VW has "one... maybe two years" to get back on track

VW has “one… maybe two years” to get back on track. That’s what Volkswagen’s CFO/COO, Dr Arno Antlitz, admitted in front of about 25,000 employees at risk of losing their jobs. VW is potentially having to close down 2 plants in Germany, and that’s something they’ve never had to do in their history. Of course, Antlitz was quick to blame the post-Rona car market, saying that after the global chip shortage, the market just isn’t there anymore. Unfortunately though, Antlitz did NOT seem to fully-acknowledge what so many of us can see clearly – that VW’s product-line, energy, and cringey marketing has fallen flat. Antlitz said…

“We are short of around 500,000 cars, the equivalent of around 2 plants. And that has nothing to do with our products or poor sales performance. The market is simply no longer there.”

Ok. Well Daniela Cavallo from Volkswagen Works Council (the union) fired back, saying that VW employees are being forced to pay for the executives’ bad leadership.

While VW sales are slightly recovering in some markets like Europe, South America, and the US…

They don’t seem to be recovering where it really counts. For example, sales are down 8% in China. And China is the largest car market in the world… by a lot. China is double the US, which is ranked #2. To make matters worse – there’s a strong likelihood those Chinese sales numbers continue to slip-away for VW. That’s because the electric vehicle revolution gave a wide-open-lane to tech-forward domestic Chinese carmakers (like BYD & Geely). And as a result, China is buying more Chinese vehicles now… and the historical authenticity & prestige of European car brands has wained. To make matters worse (even more), back in VW’s home continent, European EV sales are down 15%. European consumers either 1) don’t want them, or 2) can’t afford them. And now, intensifying the situation, China has cracked into the European market with cheaper EVs. None of this is what VW gambled on. And now straight from the horse’s mouth… they have 1-to-2 years to get back on track.