I understand a couple of things about VW: they are huge, partly state owned and have had historically strong commitments to workers. Today, they are facing strong competition from Chinese car makers selling boring cars at affordable prices.
Generally one could say the time of the car as a fetishized product is coming to an end. Car design will converge like phones and laptops. Some people will buy Apple, some will buy Framework. But VW is HP or Dell. They are only bought because they are useful and/or part of a large contract. Nobody rents a VW Passat for their rap video.
Now, someone with a better understanding than me please tell me: why in the world is VW not going all in on electric? They are even lobbying for an extension of the right to sell petrol cars. Are they so badly trapped that they have to stall change in the market in desperate hopes they can eventually catch up again?
I worked in the german auto industry ten years ago, left the industry just after dieselgate.
I asked my boss why they don't go full speed on electric, or even hybrid. He said I would do diesel until my pension. That really didn't age well.
My take on germans is that they take a great deal of time to create a plan, and then they implement it and never change it anymore. VW probably has their plan set out, and cannot change course until they hit the wall.
>stall change in desperate hopes they can eventually catch up
Worse! They hoped they wouldn't need to, because "EVs are a fad."
VW was toast the moment they took Herbert Diess out back to be shot. They had a visionary leader, but the org chart was just too calcified. Classic Innovator's Dilemma situation.
I understand a couple of things about VW: they are huge, partly state owned and have had historically strong commitments to workers. Today, they are facing strong competition from Chinese car makers selling boring cars at affordable prices.
Generally one could say the time of the car as a fetishized product is coming to an end. Car design will converge like phones and laptops. Some people will buy Apple, some will buy Framework. But VW is HP or Dell. They are only bought because they are useful and/or part of a large contract. Nobody rents a VW Passat for their rap video.
Now, someone with a better understanding than me please tell me: why in the world is VW not going all in on electric? They are even lobbying for an extension of the right to sell petrol cars. Are they so badly trapped that they have to stall change in the market in desperate hopes they can eventually catch up again?
I worked in the german auto industry ten years ago, left the industry just after dieselgate. I asked my boss why they don't go full speed on electric, or even hybrid. He said I would do diesel until my pension. That really didn't age well.
My take on germans is that they take a great deal of time to create a plan, and then they implement it and never change it anymore. VW probably has their plan set out, and cannot change course until they hit the wall.
Institutionalized Waterfall as culture.
VW was toast the moment they took Herbert Diess out back to be shot. They had a visionary leader, but the org chart was just too calcified. Classic Innovator's Dilemma situation.