Can Volkswagen survive? | DW News 

Years of a lack of real competition and sheer arrogance of superiority have lead to the downfall of many car manufacturers, especially the EU and US household names.

If you make some mistakes, just blame China.

German cars aren’t of good value any more. They are not luxurious or of high quality, they are just expensive to own.

Isn't the elephant in the room the fact that VW and German cars in general tend to be very expensive to buy and to run if you include things like genuine spare parts?

Volkswagen be like: its China's fault that no one wants our expensive bad cars.

German cars: when you have to program a spare part to work on your car

A car should never cost as much as a house.

Price war? lol Just cause european companies decide to increase all their prices doesn't mean other countries have to follow

VW was counting on profits from sales in China to carry the cost of making cars in the west. The sales in China have dropped 50% and will not return as VW does not make compelling BEV.

Tesla is the best selling EV in the EU. But let's blame China...

I saw in a CNBC video that China has 130 EV manufacturers competing against each other. That’s why the prices are so low and the rate of innovation is so high. The oligopolies in the West have been completely caught flat flooted.

The truth is that the European consumer is at a breaking point in the face of all these companies gouging prices in the aim of record high profits. For the past 5 years, the prices all over the spectrum have risen by tens of percents, doubled in many cases, while wages have barely budged if at all. In this situation, the consumer has no other option than to look for cheaper alternatives. Of course, tariff war is not the solution to this. Increasing the prices of chinese cars will only push the consumer towards the used car market and will not do anything for the amount of new VW vehicles sold. Instead of looking at the billions of € that these companies' executives are pocketing each year, they will try and pay the bill from the consumer's pocket, which is already empty.

Will VW become the Kodak of automotive industry?

The tariffs protect the companies, not the consumer. In a hyperinflation age with a real push towards EV’s and high taxes on ICE cars, a cheap Chinese EV car that complies with EU safety regulations is a great deal.

Carzy that Brussels and Europe decide to tax these affordable EV's while at the same time, in Belgium for example there are so many subsidies for EV too. They want, by as early as 2030 to be able to sell no new cars that aren't Electric. It just doesn't make any sense, they tell all of us to buy EV's but then prohibit us from buying the only affordable ones that come on the market. The price of the lowest trim "affordable" EV in Belgium is a joke compared to those from China, even more when you see what you get from EU brands and what they offer in China in comparison.

China increasingly sounding like Japan in the 70s and 80s and Korea in the 80s and 90s. Unfortunately the West wasn't able to subjugate China like they did with Korea and Japan.

I doubt China is giving out 20.000 EUR coupons for every car.

Herbert Diess tried to prepare VW for this. He knew what was coming and tried to get VW ahead of the issue and the VW unions got him fired for it.

German car companies have been selling cars, which never make the top 5 in JD Power reliability surveys, at extortionate prices for years. Many of the BEV cars they make have poor range, yet cost far more than than the average buyer can afford. Welcome to the real world.

If VW had every car hit 600.000 km for a fair price this wouldn’t be an issue. Paying for quality is fair, paying for something that needs major repairs due to standard wear and tear is unacceptable.

VW losing sales... good. Their car prices are grossly over inflated with dismal engine options.

If they have a good product, consumers will not switch.

Get rid of high pay ceos😂😂😂

Is German car industry going the same way as the Uk did in the 70s 80s

"To save the European manufacturers"? You meant to say "To prevent the European people from saving money".

Tariff on china will only hurt european customer more

*VW screwed up the transition to BEV*

The German Auto industry spent a decade resisting EVs. Now they are paying the price for falling behind.

Good economy = Expand , Bad economy = Close plant 😂 VW prices is always the more expensive ones , bad economy = cheaper wins

Every country has subsidies to support preferred industries. VW has had a long history of government subsidies, but had not invested in EV tech. They thought their cars would never fall from favour, just like Nokia and Kodak before them. Firing Herbert Diess a couple of years ago was the death blow to the German Auto Industry.

There's been a kind of arrogance with legacy EU car manufacturers in that they think their brand names will sell their cars for them, including VW. These days consumers want more for their money and care less about brand names.

When Tesla opened its factory in Berlin, it was the final warning. The rest is history.

Ironically, Volkswagen Group's excess profits in China are an important reason why German jobs back home are guaranteed. The Chinese market is "feeding" the German auto industry. If German auto workers want to maintain their high income and welfare, the whole industry must integrate into the Chinese market more actively. Imposing tariffs on Chinese cars will only weaken the competitiveness of Chinese-made German cars in the international market, the less profit Chinese-made German cars make, the fewer jobs German locals will have. The EU's so-called "de-risking" not only kills its own auto industry, but also destroys its own jobs.

All this lead to VW crying for more government funding isn’t this all about?

It is odd that the industry response to the rise of the EV was to deny and delay. That's not any sort of strategy. It wasn't only VW.

some decades ago, VW was a entry level car brand with affordable prioces and good quality. they decided to reposition the brand on more expensive car. it is just that people cannot afford cars that expensive. the chinese one are still at much lower price and that is what makes the difference. EV or not EV is just an artificial thing from the political area, price is what drive the purchase for most of the people.

German cars have shot up in price in 20 years, they used to be worth it due to build quality and reliability, we all know things have changed.. €30,000 for a decently specced Polo is insanity. What's happening now was inevitable and a consequence of corporate greed, and sadly it's the workers that'll suffer the most, as usual.

Let's be clear, the German industry is built on cheap Russian energy. With low energy cost and German engineering it is phenomenal. But now, not only the industry sector, all are expensive, German industry is losing its compatitives, VW is not the first, wouldn't be the last. Please Getman people take care of your own life, stop being a moral model.

From a company that has shafted its customer for years with expensive parts and closed software , i have no sympathy for them.

It's hard to feel sorry for someone who deliberately sabotages their own natural gas pipeline.

Stop blaming China if u can't innovative.....

Brand new cars shouldn't cost more than £20,000 with good specs.

Most important is now to don’t panic and give the managers a bonus first before taking any rushed decisions. 😂

I read everywhere that Europeans talk about BYD, it seems that you don't know anything else. In Russia, they sell about 25 brands (not models!), of which about 10 are EV. And in China, there are more than a hundred brands. You can draw your own conclusions.

I am 40+ years old and I have a driver's license from the age of 18 - I live in one of the Baltic countries. All my life I have lived with the belief that only cars made in Germany are the best in the world and I never looked at others - my first car was already at the age of 18 - a Volkswagen Jetta (no extras, but the car was cheap to maintain and simple - as a young person, I couldn't ask for anything more). Then, after a few years, I allowed myself something more exclusive - Audi (B4) - then it seemed that I had moved to a completely different level of car and I was very satisfied with the comfort and of course I considered Audi to be a nicer car than Volkswagen. Later in life, I bought an Audi A3. In the meantime, I got married and we had a growing family - the Audi A3 became too small for us - I started looking for a new car in 2023 - of course I started going to Volkswagen and Audi car dealerships (my wife's question is why do I only look at cars made in Germany? I I didn't even engage in long discussions at all and simply said that they are the best in the world and that's all). But when I went to the showroom and sat in some Volkswagen cars T-Cross, T-Roc, and especially, which I liked visually, the Taigo, I was shocked that the car has such a small capacity that I immediately had to delete them from my list of desired cars. When I looked at the models of the Audi brand, I realized that it is better for me to buy a small apartment than to throw money away for an Audi just because it is an Audi, or for a Volkswagen Tiguan, the starting price of which in the dealer center without extras was around 42,000 euros. For several months I was thinking about what would be better to buy from German products - until finally my wife persuaded me to try to sit in a car made by another country - the first to fall was the KIA Sportage - amazing, but I liked the car. But then I tried the Nissan Quashqai - the car is not big, but not too small either. Comfortable, visually attractive and most importantly not expensive + operating costs are also relatively low. And what happened? In 2024, after 22 years of loyalty to German-made cars, I switched to Japanese-made Nissan, which I didn't even look at a while ago - and what will I do in 5-7 years? I will probably buy a new car, but the first thing I will look at will be Nissan again. Admittedly, the wife has a BMW X6, but we are starting to think about selling it, because it is a very expensive pleasure.

The EU has enriched the German car industry and economy at the expense of customers

Do not blame China. Blame VW and Europe. VW and Europe/West was extremely slow to response to the shift to EV. Even if Chinese companies do not sell a single car in Europe, VW and other western cars companies are will have a difficult time.

Tesla sells more cars in Europe but lets blame China.

The courts may be finished punishing VW for their huge lies about diesel emissions, but I have not. I will never buy one of their products, new or used due to their arrogance toward its customers and the environment. I don't think I'm alone in this sentiment.

It's either we invest OR get rid of the Electoral College and let We the People of the United States of America choose our own leaders!

VW is closing the factories before China imports any of their EVs. So you can't blame it on China. 😂😂😂

Herbert Diess knew all of it long ago.

Trying to say that high energy prices does not contribute to this failure is a blatant lies, not moving and reinvesting in new R and D in automotive had left Volks wagen behind they had the capital to invest in reasearch and development on Electric vehicle early, but they did not take the initiatives, they did not secure new supply chains, for cheaper and more competitive outcomes, they did not and failed to develop new or integrate new ideas to the products, and Ultimately, they preferred the status quo.

This is self-sabotage from European car makers.

VW use to be a good quality brand at affordable prices.... but I guess they got toooooooooooo greedy

If Germany and German car manufacturers were smart, they would already have teamed up with Chinese manufacturers, combining German brands with Chinese technology, which would have bought them time to reorient their business and catch up in EV technology. In fact, some of this is already happening but not nearly enough scale and commitment and mostly aimed at sales in the Chinese market. German car manufacturers need to implement this across the board for all brands and in all markets, not the least in Germany itself if they want to survive. Unfortunately for German car manufacturers, the current German government is held captive by the anti-China Greens who do not want to see any cooperation with China...

CEOs in these big firms care only short term profits to appease the shareholders. This is the result of their shortsightness.

I get very angry when I see a Volkswagen ID3 costs 20000 € in China and 40000€ In Europe. There are Exporteurs that offered China ID7 at competetive price and Volkswagen took legal Actions against that.

Lessons from Nokia and Kodak Things change, time changes. People change, life changes. Time changes things, Life changes people. - Aline Alzime

*VW and BMW laughed at Elon,* just nine years ago. *They aren’t laughing now are they?*

Why do you keep saying is 🇨🇳 fault?…Germany has given and plan to give subsidies to Volkswagen, part of the problem is that the expenses have increased, but it was Germany the one that decided to get energetic resources and raw materials required for their car industry from more expensive alternatives …applying sanctions against their most important and reliable supplier (Russia), not to mention that Germany took advantage of the cheap Russian prices for decades. The delay of development, low degree of innovation and higher costs are not exactly what customers want. Stop blaming others

Why DW didn’t mention about the energy surge contributed to the decrease of competitiveness of German auto manufacturers in global stage?

Tschüss VW 😅 BYD is now opening a factory in Türkiye and also in Hungary.

Why not sumarize to the bare reality: The Chinese product is just better and cheaper and declining Germany is not able to compete. Well, thanks to subservience to Washington obviously.

Car= Labour + Energy + Parts. The first 2 are too expensive in Germany. Stop blaming others...

The Chinese EVs such as BYDs are very good. I still have my VW ICE, but we’ll be getting another EV BYD to replace her.

Where is the Id.2, they haven’t even launched a mainstream electric car yet, but they’ve given up already?

Its not all Gloom and Doom, The workers can work at all the Chinese plants making cars coming to the EU.

0:11 I was there when VW, BMW and Mercedes was offered to buy BYD. They told them we can do it cheaper and better.. what nonsense is this?

The real cause is the VW management and board. Did they not waste billions in paying out fines for the emissions scandal. Instead of trying to cheat the system and getting caught, they could have invested in EV manufacturing infrastructure and R&D to better tackle the EV market.

One phrase “Dieselgate”……Poor VW.

The fact that greed led to waiting too long to develop affordable EV alternatives is a massive own goal.

A simple term is VW couldn’t compete in this EV world. So we blame the competitors, not your short vision.

How many horse drawn carriage companies transitioned to internal combustion engines 120 years ago

The consumer decides. Not Volkswagen not Politics. We want affordable Electric Cars. China has it. Thank You China 👍🌹🌹🌹

Oh, I just thought it was because the OEMs just went nuts with pricing and customers are just fed up and looking for an alternative? Why is it so that cars can be soooo much cheaper all over the globe comparing to EU?

German cars earn about 50 billion yuan in profits from China every year. In addition, Germany has a large number of auto parts suppliers, such as Bosch Group, ZF Transmission, Schaeffler Group, Continental Group, Mahle, Deutz, Getrag, etc., all of which have also made huge profits from the Chinese market. The total of these profits is estimated to exceed 100 billion yuan. In other words, Germany's net profit from China is 100 billion yuan, about 15 billion US dollars, from 2000 to 2024, an average of 360 billion US dollars. Assuming that the losses due to various reasons are reduced by 60 billion US dollars, the total revenue for more than 20 years is at least about 300 billion US dollars. Before 2020, German cars made hundreds of billions of dollars in China: this is our credit. After 2020, the revenue in the Chinese market has continued to decline: China is bad, China does not follow the rules. Whose rules? German or American rules?

Labour its expensive in Germany...now Energy its also expensive! WHY BLAME China for this?!?

💀Legacy auto 💀 Kodak! Nokia! Blockbuster! Sears! Taxis! The only car manufacturers left in 5 years are Tesla and Chinese ev manufacturers

Just a perspective from Brazil, I have family members who owns a VW, they say it's reliable, but the price and spare parts are always higher than GM or Fiat.

So it was fine when VW sold its cars into China, but not when it’s the other way round😂

Ich wurde in der Stadt Potsdam geboren, aber die deutsche Regierung verweigerte mir aufgrund meines Geburtsortes die Staatsbürgerschaft! Ich bin sehr glücklich! Bald wird der gängige Ausdruck lauten: „Ein Deutscher, der für eine Schüssel Reis arbeitet.“

VW does not lose to the price war of the competition. Losing time by defending an old technology instead of concentrating on the new one got them behind. They lost to the ignorance of their board of directors, not to the labour costs or any other convenient excuses.

"Tariffs too little too late to protect EU manufacturers". No. The problem is management of those companies having chosen to lobby against emissions regulations and cheat, rather than focusing on the transition to EVs at scale. Paying out dividends and cashing bonuses, rather than investing in the transition. VW even fired Herbert Diess who did see the challenge to slow down the needed actions. The failure of these managers to see and understand what was coming is almost criminal. If there are any bail-outs, which seems almost inevitable now, there has to be a claw back covering all bonuses and dividends from the last 15 years.

It’s too late to save Volkswagen … dead man walking.

Of course it is China's fault.. the world's best selling brand is Toyota, but the downfall of VW has to be China's fault..

VW is finished😮 Overpriced and uncompetitive practice.

Germany workers work only 35 hours a week, job protection for last 30 years, and still have the face to ask 7% salary increase. Does German Auto workers think they were the only people in the world who knows how to build a car? Silly, Greedy and Laziness.

VW will survive similar faith as GM which will depend on government bail and overseas manufacturing.

They knew that for years and only tried to offset it with other markets with no plans for when other countries brands are catching up.

Das Woke Auto is not doing so well. I noticed their adverts went Woke where I live. Always bought good reliable German cars, poor reliability and repairs costs have turned me off, my next car will be my first Japanese car, Toyota.

In Europe, our manufacturing industries are losing competitiveness. The focus should be solely here in my opinion. We can decide to put tariffs and lock our own internal market but we will be reciprocally pushed out from exports markets many of our companies are dependent on. It is not clear yet if it is a good tradeoff. There does not seem to be a consensus from industry leaders. As Europeans we should not be overly self-centered. Blaming China for unfair subsidies irrespective if valid or not, does not resonate with consumers nor impacts the purchasing choices in the rest of the world.

This is what pisses me off about the Tesla haters: If had stood on my driveway, with my friends, and said; My new car has 500HP, O-60 in 3.6s but does 110mpg and is silent. It doesn’t need services and has more interior space than the X5 it replaced …. They would all be agast. Impressed beyond belief… But when I say it’s a Tesla, they all sneer and get very grumpy! Petulant child-like. “Elon should shut his bloody mouth” “That thing will catch fire” “Doesn’t he support Trump?” “Car parks can’t stand the weight” “It depreciates fast” “Takes hours to charge” “You’ll need new batteries in two years and they cost £30K” “You can’t cross Europe in it” Utter imbeciles…

The incredibly expensive energy cost in Germany now is not helping. Angela’s reign is not aging well

They refuse to innovate. They continue to live in their past glory. Many more car brands are going to close.

Was it too late or useless anyways? What difference can it make had it been implemented a year ago? Chinese EV manufacturers weren’t even up to the scale where they are now. They weren’t even exporting a year ago.

If this is a problem wait till Autonomous Driving comes around the corner!

The ignorance of some people here is mind boggling - if you can't compete, blame others. If you believe VW can't survive in Germany because of unfair Chinese subsidies, how come VW reaps huge profits in China? Chinese government must be subsidizing VW then. Lol

Beatrix Keim delivers a harsh truth here. But it's better to be clear so as to understand the task. Volkswagen and Toyota's denial have lost the time they needed. They are acting like the horse breeders and cart makers in the 1900s attached to what they know. Sacking Diess was a critical error. Only geopolitical factors and luck with tech breakthroughs can potentially save them in my opinion. By 2030s EVs will be a magnitude better than ICE and cheaper. The Koreans have already committed. Hard to see all Euro and Japanese legacy automakers survive. Trade barriers buy them some time at most. The Chinese will focus on the rest of the world and become huge. Then they set up factories in Europe and take much of the European markets. At least Germany has skilled autowokers...

The plant workers did nothing wrong. Management failed to plan for the rise of Chinese EV, marketing/sales failed to sell, software failed to deliver. But not plant workers.