>after 55,000 job cuts in 2025 (25,000 + 30,000 in 2 separate cuts), VW has reduced another 50,000 jobs in March of 2026)Is it over for Volkswagen? For European cars in general? How do you lose 100,000 in your work force in less than 2 years? Where will VW be by 2030?
>>28874054It was inevitable. Nobody can afford cars anymore. Sales are down everywhere. And VW which relied on poor people for sales finds itself most vulnerable. Besides, they have shitty reputation and their EV migration has been a dud.
>>28874071>Nobody can afford cars anymore.No, nobody is buying overpriced german cars known to have very expensive repairs and regularly breaking including at least 1 very expensive multi-thousand dollar repairs only a very experienced mechanic can perform. VW fucked up by trying to upscale 100% of their lineup while sharing a single chassis across 4 models. And on top of that they're trying to make the cars as bland and uninteresting as possible. A gold GTi isn't fast, exciting, attractive, or good? How is it $50,000? Oh wow its not selling!
>>28874076This.VW used to make cars that were affordable for everyone.But through acquiring other brands like Seat or Skoda, they felt that they should be the "premium" brand in the company. But this never was in their DNA. They started to make overpriced, uninspired cars that no one cares to own.If I wanted a VW platform car, I'd probably buy a Skoda.
>>28874076>GTi isn't fast, exciting, attractive, or goodAnd don't forget they discontinued the manual, basically a minivan at this point
Their ICE cars have a reputation for being expensive to maintain.Their EVs are fugly, and inferior to the competition.Both are known to have awful touch controls.They need to completely re-evaluate their design process from the ground up instead of letting bean counters make all the decisions.
>>28874054They're planning on slashing 50k jobs by the end of 2030. Honestly I'd love to be one of the fired workers. I've heard that some of them get very nice up to 3 years worth of wages severance pay depending on the time spent in there.Anyway, just a nothing burger. People will find a job elsewhere and cars will always be manufactured in there. Just not as much as before untill EVs fully take off.
>>28874089All EVs and components will be manufactured in China. You might get an assembly plant dangled in front of you by China to be used as trade leverage but it will be snapped away when convenient for them.I don't care that the EV news media is pushing Volkswagen as some imaginary western success story in the EV market. It's not happening. ICE and hybrid ICE vehicles are and will continue to be their main profit drivers because there's no way to compete on a level playing field with China in the EV market as the battery manufacturing industry has been finding out for years.
>>28874098Addendum. Heavy tariffs would be the way to compete on a level playing field however this is counter to EUs goal of electrification at any cost to the native population as far as jobs, infrastructure, or national security.
>>28874076>german cars known to have very expensive repairs and regularly breakingTell me you are under 18 and have never seen a car in real life without telling me.
>>28874054VW got chinked
>>28874054>base golf price is 35k now >it was 13k 15 years ago >why aren't peoples not buying VWs ?????
>make the "peoples car">the people can't afford itWhat did they mean by this?
>>28874071>VW which relied on poor peopleHave you ever looked at the price tags for a Skoda Octavia (30k for the baseline 1.0 engine, which they had to discontinue because nobody wants it, running on steel wheels which Dacia is ashamed to put on cars), a Cupra Leon, or a fucking Passat? VW went off the rocker and is charging Audi money for their "cheap" cars / they expect poor people to downgrade to the size of a VW Polo instead of making a cheap large car. All of the "features" they added are hated, just to add insult to injury.VW and the VW group as a whole are just doing a slower, more meticulous version of how Jaguar simply deleted itself from the market. Your current choice in the VW group is not "Can I afford an A4, or will I be forced to only get an Octavia?", it's "Will I buy a Fomentor or an A5?", the price stratification is completely gone, and the entire group is overpriced as a whole.As it stands, their sales are literally being kept up by Ford exiting the small car segment and the French insisting on wet belt cuckoldry, so in the EU, you're kind of forced to buy VW, unless you just say "fuck it" and buy a Dacia with the specific intent of sending it to the junkyard once it's 10 years old.I worked at VW and the management literally said "95% of our customers drive less than 50km a day on average", yeah well fuck your averages, people buy their cars for 100% of their use cases, not just the wagie commute. I specifically asked those clowns in management what they project someone who commutes 500km should buy (my own personal case where I literally lives on top of the job, but went to my actual home for every weekend), and they told me "some used car from the competition".The asshats practically said the customer's needs are irrelevant and the car should meet the needs of the statistically average citizen, so they can get fucked, I'm glad the company is getting reamed in the ass finally, I only hope the devniggers are in that group of 100k layoffs
Cars are too expensive to build in Germany. They'll build factories elsewhere.
>>28874114Every car has 10k of mandatory safety and nanny shit packed inside. You arent allowed to buils one in 2026 without 360º awareness and active driver monitoring
>>28874071Bruh you can get a Chevy Traxx for 21k$
>>28874281They already did that years ago with skoda and seat
>>28874089>People will find a job elsewherePeople don't just "magically get jobs" when they're fired. It's mostly older folks working at those plants. Not only would it be harder for them to pick up skills, employers don't generally want older workers.It's like how the US govt laid off millions and the people there still can't find jobs.
>>28874281>They'll build factories elsewhereVW sold 1 million less vehicles than a decade prior. And in 2025, that is expected to be even lower.You don't lose 10% of your sales volume while keeping the same staff on hand. Especially if you're looking at automation for further cost reductions.They may fire 50,000 in Europe just to hire 5,000 in China. Not really a simple matter of "all 50,000 jobs will go elsewhere"
>>28874306No they didn't. Skoda and Seat are pre-existing factories with their own R&D. The TSI is an original Skoda engine and the TDI is an Audi. VW is pure fat on the other 3 brands in the group. They literally placed an internal ban on Skoda having premium dampers because max trim Skodas were eating into VW sales.In the meantime, Skoda/Seat are also too expensive - if we're talking about exporting work to "cheap" countries, they did that with Turkey, that's where they expanded to recently.tl;dr VW doesn't build factories, they parasite off of others. It's basically a venture capital firm these days
>>28874324They'll get severance pay, unemployment benefits and some of them might even get a retraining subsidies. They aren't getting kicked on the streets with bare asses like it's typical in the US. And it's not like there'll be suddenly a 60% unemployment in german manufacturing. Germany still has huge manufacturing base, it just moves slowly away from automotive. There'll always be some free space unlike in white-collar office jobs that are every year more and more oversaturated. And the older people will get even more pre-pensioners benefits and at worst will just go to pre-retirement and work some part-time job untill full retirement.
>>28874054Maybe they should've made cars people want?
>ditch golf for CUV>ditch wagonA real mystery
>>28874086>instead of letting bean counters make all the decisions.What's wrong with that? I mean, just look at GM.
>>28874054yuro loses productivity due to energy issues, no innovation, regulation, and lazy population. Sky is blue. Still can't believe they abandoned nuclear
>>28874054Germany is dying thanks to the RU and the German govt
>>28874102Don't pretend VW's, BMWs, Porsches, Mercs, Audis, etc have low repair costs and low repair rates. Stereotypes usually exist because of reality.
>>28874479>import several million blacks and browns>productivity stagnatesWhY iS tHiS hApPeNiNg?????
>>28874499America is 56% black and brown lmao
>>28874509according to who? it's closer to 14% and 20% in the census.
>>28874054Dear lord. 55,000 people fired because a dozen suits in an office building made retarded decisions.
>>28874526It's okay, they'll be relocating the manufacturing to China where energy costs 80% less, this will fix everything.
>>28874102Sorry anon, but no one alive remembers the 60's-70's well. This isnt Mercedes or BMW, VW has had a reputation for being a cheap but disposable shitbox onpy useful for cheap gas. Even during their high moment in the 00's, they were still known as great on gas but not worth it to fix. Now after dieselgate they lack the good mileage, and are not worth fixing, AND expensive compared to a Toyota.
>>28874281They tried that with Mexico, but they rushed it resulting in poor quality cars, then Mexico got tariffed.com
>>28874526The CEO had his pay cut in HALF! How many employees would lose their shit over losing half their income. Dude has to survive on $30million once you include bonuses, and you're criticizing his suit.
>>28874597I mean if he has a private jet or yautch then he is somewhat fucked, but yeah the HORROR of 30 mill
>>28874102The common current thought about VW is that their cars live for the length of a lease and then are junk.
>>28874102>Tell me you are under 18 and have never seen a car in real life without telling me
>>28874071VW as in VW group covers all the market. VW as a brand is at this point dogshit. The difference in price between VW, Audi, Cupra and Seat(all VW group) in roughly the same class is meaningless, Seat will be slightly cheaper, Cupra and Audi will be slightly more expensive, Seat will be roughly the same quality, Cupra and Audi will be better. If you want cheap fleet car in Europe get Skoda, it's also VW group. VW was cannibalised by other brands in its group.
>>28874076
>>28874658Well then
>>28874669Does that include used vehicles?
>>28874675Do you actually think new vehicle sales have dropped 80% over the last 30 years?
>>28874676Given that the average age of cars on the road is steadily climbing towards 15 years, yes, it doesn't seem that far fetched. People are buying less new cars than ever.
>>28874679Obviously the problem is that cars last 15 years. The solution is to make them shittier and die after 8 years tops.
>>28874679How much population increase do you think happened over the last 30 years, and you think new car sales are down because cars are better and simply lasting longer?Is that what you're trying to tell this automobile enthusiast forum?
>>28874713>you think new car sales are down because cars are better and simply lasting longernopeople are poorer and cant afford to buy as many new cars
>>28874054>50% Profit CollapseThat's not how that works.
>>28874214The most Sane VW enjoyer
VW is using 20 year old engines and platforms and their interiors suck. They need to make better cars.
>>28874658Ahhhhhh?
I just wish VW would make more batshit insane cars like the Passat W8 and the Phaeton.
>>28874054VW has warned the leftist government for years this would happen. It’s entirely governments fault. Dumbass green FAGS who just presume EVs and particle filters will work and VW will be fine if they just make shitty cars nobody wants to buy. Sled inflicted wound. The government doesn’t care about working class at all. Whole thing is a tragedy of our own making
>>28874054>Major global automakers have committed hundreds of billions to electric vehicle (EV) development, with Volkswagen leading in total investment from 2016 to 2023Play stupid games win stupid prizes
>>28874951Why couldn't they compete with Tesla/Chinese brands?
>>2887490720% of VW is owned by the province of Niedersachsen, which is ruled by social democrats and greens.They are the leftists they were supposed to warn...
>>28874959Probably battery prices.The price of lithium cells is falling steadily and they make up a significant portion of the price of an EV.So if you bring a new EV to the market, you should be able to make a good profit after 2 or 3 years, or you should be able to lower prices.Why aren't they?
>>28874959So here's the deal. Germans will seethe if they see my post.The smart Germans who could design a good electric car have no reason to try. It's not that le government is fucking us up, it's pic related.The German is piss poor. If you're any kind of smart and actually good at your job you'll be headhunted by americans who will pay you double.
>>28875040This is specifically for electrical engineers working in EV sector just in case you're wondering btw.
>>28874951Do you know who's missing from that list? Hint, it's the one Euro brand doing relatively okay with electric cars.
>>28875081Renault?
>>28874959Chinese brands aren't doing that great either. Tesla managed to outmanoeuvre themselves. Koreans are the real deal.
>>28875115Ayup.
>>28874054>manufacturing in GermanyThey are idiots.
>>28874479>world economy tanks>US productivity skyrockets?????
>>28875027They did literally tell them that the green stuff for cars isn’t going to work repeatedly. Greens in Germany are the seem breed of psychopathic zealots that murdered each other for 30 years over minor doctrinal differences. They probably consider lower VW production a win
>>28875243Greens don't want green cars, EVs or whatever.They want NO cars at all.
>>28875204The US brain drains the rest of the world on paychecks alone. Even when places have better laws, better workers protections, better cultures, etc., America will still attract simply because of ease of getting higher and higher standard of living compared to the rest of the world which just has a hard set "standard of living" that only the ultra wealthy can increase from.
>>28874951I like how it gives an amount spent for everybody but VW. You'd almost think the report was hiding something, but nah, they wouldn't do that.
>>28874526That building being white house.
>>28875199Works fine for BMW and Tesla.
>>28875594Delusional.
>>28875606That you are.>The automaker said the impact of U.S. tariffs alone cost the company 1.3 billion euros in the first six months of the year (2025).
>US has so much power it results in 50k job loss in countries across the worldSounds like a problem for Germany
>>28875625Yes, Europe now has to deal with a poorer America with less spending power than ever in history. Sounds like a you problem too.
>>28875646You are poorer with usAlso interesting bit is that no one here mentioned the impact of China: No more dominance of VWAG in China. China is the only market other than Western Europe and Brazil they move actual metal and is the reason why they were the no. 1 car maker between Toyota and GM. Domestic brands in China + forced EV mandate in China = VW sales decline every year since 2020. Honestly serves the Germans right, they bet the farm on the Chinese market and taught them how to build cars since 1993. Now it comes back and bites them in the ass.
>>28875462Yep. The thing is that it doesn't matter how many protections you have in Germany or whatever, American salary difference and access to cheap American credit(something americans take for granted) will outweigh it.
>>28874071>Nobody can afford cars anymoreno one can afford germans anymore. they cost too much and the cost benefit analysis never adds up.
>>28875674Nah I'm good. My accountant makes sure I only have 13% effective tax rate.
>>28874054>>28874071Germany chose to not raise a single question regarding Russia. But if they had an actual choice, sticking hard and fast to Russia would have been the best choice, if for nothing more than the cheap energy alone.
>>28874509And America has gotten a lot worse too
>>28875611fuckin' white people nigga not even once KEK
>start to make worse quality parts in china just to maximize profit >make cars more expensive to milk europeans>start to making whole cars in third world countries>fuck your target buyers by design more and more shitty cars and make price even worse>focus you income on chineese market and ignire europe>chinks thanks to germans learned how to make cars and stopped buying overpriced german junk>cars stopped selling, so they started to sell they cars 2-3 times cheaper in others regions, but not in europe>Chink rushed with their cars on european market selling cars with better build quality, equipment and lower price, even with huge tariffs on chinese cars>close europeans facilities because it's too expensive compared to other third world countries, just to optimise profitAll of this because CEO's wants a longer green arrow pointing up on chart on their computer screen.
lol @ Germany
>>28877406By mutt standards you could only read the number, I bet.
>>28877364Those CEOs got rich and got paid and left too. They literally are fucking children and enjoying a life of ultra luxury with no consequences
>>28874654>brandsSO FUCKING GAY. I swear to God, first thing I'll do when I'm elected to office is make a law that all goods must be sold under the real, trading name of the company selling it. And if it's a corporation the name will be that of the largest shareholder (and if that's a corporation too the same rule applies and the name will be that of its largest shareholder, etc etc). Penalty for failure to comply is capital punishment for the whole C suite.>BlackRock F150IDGAF
>Close down cheap nuclear for unreliable wind>increased power billsReduced profits?
>>28877364>>28874214I sincerely believe in the 2010s, car companies stopped having an actually choice and were forced at the point of death threats to make cars as shitty as possible. Not just from the regulations and forced introduction of technologies, but literally taken aside and had their lives and livelyhoods threatened if they don't comply with enshittification.
>>28874873that sort of business strategy is what put them in the position they're in.they spent 15 years fucking around with meme tech and turning everything into a luxury car, and then got absolutely obliterated when the economy took a turn for the worse and when they got caught fudging numbers on emissions. if they had stuck with their old pre-1990s strategy of cheap mass-produced junk they would've weathered the last decade of financial ruination just fine.
>>28874951>Euro and German governments tell them ICE will be banned by 2030>"golly why did they invest in the technology they were legally obliged to??? they should've said 'fuck the state' and produced cars that would've been illegal to sell!"
>>28875611>we are entitled to access to your marketsI thought Euros didn't need America?
>>28874634What is the dog at the end supposed to mean?
>>28875125>Koreans are the real deal.ICCU says hi lmao
