Comments by "Steve Valley" (@stevevalley7835) on "VW's CEO clashes with 20,000 FURIOUS workers as stock price falls further" video.

  1. During VAG's last crisis, over diesel emissions, the company whined about the cost, and threatened factory headcount reductions. The head of the union, made a very good point: why not VAG get rid of redundant divisions and vanity projects instead? Skoda and SEAT compete in the same segment as VW, so they are paying for three sets of administrative overhead, when there could be only one. Then there is the money they pour into vanity projects like Bugatti and Lamborghini. Sergio Marchionne publicly said Bugatti is the biggest waste of capital he had ever seen. Did VAG clean house? Nope. VAG has followed the same playbook at Stellantis, and Ford, with the same result. They all cut quality, and raised price, to fatten up their operating margins. VW's global warranty claims expense is now only exceeded by Ford's. They could charge premium prices, after the plague, by working the "shortage" narrative. But now, they have 100 days supply, or more, of cars sitting in storage lots, so the "shortage" narrative no longer works and customers are rejecting the high prices. So what is VAG's response? Same thing that their first choice was in their last crisis: take money away from the employees.
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