Comments by "Michael Nurse" (@michaelnurse9089) on "Will Volkswagen have to close factories to avoid sales slump? | DW News" video.

  1. In the past, superior German engineering justified a higher labour cost. Now engineering from both Tesla and China (who has a low labour cost) has left German Engineering in 3rd or 4th or even 5th place. Of course, it is nearly impossible to tell union workers they must reduce their salaries to 50%, so the company then enters a death spiral and sheds customers. It is far from over and tariffs result in counter-tariffs.
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  2. At a certain point in the 2000s Germany realised that they could outsource nearly everything to China and just do the engineering. Recently, China realized they can just do the engineering better and cheaper themselves. Many countries were once exceptional are no longer so - Italy, Portugal, Spain, Turkey, South Africa, Argentina.
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  3. GM, Ford, Stellantis and soon Toyota will be in the same boat.
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  4. It still has brand power, but that is not enough.
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  5. Teslas last more than 300 000 miles. New batteries from China will have million mile/km guarantee so then they will last even longer. No gearbox, no engine failure, no rust if made from aluminium.
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  6. Russian energy comes with Russian politics.
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  7.  @lv7603  It was relevant because it shattered a myth held Worldwide that VWs were the best alternative for someone who couldn't handle the boring design of Toyotas.
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  8. German innovators moved to the US.
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  9. Sure. But they will also let you go for other reasons, like to bump the stock price before they exercise their options.
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  10. "Tesla is not a well made vehicle" Once upon a time this was true. Now they have the lowest running costs and longest life with no more panel gaps.
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  11. Countries, or companies, can have two mindsets - value creation or value extraction - the former leads to Tesla today, the later VW today.
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  12. Adjusted for inflation it is the same price. Difference is the one from the 90's you could buy cheap parts and fix it yourself.
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  13. There was no choice. If Germany did not tow the line then the US will sanction them too.
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  14. Solar panels have never been cheaper.
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  15. Depends on the the government.
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  16. Did 2 billion just die? 75 million cars a year and 10 year life with 4 people sharing the average car. Roughly half can afford to travel by car.
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  17. As a Tesla shareholder, I really, really like the way VWs look.
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  18.  @deaffeb  Innovation takes time, capital, and will. VW has no will to innovate. When Tesla arrived they mocked them while the Chinese got to work copying them.
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  19. Check your facts. They are now cheaper to buy than ICE. And 3x cheaper to run. In China EV sales have passed 50%.
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  20. That is not so bad. After WW1 was far, far worse.
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  21. It fixes it for VW pensioners. Robbing Peter to pay Paul.
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  22. China is ramping solar panels and batteries. No Russian oil needed.
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  23. So pretty though...
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  24. A good idea, but people need to get around and trains/buses are hard work to use.
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  25.  @SK-kh2rs  Nothing funny for German taxpayers who don't work at VW.
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  26. Except in Germany workers can vote - so any attempt to cut labour costs would be shot down.
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  27.  @emilsohn1671  But what about the high salaries and pensions. Germany still lose because of that. As do Ford and GM.
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  28. China use every tool available. Good engineering, automation, cheap labour, government subsidies, capital availability, burning the boats, copying Tesla, casting, battery innovation.
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  29. No. If your shareholder goes bankrupt it does not mean anything for you.
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  30.  @maestrovso  Only way to pay for the repairs.
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  31. Bah. In the 80's engineers ruled Porche but their price was 3x the competition and quality was bad. Managers are needed as well.
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  32.  @kamsunleong6648  BYD has 60 000 engineers. How many engineers are working on BEVs in Germany?
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