By VW’s own admission – they only have “one… maybe two years” to get things back on track. Unfortunately, that’s seemingly nowhere in the pipeline given their current product line & leadership. And for that reason, I feel like I see the potential writing on the wall here. It pains me to say it, but: Within the next 6 years, I wouldn’t be surprised if one of China’s top carmakers takes a controlling stake in the troubled Volkswagen Group.
VW would continue to operate as VW…
Same for the other Volkswagen Group brands like Audi, Porsche Lamborghini, etc. And to the average consumer, most won’t really be the wiser (like Volvo now). But the positioning this would give China is immense. 1) It would allow said Chinese carmaker full access into the US, which is the 2nd largest car market behind China. And 2) they could do it without ever having to bring a “Chinese car” to America.
Generally speaking, Chinese-made vehicles come with a stigma…
But this would offer a loophole around that stigma AND the tariffs that come with a Chinese vehicle. Not only that, but the parent company (likely BYD or Geely) would be able to produce cars in our already-existing North American plants, using North American workers (same for Europe). Remember – we handed this over on a silver platter when Western governments over-regulated & undermined the automotive industry… and for some reason the automotive industry did little to fight for itself. Or maybe in this case, Dieselgate was the catalyst lol.
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Dieselgate truly was a non-issue made into an issue by the deep state to get rid of the competition, as Harley and Hyundai did literally the same thing and were slapped on the wrist vs nailed to the cross.
Had it happened under Trump, we’d have diesel models vs PHEV & EV’s, a $22k TDI was a major threat to a Tesla as it cost much less and could go much further without needing a half hour to charge, hence why it had to be eliminated.
Had VW not had caved in and fought back, they’d be in a much better place, but by complying and submitting ages ago, they sealed their fate