An ‘earthquake’ at Volkswagen – and a crisis for Germany?
An ‘earthquake’ at Volkswagen – and a crisis for Germany?
The company is seen as crucial not just to local but national wellbeing – and never before have its workers been threatened in their own homeland like this
The German automotive industry became "victim" of its own political success. Instead of being exposed to the shifting markets and forcing real innovation, they lobbied successfully against changing regulatory frameworks. The article mentions an expert saying there is little economic reason to produce in Germany.
The German economy relies on meaningful innovation and it has been the driver of its success in the 50s-70s. By falling behind on that key competence, the automotive industry is dismantling itself.
However because of its political power, the automotive industry is not only dismantling itself, it is destroying the entire economy with it. Germany used to be leader in Solar and Wind power production. Then in the 2010-2012 China pressured Germany to let these industries fall apart, as it otherwise would create trade barriers for German car makers. Now China is dominating renewables and on top of it is taking the automotive industry away.
Totally accurate. I don’t mind them dying.
I am working in the automotive industry, so I mind a little bit. But I wouldn't mind changing to a job in a different industry.
Et voilà, this is where the uncritical neoliberalism of the CDU took VW and Germany. Of course they are not going to close the Polish or Hungarian factories, not when they successfully lobbied Orbán's government to effectively abolish overtime pay and restrictions.
I wonder who the folks in Wolfsburg voted for.
I'm not disagreeing, but could you elaborate what's the rough process that took place which you believe led to the present state? Not a German, don't know enough to figure it out myself.
This has nothing to do with Hungary. VW alienated themselves from their core products/customers and started building luxury cars and ditching all the affordable options. This means they were domestically competing against the established luxury brands such as BMW, Mercedes and Audi. Since that's nowhere near a big enough market, they heavily relied on the Chinese market. They also completely fucked up the EV segment. Our minister of economy (?) Habeck predicted in 2019 that exactly this would happen to VW if they didn't bring an affordable EV on the market. Now that China doesn't give a fuck about VW anymore because they have their own luxury cars that also perform better, VW is fucked.
I've started typing up a half page rant, but I kept going on getting sidetracked. With Orbán et al. there is always another blatant theft or scandal that is hard to leave unsaid. Imagine 20 years of Trump, and you get the idea. I'll try to sum it up in short.
With Merkel, basically what happened was that for decades she covered for Orbán stealing EU money and blatantly using a lot of it for propaganda to cement an authoritarian system, in exchange for said system eroding workers' rights and continuously inflating the HUF against the EUR to keep wages down for German firms. Basically, Merkel and Orbán made Hungary into a nearshoring centre for German industry.
And now when the market ebbs for VW, of course they are not going to close the Hungarian factories that they broke the unions in and can basically demand unlimited overtime, and can pay wages in a currency at an all-time weak point against the EUR.
VW announced a $5B joint venture with Rivian a couple months ago. Wonder how all this will affect that deal?
https://www.theverge.com/2024/6/25/24185946/vw-rivian-joint-venture-investment-software-r2
VW will continue its slow decline. Rivian will accelerate its decline until it collapses and is sold-off for parts.
Why am I getting the sense that Angela Merkel made an enormous mess of Germany in the energy sector in so many different ways?
From sucking on the kremlin's pipeline, lowering Germany's guard to corrupt and corrupting russian influence, to negotiating the short end of Beijing's stick on renewables as stated in this article, I get this nagging sense of tepid myopia, of giving free reign to immediate corporate appetites and impulses, as if tomorrow wasn't coming soon to cash its' checks.
The more time passes, the more corrosively mediocre her legacy seems to become.
See here... corporations don't know what is best for them in five years, ten years, all they always care about is "Gimme more more MORE MORE...! Gimme now now NOW NOW...!", they have to be monitored and guided like impulsive children that might drink the goddamned bleach under the kitchen sink, they might start playing with matches and burn the whole goddamned house down.
As someone who embraces "fuck cars", this happening is necessary and innevitable to transition to the world I would like to live in. I hope that the people working there won't become homeless and stuff, that they find new jobs and that the money saved by not centering society around cars can be put to better use.