here in the states, as perhaps 15% of the market. Is because Elon has friends in high places.
VW should just go all in with XPeng. It's the only venture that will net them something positive. Buying carbon credits from them will then indirectly help themselves instead of benefiting Tesla.
they only invested in xpeng to get the tech. It's only a small piece of pie compared to what their debt problems is. GOOD LUCK to them. It's a done deal
This wont fly though. In the US, they are implementing laws against chinese vehicles with chinese software. So VW can probably kiss the entire US-Canadian market goodbye with that solution. In a way, they might as well. Also, the war in Ukraine has taught as the risk of relying too much on dictatorships. Private property is not respected in China, so any of VWs investments there can be confiscated if the communist party deems it necessary to do so. This is the risk of investing in places with no rule of law. I am not saying VW should not invest in China, but as with all else, its a risk that has to be carefully assessed and managed, something VW could have done better, but what they should certainly not do is "just go all in on Xpeng" or other chinese firms in China. For every they invest there belongs ultimately not to VW, but to the communist party.
I don’t think the heads of the union understand how any industry let alone the car industry works. If the cars being produced aren’t being sold how do they expect the company to survive? Might as well shut down all factories in Germany. That’s their best option. Then move production elsewhere.
Germany is a "first" world country. Everything are just expensive. Wages need to commensurate with the cost of living ie high salaries. Union is not to be blame on totality.
@@FrankiePo89 I agree. If I was in charge and knew this was not sustainable I’d just close all factories in Germany. Wouldn’t you ? In the end of the day they need to sell cars, which they aren’t doing because 1. The cost of production is high due to high labour costs. 2. People have better options that are cheaper. That is the reality.
@@yuvingoonewardene7920 I would try to understand wtf was going on in the industry and the direction it was heading. Then i would design cars to meet that demand. The T model ford is no longer sold for a reason. VW management screwed up here, not the union. All the OEMs are having their pants pulled down because as an industry, they have failed to meet any of the challenges we have today. Its called future shock.
I don't believe that they don't know but they are just milking out German government for subsidies and are also trying to get a huge severance packages for factory workers that they know are going to be inevitably get fired.
German industry has been founded on cheap Russian energy and the sanctions supposedly against Russia have backfired as has the blowing up of the Nordstream pipeline. Add those factors to the challenges faced by legacy manufacturers transitioning to EVs anyway and it's been a spectacular own goal for Europe who are still buying Russian energy via India and Turkey at vastly higher prices
Exactly. And with sales collapsing in China, VW simply has nowhere to make enough profits to pay back that debt. At least 1 or 2 factories in Germany will have to shut down next year.
Also don’t forget they have burnt so much good will with their customers (reliability issue, dealership treatment, diesel gate) as well, at this point they might as well rebrand as VW and VAG as a whole is just toxic as a brand
VW is Germany, it’s not so much a question of owing the creditors it’s more that they own the creditors. This is very bad for all of Erurope. It’s down to terrible management and lack of foresight.
As Steven Mark Ryan put it back when the UAW opposed pay cuts, now the IG Metall union opposes pay cuts, at the risk of everyone getting a 100% pay cut when the company belly flops.
Technology for German cars is usually provided by US-based companies. Having very diversified workforce German manufacturers lost their "Made in Germany" attitude.
EVs are poison. Everyone that wants one, has one. VW can't compete with Tesla let alone the chinese. The US bombed the pipeline for cheap energy and Schultz didn't say a thing.
IG metal is trying to destroy Tesla the way they’ve helped to destroy the legacy German auto makers. I was very disappointed when I heard Elon musk announce they were going to build the European giga factory in Germany. With their endless government, endless rules and regulations, endless paperwork, environmentalist crazies, extreme left and right, and obstinance, it appears the wrong place to have put a major factory. All of Teslas factories combined have not had the problems that they have had with the Germans. This includes several factories in communist, China; they have not had the problems with the CCP that they have had with the Germans! 😔.
You should talk about the long term cause of this: Asset inflation. Interest rates were very low for years; low interest rates are only meant for short term stimulus.
VW is at this point a black hole. The government would have to be crazy to pour public money into it - for what benefit to the nation? So that it will stagger on for a few more years then crash harder? Don't do it.
Chinese EV brands are hitting hard in Brazil too. They are bringing products that make legacy auromakers offerings look overpriced and extremely outdated. BYD and GWM might start local production sooner than later, then making their presence even more significant.
They went into china and were making billions thinking they had caught the dragon sleeping. LOL. No, son, it was watching you the whole frieking time.🤣
@@andyfreeze4072 I understand, companies usually does that, but despite the screwing now the damage has been done and the reality is they have to cut expenses.
The unions know that change is coming. They take a hard line hoping that the government will show up with a bunch of cash and pay for early retirement for older workers.
About 40 years ago. Working in a grocery store meet a male from Germany. He asked me how much we made. I told him, and he said I could make double that in Germany with better benefits. All these costs to German Manufacturing has to be absorbed by the Manufacturing Companies.
240 billion dollars in debt. That is some serious coin. Can't believe this is happening to VW. What does that mean for the rest of the automotive industry.
I don't always agree with you but being an Audi Q4 owner I'd agree with you 100% on this one. The car is nice but nothing special and the prce tag is crazy expensive. I wouldn't buy a chinese car (I've seen the build quality, failures and fires) but I also wouldn't buy another VW group car right now because they are too expensive for what they are. The unions need to get their head out of their ar*ses and work with WV management to save the company if they want the VW group to have any future. If you are a German auto worker please understand this:- Once you start acting like spoilt children, you destroy customer confidence. Then there is no way back for the company that employs you. This is exactly what happened to the British car industry back in the 1980s.
Audi Q4. It's just a VW ID4 with different clothes. If you want to change clothes again, then you have the Ford Explorer... They're all the same. MAGIC, huh??
If the EU and other Western countries didn't have stupid emissions targets, and just let consumers decide what to buy, VW and other manufacturers would probably be fine
@@Hickalum German automakers are suffering alongside any other energy intensive industry. Germany pays 2x for American LNG vs the NatGas from Russia in 2021. Europe is a victim of American & NATO aggression & foreign policy mistakes as well as some of their own bad ideas.
As was several times mentioned before: Most of the debt is in the banking branch of Volkswagen and is private consumer debt. The problems of VW are gigantic, but at least, Volkswagen makes a profit. Maybe the new trade deal with south america will help? By the way, how are the sales figures for Tesla? In Australia Tesla sold 20% less cars than 2023. In Europe Skoda overtake the Model Y as best selling EV in october. No reports about this? Maybe the problem is bigger than Volkswagen and affects also Tesla?
South America is now switching to Chinese brands. VW has to ramp up nice EV cars to China. VW sold 40-50% of their cars in China before, if they will loose the Chinese market, then it's over for them.
But it's true. I live in Germany and the our German car industry is in big trouble. China is the leader of EV cars and many countries excect the European countries are switching to EV cars.
Sam, it seems VW is doing great in EU: The car market in the EU continues to struggle. At 869,816 cars, 1.9 per cent fewer new cars were registered in November than a year earlier, according to the European manufacturers' association Acea in Brussels on Thursday. There had been a slight increase in the previous month. After the eleven months of the year to date, there was still a mini increase of 0.4 per cent to 9.73 million passenger cars. New registrations of purely electric cars and rechargeable plug-in hybrid cars were down. By contrast, hybrid drives without charging options are currently enjoying particular success. The Volkswagen Group remained the clear market leader in the EU last month and was able to increase its sales by a good 4 per cent year-on-year. 4% growth YoY is incredible!
VW totally missed the BEV transition...... So they will be going through hard times. Arrogance is what gets you in this situation. German automotive is extremely arrogant. This means they stick to producing high-margin ICE vehicles, but unfortunately the sales are now dropping and the group does not have a solid BEV strategy.
The Germans and Europeans in general say: We are europ we are Germany, we can sell the consumer a scrap metal for five times the price of the very advanced Chinese cars, and the consumer will buy it because its name is Mercedes, Volkswagen, or Audi. Thank's God for BYD.
The real issue is, and you can blame Chinese sales as much as you like, people don’t want EVs. Given a choice, most people would stick with an ICE solution. At least until EVs can match the cost convenience and performance of ICE cars. If they were any good we would all be buying them. CDs buried records because they were better, downloading has buried CDs because it’s easier. If you want change come up with a better alternative. Don’t keep telling us how wonderful they are when the clear and obvious evidence tells us they’re not.
Ultimately EVs cost more to produce than people are willing to pay for a car with such limitations. i.e. if they were half the cost of an IC, more people might consider it as a 2nd car for short trips. But why do that when an ICE car can do everything for less? Hence the need for subsidies to sell them- and the CCP was always going to win that competition, so let them have that market, for as long as they want to support it. Let everyone else build the cars people want, at a profit.
All legacy car manufacturers focused on short term profits from 2000 on...year after year of bad decisions: more plastics, (engine) parts that only last the lease periods, no software updates and giving their production know-how to China in exchange for cheap labor costs...
How much of Volkswagen's debt is debt to finance customers' vehicles using hire purchase etc.? Their debt might not be so bad if this makes up a large amount of their debt pile.
I must say,as a Pom viewer I do like this antipodean presenter.He does his homework and presents his findings and opinions in a very steaightforward way.As for a german government bailout......well can Paris and Berlin pull that off without the EU stopping it.
Volkswagen are now in the same predicament as Facit was in Sweden during the seventies. Facit manufactured the best analogue calculating machine in the beginning of the seventies, at the end of it they were no more due to the development of electronic devices in which Facit didn’t believe.
Slight difference. Combustion engines aren't being replaced because EV is now better. Its artificially regulated by the government. Euro emissions 7 has destroyed nearly the entire diesel market, not because EV is cheaper and more reliable than diesel, they arent, but because beurocrats decreed it.
Labour isn't the main cost issue, and could be flexed to an extent. The comparative regulatory and power cost next to China are far more inelastic, and in terms of power not going to get cheaper any time soon.
Debt is absolutely 100% negotiable. What are the banks going to come and padlock the doors to VW's factories if they don't make a payment by Wednesday? The banks don't want to be running a car company, especially one that's already failing and has other creditors who are in line in front of them, should they even make the ludicrous decision to liquidate VW for pennies on the dollar, rather than agreeing to restructure their debt, with a chance the company can turn it around the banks will be repaid, with interest. "If you owe the bank 100 thousand, that's your problem. If you owe the bank 100 billion, that's the bank's problem."
I think they should fire the people and close the plants. I mean they are allowed to hire and build, but not to close and cut costs when the situation is changing? They should have never done the EV crap Duracell-cars, that's now the result.
ICE cars last 120k miles, EV's last one million miles, something has to give, less new cars, less factories and more of the 3Rs has to be a good thing for the environment, new business models are required, leasing used cars, upgrading their EV's with the latest batteries and selling/leasing them again.
Other channels on YT is saying Honda is going to buy Nissan (well they are going to form a joint venture) I'm guessing so they can segment the 28 billion in debt away from themselves and not take it on, this could be
@@darthkek1953 it didn't benefit Germany since it was the credit for agriculture and the USA had stolen and destroyed after the end of the WW2 far more
13:16 .. "but Germans don't really like to change all that much". That's a clear insult. Germany has a problem with an aging population (like Japan) and with social warriors (like the US) but that's not the majority of the people. It may be correct to point out the influence and the consequences but that does not allow for an overgeneralization.
Numerous "Motor Brand" Banks provide real implosion risk in the EU and USA, should there be a turn down in sales, or an increase in lease defaults, paying the debt interest becomes impossible for the motor manufactures / dealers.
FSD and Optimus have there biggest brain that learns instantly. I drive v13.2.1 first time lane placement was not optimal. Second drive optimal. Basic driving solved. We're chasing edge cases and they are getting rapidly solved. Robotaxi are testing NOW in bay area. Don't underestimate.
The first step is make all their cars "Peoples car": transform all their models to sell between USD 20K - USD 35K per unit and make sure all of them are profitable. Compete head on to be the "Peoples Car".
So they have 120k workers and they complain people at the top are getting a few millions in bonuses? It's like what, if all the bosses together get 120m then it would be 1k/year/worker
American computer companies initially made computers in the states until they realised if they wanted to make a decent profit they had to get them made in other cheaper labour countries. I don’t see the car industry any different. It’s just an other product that can be designed in one country and made in another.
Dust off the old plans from the 60's and 70's and bring back the Bug as an EV. It already had a frunk. Electric motor in the rear and batteries under floor and sell for $20k. 🤣😂🤣
If worst comes to worst the German government will not allow this Icon to go under . Germany has no choice but to keep their automakers alive …after all the German government is responsible for all of Germanys industrial losses and failures .
My main concern is how to survive all of these financial and political crisis, especially in light of the US political power scuffle. The government has really called things more difficult for its citizens, and we can't sit back and bear all the consequences of the bad governance.
Click here to get a free charger and installation when pre-ordering the G6
xpeng.com.au/?qr=726XPO
The best solar company in Australia just installed my new solar system.
Check them out here:
www.resinc.com.au/electricviking
England lost its indigenous car industry through similar management incompetence and Union intransigence. If things don’t change the same result is inevitable.
Smiths! Girling! Lucas! Engineering for the (Dark) Ages! Kids, can you say, "reversed polariity?"
Germanu will definitely go the same way!
Elecyric cars are NOT efficient!
Margaret Thatcher's neo-liberalism destroyed British industry.
It looks that way. At best, VW AG will develop vehicles in Germany and all of its manufacturing will be outside Germany, Eastern Europe and Mexico. Their time in China looks to be over.
This is not just a problem for Germany. This is an issue for many companies in Central Europe (Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia, Hungary....) as a large part o GDP is devoted to suppliers for the automotive industry and directly linked to German automakers. The knock-on effect will be wide spread.
The VW executives hope the German government will bail the company out so they can still pocket their salaries.
Government doesn't generate revenue, it only collects taxes
They all know each other so likely
Government Motors welcome to the club VW.
The happy few will always be saved ... they're already seated in their multi billion life boats ... errr, yachts 🙂
Don’t be like tha C.E.O from United Healthcare……tha young man that sweeps the floor at factory 🤔😳😕keep eye on him 😅
Last year Volkswagen approved a 25% increase for Board members; and a 9% increased dividend for shareholders, but workers are supposed to accept a wage decrease? How about shareholders accept a few years of no dividends, and board members take a pay cut instead.
Shareholders are very important - more than workers. Why you Wonder? Because an unhappy shareholder will drop the VW Stock and as a result the stock is going down. The Problem of that is easy: if your stock is worth nothing, you become an easy Target to be bought up by an competator just to be than easily destroyed!
Imagine that Stock marked value is an key factor for Banks to 😅
i wish to God that you are made to become single largest shareholder of vw . 240 billion loans hanging over your head ,profit tumbling , sales drop in double digit ,share prices halved in 2024 . And you will stick to what you said . Maybe ,maybe God will help you.
@@kgfgfg1 VW stock price has already been declining for 5 years, with traded volumes higher in 2023 than in the preceding 3 years. Shareholders have already been dropping stock, yet are being rewarded for their poor performance. Workers are right to want in on that stupidity. In fact, they are being pretty reasonable.
Exactly, dividends and bonus for the board should be paid out of profits, not loans. How would Sam feel if his boss got a 25% rise then told him he had to take a pay cut?
Sounds like British Leyland I mean the UK car industry
I lived through that period in the 1970’s and it was painful to watch the company commit suicide. The unions were completely out of control and helped destroy the company.
UK still is financial centre but without manufacturing industry, Germany would be nothing.
Red Robbo 😂@@grahamcampbell8297
@grahamcampbell8297 absolutely the unions sat back in the warmth while the workers are outside in the cold and believing the unions had their best interest and as the workers suffered the union still got paid.they forced privatisation and people blame Thatcher and thatcher only did what the public demanded an end to the strikes but never try explaining it to the people. 1986 thatcher had to decide on the longevity of the UK and the long-term impact of Chernobyl the land in Scotland was and is contaminated so the milk was removed from school as Scotland had the school milk contract
@mrpaulhutchison249 give your sources for the Scottish milk claim
The new Bus starts at $80k Canadian. VW has to cut its prices in half ... so much for the People's car.
Rich peoples car.
Why buy a vow when soda is as good and cheaper.
As a German working in South America for the past 10 years I can say the Chinese brands have already won. The countries are flooded by Chinese EVs and only the top decile population still buys legacy German car brands but even they are getting burned by crazy depreciation on ther etrons etc. Now all chinese made VW/Mercedes EV from the Chinese market are sold here gray market at rock bottom prices as well, you can pick-up an ID4 brand new, straight from China for $16k USD. The local VW dealer tried to sue and block these imports but lost. He was selling ID3 at $50k which no one bought. VW is done, sad and big trouble for Germany.
It's sad for Germany, Europe needs its locomotive
So the goverments are failing by not applying tariffs? When your industries are gone China and Russia will own you. American won't be there to save you.
a brand new most basic ID 4 cost 17,000 USD in China. It will not be that cheap... but yes if someone directly import cars from China without high tax and tariff, spent a few K USD for delivery, it will destroy the market.
As German state you have made two major mistakes in your modern history. First you started a trade war on the US for decades.
Imposing tariffs on American cars in Europe.
While Usa supported you for decades in sales for your expensive vehicles.
And your other tragic mistake, how you financially dismantled Southern Europe which supported you financially also for decades.
The US responded by exposing the diesel gate and breaking up the Russian pipeline, that gave you access to very cheap fuel.
In general, you as Germans, you have the "I want it all" mentality... While there should be cooperation on all contracting sides and everyone wins.
Now you lost your allies and your clients both in USA AND EUROPE. 🤷
@@changshu6463 it still might be true because these ID4s simply can't find any buyers in China, so they are willing to sell elsewhere at a discount to prevent losses
For a whole decade money was cheap at 1% interest rate, and corporations loaded up on that debt. Most of it went on over-capacity, buying back shares, unjustified dividends to share holders, and Board of Directors pay. None of it went to pay off long term debt, or wage rises for workers, or ensuring worker's pensions. Now that interest rates have risen, it is the workers who are being attacked.
No wage rises? Have you looked at their balance sheet?
Their payroll costs have gone up 10% every year like clockwork, despite the factory closures in China. It's currently at $50Bn per a year - $10Bn of which was for pensions. And this is for a company with a market cap of $43Bn, and around $250Bn of debt.
The annual dividends payout is around $4Bn per year (less than 10% of the payroll cost), meanwhile VW made around $20Bn from shares sales last year.
The shareholders aren't the problem here, they're the ones helping to keep the company afloat.
@@tomfahey2823banks should be regulated as well. Companies keeps getting overleversge. That money is not banks money. Its depositors aka citizens money
I bet the managers at VW are not willing to take a 10% cut in pay.
Hi , The race is between Volkswagen and Jaguar . Who will go bankrupt first . Germany will be very similar to the UK . An economic disaster zone .
VW are a German brand, Jaguar are a Pakistani brand, Caterham are a British brand.
VW will not go they will be saved by the German government but be a shadow of themselves
When people say about "collapse", people often think of "Roman Empire collapse" where a country ceases to exist. But hell no, no matter what happens, Germany will be still there. Even Greece who is heavily indebted still exists but much less relevant in the world. Germany will be like Greece.
@@oceanwave4502 Greece has tourism as a baseline. What's Germany's baseline?
@@oceanwave4502 😂 ancient greece isn't the same country as modern greece😂 you are 100% wrong
The old men running VW can look powerful and stern all they want but when push comes to shove, they will crumble like a house of cards.
They are weak underneath
Ha! If they go bankrupt, which is likely, who do you think will be the real victims? The old men or the workers? This is what happens when you allow unions too much control. They will never be in it for the survival as a whole, only for survival of the individual. This mentality eventually always takes down companies. Always. It's just a matter of time.
theres a lot of union and goc influence in VW. its a huge political mess. always has been. and the machinations of familiies like quandt(BMW) porsche and piech(VW) are the icing on the cake. goes on for almost a century by now. first go around with the evil moustache man - the game hasnt changed much ever since...it always has been a political cesspool at VW.
They are making EV's that no one wants, and way too expensive. You can buy an apartment for the price of a VW these days.
@@texasflooring porsche and piech are making bank while it all goes to s#!t
The executives won’t go short. They’ll still take every penny they can. The unions will be the final straw for VW. This is a growing problem in Europe. Sad to see the German auto industry go under, but inevitable.
When executives and workers both realize a company is doomed, they are going to grab all the cash they can in the short term. This is often blamed for the collapse, but it’s usually a symptom, not the cause
Didn't expect the EV disruptions come so soon.
VW are screwed partly thanks to trying and failing to switch to EV.
Most of VW's debt Is irrelevant since it is debt to VW's own bank
Sounds like you are a German ;-)
@@user-nh1yb9mk7y Concrete numbers or it doesn't matter.
EVs are a big part of it, but it mostly comes from "unexpected" market share loss in China, where EVs and local brand are taking over.
I think VW should close more factories to save costs.
Living is the most important thing.
All they need to do is flood the market, by selling all their surplus cars at a very low cost.
@@Stiffytheenlightened no one wants VW.....especially with FSD showing more than massive progress.....no one will want to drive due to FSD being safer....
Luxurious car companies like BMW/Mercedes/Porsch may still be ok because when a client pays 300,000 dollars for a car, they don't mind paying 50,000 dollars more. So high energy cost won't much affect those companies. But VW may die or vastly reduce their size in the medium term (5-10 years).
@Stiffytheenlightened How is selling a load of expensive cars at a loss going to improve their balance sheet?
@@StiffytheenlightenedNot just that. I work with VW, Audi, Seat and more and the quality has gone down a lot. New vehicles have content issues and their vehicles just aren't that attractive anymore. Our company is bracing for the shit to shit to hit the fan
only option it seems is to send electric SKD kits from China based on the Xpeng chassis - with VW styling ..... to be assembled in Germany ....
which is typically what advanced car companies do to enter "developing" markets
gives you an idea how Europe has become a technology backwater ....
not so much a backwater as regressive. tamper-proof radiators for ICE vehicles?
more plastic that acts like a self-destruct fuse? Recalcitrant DSG transmissions?
The turbo as a third expensive element in every gas burning vehicle? They steered themselves into a cul-de-sac of irrelevance & tuned off potential buyers. Like Ford dropping their company car/people carrier Fusion for deluxe trucks & mustangs that spin out & attack pedestrians on sidewalks. All chasing cash. Now they wonder what went wrong. They went wrong. Once you toss the econobox that got your buyers in your product, you lose them for a lifetime.
Xpeng chassis + CATL battery, almost make up more than 50% of the total cost. And they must execute it fast before bankruptcy. Can they be fast?
I watched exactly the same scenario with British Leyland, goodbye VW, love to see their 'Red Robbo' for sure they'll have one.
Not sure what the union think they can do anything about it. They have leverage if VW still wants to make cars there. if they are closing down factories left and right, it's just made it faster.
The unions have to look like they're fighting for their ( paying) members. They will already have known the outcome before they started " talks". It's a club and the workers are not in it.
I am so sorry to hear about the woes of the VW Group
I am the owner of a Tiguan and apart from involuntary problems like the widows winding down, the tailgate opening, the alarm sounding whilst the car is unattended, its been very good. The electronic brake activating itself whist driving was a little disconcerting.
I was sorry to hear that my car was declared part of Dieselgate, the fuel economy was very good, until they applied the fix, and the mpg dropped by over 18%.
The only criticism I have, was after the warranty expired I bought a new Fob Key and all the electronic problems disappeared, I was able to lock the car, and leave it unattended without the windows winding down. I found the windows are extremely handy in the rain.
By then I had realised just how bad VW are and I was not in the least bit surprised when they did not even offer to pay for the key.
Never got any compensation for Dieselgate, or any explanation why not.
Do I feel bitter towards VW, just a twinge, but hopefully they will go into liquidation.
Similar experience for us. We love our Tesla.
A very good and well written response
So wait, are you saying the VW’s electronic issues stemmed from a bad key fob, but took you years to realize it? So it sounds like two things are happening…..the vehicle itself was dependable (aside from the EPB) minus the key fob, plus your deduction skills are lacking. If the fob controlled every function you were having issues with, shouldn’t you have replaced it much much sooner?
All German companies are in trouble, in my country China is flooding the market with all sorts of cars, I have seen the data all German cars monthly sales are going down, including the luxury class such as Mercedes and BMW.
The era of German cars are quickly coming to an end. Just like how Kodak was finished with the film business in the 2000s.
All high technology will eventually become obsolete, irrelevant and unwanted over time. Petrol cars are no exception.
@
Well said
@@stanleymabena3696 Not surprisingly, many Germans feel that if their car companies become more efficient and profuse ‘better’ petrol cars then they can reverse these massive drops in sales and profitability.
This is absurd as this is not accepting the simple reality of the matter: the _entire_ world is rapidly shifting to EVs. This EV shift will happen whether the Germans like it or not. Germany ignored the EV revolution in the 2000s and 2010s and have now only realised this was the biggest mistake of their lives.
Well done German car industry, you have just become bankrupt with your own intransigence.
@@stanleymabena3696 Not surprisingly, many Germans feel that if their car companies become more efficient and profuse ‘better’ petrol cars then they can reverse these massive drops in sales and profitability.
This is absurd as this is not accepting the simple reality of the matter: the _entire_ world is rapidly shifting to EVs. This EV shift will happen whether the Germans like it or not. Germany ignored the EV revolution in the 2000s and 2010s and have now only realised this was the biggest mistake of their lives.
Well done German car industry, you have just become bankrupt with your own intransigence.
@@user-kc1tf7zm3b Just an info.. Kodak is now doing very good. It's not what it was, but they are profitable... they changed completelly, but they managed to break it out.
No admin or executive employee should be paid more than 5x the average wage .
I think Europe and the United States should drop the EV mandate and allow China to sell electric vehicles. Let people make the choice of what type of car they want.
China is waging economic warfare on the west. We need less Chinese products not more.
According to estimates from German business magazines, the labor cost per Tesla car produced at their German factory is around €1,000 - €2,000 per vehicle
Yes... Chinese labor is not that cheap. The major reason for VW labor costs is the amount of labor needed (automation, efficiency).
once the bots start building them from start to finish they will become far cheaper.......
im looking forward to it......gas cars are a pain in the butt.
@@vitspinka1 tesla has designed=in ease of manufacture. Less parts, less human involvement. Just look at how VW have probably 1000s of extra parts that need human manipulation..... Its not engineering from another world, its the thinking that " we always done it this way....". The truth is , they have had at least 5 yrs to change their ways and they chose not to.
@@andyfreeze4072and couldn't
@@operatorsix6933so you would rather have children in Africa dying in cobalt mines for your milk floats?
Stay classy
Carbon Credits.....LOL.
What a beautiful scam 🤣
Role of politicians undermining normal evolution in industry should not be underestimated.
What triggered chinese drive towards EV were Euro 6 and Euro 7 regulations. Chinese find out they won't be able to meet those regulations so invested heavily in technology bypassing this obstacle.
@JanNowak-q7m The result is that there are many european diesel cars in Japan now. They used to say that Japanese emission regulations were impossible to meet and were protectionist but they finally made it here 😂😂
Herbert Diess was right.
Of course he was ...and then they booted him
Not the only one who was right but really this is self inflected
He was also fighting an uphill battle, and was saddled with being head of Cariad, which was almost doomed from the start and became the "official reason" for demotion.
How much of that debt came from all those fines they paid out for cheating on their emissions tests,it was quite a lot if I remember correctly
$25 billion in the US, and some analysts say they got off easy.
Sam you are “the bees knees”
Your videos make me less ignorant
Merry Christmas to you and your family
Are you Chinese as well?
EV move will bankrupt them. Crap EV's into a market that don't want them. Insanity
The market wants good EVs just not VWs crap ones.
Staying with ICE is bankrupting all legacy auto. The only car manufacturers left in 5 years are Tesla and Chinese ev manufacturers
@@PaleBlueDotCitizen- not in the US. I predict that only Tesla will survive here in the states, as perhaps 15% of the market. Is because Elon has friends in high places.
@PaleBlueDotCitizen the market wants 15% EV's. vw limiting themselves to a smaller market dominated by tesla
The honeymoon for EVs is over in the USA. 🇺🇸 Most Americans don’t want them. These execs are out of touch of reality of what consumers want.
VW should just go all in with XPeng. It's the only venture that will net them something positive. Buying carbon credits from them will then indirectly help themselves instead of benefiting Tesla.
they only invested in xpeng to get the tech. It's only a small piece of pie compared to what their debt problems is. GOOD LUCK to them. It's a done deal
Absolutely not, that's the worst advice 😅😅😅
Yeah why not join a company with just $2.2 billion of debt.
Xpeng is a very small producer of BEVs.
This wont fly though. In the US, they are implementing laws against chinese vehicles with chinese software. So VW can probably kiss the entire US-Canadian market goodbye with that solution. In a way, they might as well.
Also, the war in Ukraine has taught as the risk of relying too much on dictatorships. Private property is not respected in China, so any of VWs investments there can be confiscated if the communist party deems it necessary to do so. This is the risk of investing in places with no rule of law.
I am not saying VW should not invest in China, but as with all else, its a risk that has to be carefully assessed and managed, something VW could have done better, but what they should certainly not do is "just go all in on Xpeng" or other chinese firms in China. For every they invest there belongs ultimately not to VW, but to the communist party.
I don’t think the heads of the union understand how any industry let alone the car industry works. If the cars being produced aren’t being sold how do they expect the company to survive? Might as well shut down all factories in Germany. That’s their best option. Then move production elsewhere.
Germany is a "first" world country. Everything are just expensive. Wages need to commensurate with the cost of living ie high salaries. Union is not to be blame on totality.
The only organization in legacy auto that’s dumber than the union is management.
@@FrankiePo89 I agree. If I was in charge and knew this was not sustainable I’d just close all factories in Germany. Wouldn’t you ? In the end of the day they need to sell cars, which they aren’t doing because 1. The cost of production is high due to high labour costs. 2. People have better options that are cheaper. That is the reality.
@@yuvingoonewardene7920 I would try to understand wtf was going on in the industry and the direction it was heading. Then i would design cars to meet that demand. The T model ford is no longer sold for a reason. VW management screwed up here, not the union. All the OEMs are having their pants pulled down because as an industry, they have failed to meet any of the challenges we have today. Its called future shock.
I don't believe that they don't know but they are just milking out German government for subsidies and are also trying to get a huge severance packages for factory workers that they know are going to be inevitably get fired.
German industry has been founded on cheap Russian energy and the sanctions supposedly against Russia have backfired as has the blowing up of the Nordstream pipeline. Add those factors to the challenges faced by legacy manufacturers transitioning to EVs anyway and it's been a spectacular own goal for Europe who are still buying Russian energy via India and Turkey at vastly higher prices
Exactly. And with sales collapsing in China, VW simply has nowhere to make enough profits to pay back that debt. At least 1 or 2 factories in Germany will have to shut down next year.
False. GERMANY started buying Russian gas in 1972 when it was the 3rd economy in the world. Russian gas was 25% cheaper than alternatives in the 10s.
The main problem now is lack of stability and consequences of disruptions caused by covid and the price shock of 2022
@@Nphenmost of its debt is to VW's own bank
Green party achievement. Congratulations
Also don’t forget they have burnt so much good will with their customers (reliability issue, dealership treatment, diesel gate) as well, at this point they might as well rebrand as VW and VAG as a whole is just toxic as a brand
I sold my e.golf … It was such a relief to get rid of it. Never again.
What do you expect from company formed by Adolf hitler
@@Hickalum what will you get next ?...
VW is Germany, it’s not so much a question of owing the creditors it’s more that they own the creditors. This is very bad for all of Erurope. It’s down to terrible management and lack of foresight.
As Steven Mark Ryan put it back when the UAW opposed pay cuts, now the IG Metall union opposes pay cuts, at the risk of everyone getting a 100% pay cut when the company belly flops.
It’s about time these German companies learn their lesson. They have been sleeping for so long, no innovation and don’t listen to the customers 😮.
Technology for German cars is usually provided by US-based companies. Having very diversified workforce German manufacturers lost their "Made in Germany" attitude.
It's where central planning gets you. They just need products the market wants and can afford.
In auto industry for some time there's a hard rock believe that producing affordable cars for mass market is a disgrace.
Just look how successful the EU has been at creating new EV companies
Where? In America or China?
@@Travel_addict_81 China!
Germany should embrace Tesla for the manufacturing jobs. Don’t know if Germany will ever understand the value of Tesla building in their country.
EVs are poison. Everyone that wants one, has one. VW can't compete with Tesla let alone the chinese. The US bombed the pipeline for cheap energy and Schultz didn't say a thing.
IG metal is trying to destroy Tesla the way they’ve helped to destroy the legacy German auto makers. I was very disappointed when I heard Elon musk announce they were going to build the European giga factory in Germany. With their endless government, endless rules and regulations, endless paperwork, environmentalist crazies, extreme left and right, and obstinance, it appears the wrong place to have put a major factory. All of Teslas factories combined have not had the problems that they have had with the Germans. This includes several factories in communist, China; they have not had the problems with the CCP that they have had with the Germans! 😔.
The bottom line is people just cannot afford these cars
If the German economy collapses, will the EU still exist?
Hope not #cantstoplaughing
It could always depend on France and Italy. Oh... maybe not.
To little and to late VW, Herbert tried to save the company.
By releasing buggy products?
You should talk about the long term cause of this: Asset inflation. Interest rates were very low for years; low interest rates are only meant for short term stimulus.
Biggest problem for Volkswagen is the firing of Herbert Diess, who was trying to save VW.
The German government will bail them out.
That's what both employees and management are angling for
The Government budget is not counting for that, actually they couldn’t agree on a 2025 budget as well, thats why the government fell apart.
No, it wont. They are aware they are not savable.
VW is at this point a black hole. The government would have to be crazy to pour public money into it - for what benefit to the nation? So that it will stagger on for a few more years then crash harder? Don't do it.
they will be closing all factories sooner or later
Chinese EV brands are hitting hard in Brazil too. They are bringing products that make legacy auromakers offerings look overpriced and extremely outdated. BYD and GWM might start local production sooner than later, then making their presence even more significant.
They went into china and were making billions thinking they had caught the dragon sleeping. LOL. No, son, it was watching you the whole frieking time.🤣
I don’t understand volkswagen unions. Germans are usually very racional peaple. If they can’t understand this all of them will not have jobs anymore
they understand when they have been screwed over.
@@andyfreeze4072 The South Koreans stole their milkshake... they DRANK IT UP!
the union promise of lifelong employment
@@andyfreeze4072 I understand, companies usually does that, but despite the screwing now the damage has been done and the reality is they have to cut expenses.
The unions know that change is coming. They take a hard line hoping that the government will show up with a bunch of cash and pay for early retirement for older workers.
About 40 years ago. Working in a grocery store meet a male from Germany. He asked me how much we made. I told him, and he said I could make double that in Germany with better benefits. All these costs to German Manufacturing has to be absorbed by the Manufacturing Companies.
汽车已经是一个高度竞争的行业，如果大众汽车仍想着保持高利润，必然被市场抛弃
240 billion dollars in debt. That is some serious coin. Can't believe this is happening to VW. What does that mean for the rest of the automotive industry.
Europe wrecks everything 😂
I don't always agree with you but being an Audi Q4 owner I'd agree with you 100% on this one. The car is nice but nothing special and the prce tag is crazy expensive. I wouldn't buy a chinese car (I've seen the build quality, failures and fires) but I also wouldn't buy another VW group car right now because they are too expensive for what they are. The unions need to get their head out of their ar*ses and work with WV management to save the company if they want the VW group to have any future. If you are a German auto worker please understand this:- Once you start acting like spoilt children, you destroy customer confidence. Then there is no way back for the company that employs you. This is exactly what happened to the British car industry back in the 1980s.
Audi Q4. It's just a VW ID4 with different clothes. If you want to change clothes again, then you have the Ford Explorer... They're all the same. MAGIC, huh??
If the EU and other Western countries didn't have stupid emissions targets, and just let consumers decide what to buy, VW and other manufacturers would probably be fine
This has nothing to do with EU.
Nah, Europe is too expensive overall to compete. Perhaps in a true anarcho-capitalist world, but that is just unimaginable right now.
How come Germany was competing very nicely until the absurd emissions rules were upgraded to mandate EVs ?
@@Hickalum German automakers are suffering alongside any other energy intensive industry. Germany pays 2x for American LNG vs the NatGas from Russia in 2021. Europe is a victim of American & NATO aggression & foreign policy mistakes as well as some of their own bad ideas.
@@Nphen Where's the NATO aggression?
As was several times mentioned before: Most of the debt is in the banking branch of Volkswagen and is private consumer debt. The problems of VW are gigantic, but at least, Volkswagen makes a profit. Maybe the new trade deal with south america will help?
By the way, how are the sales figures for Tesla? In Australia Tesla sold 20% less cars than 2023. In Europe Skoda overtake the Model Y as best selling EV in october. No reports about this? Maybe the problem is bigger than Volkswagen and affects also Tesla?
South America is now switching to Chinese brands. VW has to ramp up nice EV cars to China. VW sold 40-50% of their cars in China before, if they will loose the Chinese market, then it's over for them.
Sam… 12 PM is noon; 12 AM is midnight.
Here we go….more China love lmao
This should be called the I LOVE CHINA channel
But it's true. I live in Germany and the our German car industry is in big trouble. China is the leader of EV cars and many countries excect the European countries are switching to EV cars.
@@tvl6347 life is more than just EVs lol
I was considering ordering an Id4 at the beginning of January. This has now put me in a spin! Will they be able to deliver and when?😳
Will You be able to service You car when VW will go bankrupt?
Sam, it seems VW is doing great in EU:
The car market in the EU continues to struggle. At 869,816 cars, 1.9 per cent fewer new cars were registered in November than a year earlier, according to the European manufacturers' association Acea in Brussels on Thursday. There had been a slight increase in the previous month. After the eleven months of the year to date, there was still a mini increase of 0.4 per cent to 9.73 million passenger cars.
New registrations of purely electric cars and rechargeable plug-in hybrid cars were down. By contrast, hybrid drives without charging options are currently enjoying particular success. The Volkswagen Group remained the clear market leader in the EU last month and was able to increase its sales by a good 4 per cent year-on-year.
4% growth YoY is incredible!
Great video, you're very informative mate, thanks for sharing
VW totally missed the BEV transition...... So they will be going through hard times. Arrogance is what gets you in this situation. German automotive is extremely arrogant. This means they stick to producing high-margin ICE vehicles, but unfortunately the sales are now dropping and the group does not have a solid BEV strategy.
The Germans and Europeans in general say: We are europ we are Germany, we can sell the consumer a scrap metal for five times the price of the very advanced Chinese cars, and the consumer will buy it because its name is Mercedes, Volkswagen, or Audi.
Thank's God for BYD.
Kodak is doing fine now.. they completelly reorganized and are profitable.
The real issue is, and you can blame Chinese sales as much as you like, people don’t want EVs. Given a choice, most people would stick with an ICE solution. At least until EVs can match the cost convenience and performance of ICE cars. If they were any good we would all be buying them. CDs buried records because they were better, downloading has buried CDs because it’s easier. If you want change come up with a better alternative. Don’t keep telling us how wonderful they are when the clear and obvious evidence tells us they’re not.
Ultimately EVs cost more to produce than people are willing to pay for a car with such limitations. i.e. if they were half the cost of an IC, more people might consider it as a 2nd car for short trips. But why do that when an ICE car can do everything for less?
Hence the need for subsidies to sell them- and the CCP was always going to win that competition, so let them have that market, for as long as they want to support it. Let everyone else build the cars people want, at a profit.
A real live SANE person. Sir, I salute you.
What about the subsidies your government giving to Fossil fuel companies
@@chriss4949 The only subsidies oil companies get are for their 'green energy' projects.
All legacy car manufacturers focused on short term profits from 2000 on...year after year of bad decisions: more plastics, (engine) parts that only last the lease periods, no software updates and giving their production know-how to China in exchange for cheap labor costs...
VW are full of it. $200b in new investment, crap on. It just shows that they are angling for a government bail out.
How much of Volkswagen's debt is debt to finance customers' vehicles using hire purchase etc.? Their debt might not be so bad if this makes up a large amount of their debt pile.
DeLorean solved his car company's problems by going into Cocaine Trafficking. Perhaps VW should also do some sideways thinking.
What about the India fine debt? Is the Porche $22Bn in those debt figure or is it simple intracompany. Factor in plant closure costs, etc.
I must say,as a Pom viewer I do like this antipodean presenter.He does his homework and presents his findings and opinions in a very steaightforward way.As for a german government bailout......well can Paris and Berlin pull that off without the EU stopping it.
Volkswagen are now in the same predicament as Facit was in Sweden during the seventies. Facit manufactured the best analogue calculating machine in the beginning of the seventies, at the end of it they were no more due to the development of electronic devices in which Facit didn’t believe.
Slight difference. Combustion engines aren't being replaced because EV is now better. Its artificially regulated by the government. Euro emissions 7 has destroyed nearly the entire diesel market, not because EV is cheaper and more reliable than diesel, they arent, but because beurocrats decreed it.
VW's debt is bigger than South Africa's debt.............. Wow, let that sink in!
😳
Labour isn't the main cost issue, and could be flexed to an extent. The comparative regulatory and power cost next to China are far more inelastic, and in terms of power not going to get cheaper any time soon.
Germany, bowing to U.S. demands and cutting itself off from cheap Russian gas, has
really done wonders for the German economy.
Russia are murderous criminals....could that have something to do with it??
Who on earth would lend them the money. Going by past performance, lending them money is a flat NO
wehave the ECB - propping up loosers in banking anf finance, and more, ever since the 2010s...
Governmemt bailout. Western world is now a firm believer of communism
Government bailout. Western world are advocated of communism.
Great video. Thanks Sam. I hope VW survives but it doesn’t look good
Debt is absolutely 100% negotiable. What are the banks going to come and padlock the doors to VW's factories if they don't make a payment by Wednesday? The banks don't want to be running a car company, especially one that's already failing and has other creditors who are in line in front of them, should they even make the ludicrous decision to liquidate VW for pennies on the dollar, rather than agreeing to restructure their debt, with a chance the company can turn it around the banks will be repaid, with interest.
"If you owe the bank 100 thousand, that's your problem. If you owe the bank 100 billion, that's the bank's problem."
Carbon Credits are probably the single biggest grift you could make up.
It would be interesting in China if they didn’t have financial penalties on ice cars if they would buy the ice cars over the EV’s
I think they should fire the people and close the plants. I mean they are allowed to hire and build, but not to close and cut costs when the situation is changing? They should have never done the EV crap Duracell-cars, that's now the result.
ICE cars last 120k miles, EV's last one million miles, something has to give, less new cars, less factories and more of the 3Rs has to be a good thing for the environment, new business models are required, leasing used cars, upgrading their EV's with the latest batteries and selling/leasing them again.
Other channels on YT is saying Honda is going to buy Nissan (well they are going to form a joint venture) I'm guessing so they can segment the 28 billion in debt away from themselves and not take it on, this could be
Banks do negotiate when they are owed billions with the chance of default, but it would likely signal end game for VW.
You can't sell what isn't wanted.
Sam
What is the number one most indebted company?
I don’t understand if the company goes bankrupt and shuts down all of the factories how can the union prevent them from closing down?
The union probably is expecting the German government to step in and bail the company out.
Guess VW is doomed.. sad
The wheels have come off The Marshall Plan.
@@darthkek1953Marshall plan didn't benefit Germany
@@user-nh1yb9mk7y Well, it went to West Germany if that's the nit-pick you're going for.
@@darthkek1953 it didn't benefit Germany since it was the credit for agriculture and the USA had stolen and destroyed after the end of the WW2 far more
Never should have wasted money on electric.
the manufacturer that went all-in on electric is now the most valuable in the world
13:16 .. "but Germans don't really like to change all that much". That's a clear insult. Germany has a problem with an aging population (like Japan) and with social warriors (like the US) but that's not the majority of the people. It may be correct to point out the influence and the consequences but that does not allow for an overgeneralization.
Nobody can compete if Chinese cars are sold below cost. That’s known as predatory pricing, and there are laws against it in most countries.
The unions should be negotiating redundancy packages, not trying to make the competition go away.
Numerous "Motor Brand" Banks provide real implosion risk in the EU and USA,
should there be a turn down in sales, or an increase in lease defaults,
paying the debt interest becomes impossible for the motor manufactures / dealers.
FSD and Optimus have there biggest brain that learns instantly. I drive v13.2.1 first time lane placement was not optimal. Second drive optimal. Basic driving solved. We're chasing edge cases and they are getting rapidly solved. Robotaxi are testing NOW in bay area. Don't underestimate.
VW cars are the least desirable cars of the whole VAG group p. Give me a Cupra or Elroq any day. The ID series are horrifically dull.
ID4 sold 250k units last year, so others do like them. The trouble is, THEY'RE SELLING ALL THOSE UNITS AT A LOSS.
The first step is make all their cars "Peoples car": transform all their models to sell between USD 20K - USD 35K per unit and make sure all of them are profitable. Compete head on to be the "Peoples Car".
So they have 120k workers and they complain people at the top are getting a few millions in bonuses? It's like what, if all the bosses together get 120m then it would be 1k/year/worker
American computer companies initially made computers in the states until they realised if they wanted to make a decent profit they had to get them made in other cheaper labour countries.
I don’t see the car industry any different. It’s just an other product that can be designed in one country and made in another.
Dust off the old plans from the 60's and 70's and bring back the Bug as an EV. It already had a frunk. Electric motor in the rear and batteries under floor and sell for $20k. 🤣😂🤣
This is what happens when you are mandated to build cars that customers don’t want to buy ! Buyers want ICE cars.
If worst comes to worst the German government will not allow this Icon to go under . Germany has no choice but to keep their automakers alive …after all the German government is responsible for all of Germanys industrial losses and failures .
My main concern is how to survive all of these financial and political crisis, especially in light of the US political power scuffle. The government has really called things more difficult for its citizens, and we can't sit back and bear all the consequences of the bad governance.