Too much reliance on cheap power from Russia and old industries:
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LOL
Old industries? They built a lot of wealth in Germany.
Before that they built a lot of wealth in the US.
Now again they will build a lot of wealth in the US.
Stop drinking cool aid.
VWâs problem is it has been seized by Welchism. The CEO in the 90s went into âempire buildingâ mode and loaded the company with redundant divisions and vanity projects. Has VW pruned the redundancies and waste?
VW product quality has declined sharply too. In 2022, globally, VW paid out 3.9% of sales in warranty claims. Ford, which is pilloried for high warranty claims, only paid out 2.9%. Hyundai, with itâs repeated issues with defective engines, paid out 2.8%. Honda paid out 1.2%. Toyota paid out 0.7% of sales in warranty claims. Has VW moved to improve quality?
A year back, the VW CFO laid out their plan going forward: move the brand âup marketâ, ie charge more for their products. I watched a couple UK road tests of the T-Roc, a small CUV offered in the EU. The testers pointed out the cheap, hard, plastic, in the interior, and incredulously noted that VW demands over 30,000 Pounds for such a cheaply appointed car.
Instead of clearing out the redundancies and waste, improving quality, and offering better value to customers, they are using the McKinsey playbook of taking money out of the line workers.
Steve
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As a buyer of their products for many years I have to agree with that. The group was noted for quality but other manufacturers have caught up.
My Q5 with 11,000 miles on the clock now needs an expensive gearbox repair and itâs out of warranty 
How is the warranty less than 12,000 miles? Thatâs ridiculous.
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Over two years old - the warranty period when I bought it new.
From 1st Jan. 2022 Audi (UK) now have a four year or 50,000 miles warranty period.
OHâs Kia had a very good seven year warranty and this is where I might be looking in future
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The EA211 engine that is used in the US market Jetta and Taos, used to be fairly decent. Since they increased the displacement to 1.5L, and increased the compression ratio, in 2022, the engines started blowing their head gaskets around 15,000 miles. VW issued a TSB in August of 2023 about it, and announced a redesigned head gasket. My question is, does the new gasket really solve the problem, or does the âimproved gasketâ only last until about 40,000 miles? Of course, the other question is how the heck did such an inadequate head gasket ever pass testing and enter production? Or donât they do any testing anymore, because it costs money?
SteveâŚwho is delighted with his VW, but then, itâs 10 years old.
The UK conservatives.
Labour comes to power and the warrantee is better.
Labour were not in power in 2022
what do you make of the AfD? will it right Germany economically and geopolitically? It appears it is quite popular especially in the east.
Wouldnât Germany benefit economically if it can have a good relationship with Russia? But of course they have to convince the Baltics and PolandâŚwhich does not think they can have a good relationship with Russia, and are calling the US for more aids.
The AfD has become popular due to the massive rise in illegal immigration and the subsequent problems that this has brought. It is getting so out of control that the current German government is bringing in stringent border controls:
Good relations with Russia benefited Germany a lot until the Ukraine âproblemâ.
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Yes thatâs right.
The US says that the Germans now realize how âwrongâ they were to depend on Russia for its energy needs. But it made sense, and still makes sense geographically. Also, it is of common interests to strive for better relationship amongst neighbors. Why should Germany and the rest of Europe not be close to Russia?
That is a situation that the US does not want, and the Ukraine war is the result.
It is of the interests of the US to keep Europe weak and constantly dangle the threat of the big bad Bear. But is Russia really a threat to the rest of Europe? That is what Europeans should ask themselves rather than accept the current situation. After all Russia is mostly in Europe and historically is European.
The US ever since the end of WWII has aided militarily and economically western Europe against Russia so much so that it has become dependent on it. Now the Cold War has ended, the US is much less interested to be involved directly in Europe but it still wants to keep Russia out. So it aligns proxies to do their bidding.
The AfD does not want Germany to be one of those because they donât see the interests of Germany well served in such a position.
Poland (and the Baltics) are on the other hand are quite eager to be one of those fearing the âbig bad Bearâ at their borders.
Immigration is a domestic issue that has been well popularized in the media. The current German government still wants to be a supplicant of the US so they have to tell the voting Germans how bad they are, and not to let the AfD rise.
my take.
tj
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I tend to agree with your views on how we got here, however, a lot of people in Western Europe want to keep Russia at a respectable distance. As Shakespeare wrote âHe who sups with the Devil should have a long spoonâ.
Iâve traveled through Russia and talked to a few Russians, none of which liked the way Russia was run, or the people in charge there.
I did notice a large number of German cars on the road in Russia, something that I also witnessed in China.
yes I think he wrote that but wasnât that saying even older? from Chaucer?
It is not that clear to all who is the Devil.
In the US, there is a definite Russiaphobia. Why should that be?
German cars are sold everywhere in the world including in the US. Germany like China are export countries. They sell things for others to buy.
I guess another commonality is that Russia, China and Germany are continental powers whereas the US is a maritime power. Such facts are due to geography. Geography determines a lot of things for a state.
what do you think of AfDâs foreign policy?
tj
Uhmmm, I remember quite clearly that Russia had recognized and agreed with Ukraine as to borders, including both the Donbas and Crimea as part of Ukraine not Russia.
Russia decided that Ukraine needed to be part of Russia and invaded with sudden murderous force.
âŚ.and this thread is bloathering on about autos and that it makes sense for nations to have reasonable trade relations and so we should side with Putin?
Nah.
d fb
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I think that there was also an agreement about NATO not moving eastwards:
There was also the CIAâs involvement in Ukraine, helping overthrow a pro Russian government:
https://www.cato.org/commentary/washington-helped-trigger-ukraine-war#
I wonder what the USA would do if China was interfering in Mexicoâs affairs and trying to turn it into a Chinese outpost.
Russia still has the scars from WW2 and there is still an active debate there about the numbers who died. Latest figures come out a about 30 million or 15% of the population. If 15% of the USAâs population died after an invasion (about 50 million people) then this might have left some kind of lasting impression. Look at the map. From Ukraine you have a straight run into European Russia.
Lesson - Donât poke the Russian bear!
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Follow this more carefully that is why the warrantee was worse.