https://www.theguardian.com/business/article/2024/sep/07/an-earthquake-at-volkswagen-and-a-crisis-for-germany
The company is seen as crucial not just to local but national wellbeing – and never before have its workers been threatened in their own homeland like this
The German automotive industry became "victim" of its own political success. Instead of being exposed to the shifting markets and forcing real innovation, they lobbied successfully against changing regulatory frameworks. The article mentions an expert saying there is little economic reason to produce in Germany.
The German economy relies on meaningful innovation and it has been the driver of its success in the 50s-70s. By falling behind on that key competence, the automotive industry is dismantling itself.
However because of its political power, the automotive industry is not only dismantling itself, it is destroying the entire economy with it. Germany used to be leader in Solar and Wind power production. Then in the 2010-2012 China pressured Germany to let these industries fall apart, as it otherwise would create trade barriers for German car makers. Now China is dominating renewables and on top of it is taking the automotive industry away.
I am working in the automotive industry, so I mind a little bit. But I wouldn't mind changing to a job in a different industry.
Are y'all German? I rarely hear Germans have any criticism on English web for Merkel, the regime or the idiotic state aid and industrial policies until recently... Now it's like a fucking wave people asking these questions with out that bullshit German bootlicking, mutti Merkel great 🤡
The Merkel era is what brought us into this heap of shit. It was almost 2 decades of trying to maintain a status quo. No investments in critical infrastructure at all. I appreciated Merkel's professionalism (Scholz is a moron) but that's about it.
And before that it was Schröder (a corrupt Putin buddy) and Kohl (Merkel's mentor who also mainly kept the status quo intact and lucked upon the reunification which led to an economic upturn). Germany is at a standstill since the 90s.
That is incorrect. Most of the people complaining also dislike Merkel for different reasons and disliked her when she was chancellor.
Et voilà, this is where the uncritical neoliberalism of the CDU took VW and Germany. Of course they are not going to close the Polish or Hungarian factories, not when they successfully lobbied Orbán's government to effectively abolish overtime pay and restrictions.
I wonder who the folks in Wolfsburg voted for.
I'm not disagreeing, but could you elaborate what's the rough process that took place which you believe led to the present state? Not a German, don't know enough to figure it out myself.
This has nothing to do with Hungary. VW alienated themselves from their core products/customers and started building luxury cars and ditching all the affordable options. This means they were domestically competing against the established luxury brands such as BMW, Mercedes and Audi. Since that's nowhere near a big enough market, they heavily relied on the Chinese market. They also completely fucked up the EV segment. Our minister of economy (?) Habeck predicted in 2019 that exactly this would happen to VW if they didn't bring an affordable EV on the market. Now that China doesn't give a fuck about VW anymore because they have their own luxury cars that also perform better, VW is fucked.
I've started typing up a half page rant, but I kept going on getting sidetracked. With Orbán et al. there is always another blatant theft or scandal that is hard to leave unsaid. Imagine 20 years of Trump, and you get the idea. I'll try to sum it up in short.
With Merkel, basically what happened was that for decades she covered for Orbán stealing EU money and blatantly using a lot of it for propaganda to cement an authoritarian system, in exchange for said system eroding workers' rights and continuously inflating the HUF against the EUR to keep wages down for German firms. Basically, Merkel and Orbán made Hungary into a nearshoring centre for German industry.
And now when the market ebbs for VW, of course they are not going to close the Hungarian factories that they broke the unions in and can basically demand unlimited overtime, and can pay wages in a currency at an all-time weak point against the EUR.
VW announced a $5B joint venture with Rivian a couple months ago. Wonder how all this will affect that deal?
https://www.theverge.com/2024/6/25/24185946/vw-rivian-joint-venture-investment-software-r2
VW will continue its slow decline. Rivian will accelerate its decline until it collapses and is sold-off for parts.
Why am I getting the sense that Angela Merkel made an enormous mess of Germany in the energy sector in so many different ways?
From sucking on the kremlin's pipeline, lowering Germany's guard to corrupt and corrupting russian influence, to negotiating the short end of Beijing's stick on renewables as stated in this article, I get this nagging sense of tepid myopia, of giving free reign to immediate corporate appetites and impulses, as if tomorrow wasn't coming soon to cash its' checks.
The more time passes, the more corrosively mediocre her legacy seems to become.
See here... corporations don't know what is best for them in five years, ten years, all they always care about is "Gimme more more MORE MORE...! Gimme now now NOW NOW...!", they have to be monitored and guided like impulsive children that might drink the goddamned bleach under the kitchen sink, they might start playing with matches and burn the whole goddamned house down.
As someone who embraces "fuck cars", this happening is necessary and innevitable to transition to the world I would like to live in. I hope that the people working there won't become homeless and stuff, that they find new jobs and that the money saved by not centering society around cars can be put to better use.
Anything to come out of Germany at that time will have ties to the Nazis. A German car company being ran by Nazis 80-90 years ago isn't particularly shocking. So were bakeries. Doesn't mean baking a cake makes you a Nazi.
And this, while not being good news, has literally nothing to do with Nazism.
What even is this comment lol
Bigger issue is that many German elites made their money during nazi times and they were never punished for their role since US needed allies to rule west Germany.
This similar to the US where slaver families are still very much part of the ruling class. And slave capital is the foundation of us industrial prowess.
Again, completely unrelated to the running of VW in 2024.
E: lol my below comment got removed for me saying moving a car factory, while being bad, isn't Nazism.
To which ever mod removed it: fuck your censorship. You are being a cunt.
Trivialising the Nazis and their actions by equivocating it with moving a car factory. You are pathetic.
If you genuinely think moving a car factory is equivelant to exterminating undesirables and installing a dictatorship, you need to get a life, you absolute moron.
My previous comment was removed for being anti-Nazi or something, idk. I was never given an explanation. Weird and disappointing behaviour from a mod. It shouldn't be controversial to think Nazis are bad. But I guess this is the world we live in now.
But no, not "completely". Completely.
The quotes make it seem like moving a car factory is in fact tantamount to Nazism. Which it isn't. Only a fool would think that moving a car factory is tantamount to installing a brutal warmongering dictatorship that systematically murders religious and ethnic minorities, the disabled, etc.
You need to brush up on your history if you think the Nazis are bad because they moved factories about.
I deleted the comment because of the ad-hominem insult ("are you the biggest fuckwit?"). Please do look into the mod log before making such accusations.
Where can I see this? I'm looking about but can't find any mod log. Usually mods would inform commenters if they censor thsm, rather than do it silently.
Why were other comments removed, in that case? E.g. I don't see how "I don't think you know what Nazism means", in reply to a person who thinks moving a car factory is Nazi ideology is an example of rule breaking.
And apologies for the pedantry, but an ad hominem is when you dismiss someone's argument by attacking their character or their motivations. That's not what I did. I explained why their argument ('moving factories is Nazism') is absurd, then asked if they were a fuckwit. I didn't call them a fuckwit and leave it at that.
Rude? Yeah tbh it was, and I guess that's against a rule. But it's certainly not an ad hominem, and I kind of take issue with people seeking to minimise and whitewash Nazis, and tbh, I will be unapologetically rude to people who do that. I think Nazis are bad.
You are still ignoring key fact that a family who made their fortunes as nazis are still a key shareholders of major German publically traded company.
Aa for VW plans to shut down factories is a separate issue.
My response was the cavalier attitude that germans have about their elites and how they went completely without punishment.
Common German bootlicker sees no issue with this, rest of people are tired of this behavior. American slavers and Germany nazis got away with the crime because "capital"
No, nobody is going to just "completely" move on.
No amount of stupid books written by some cucked historians to white wash this history going to fix bad historical facts for the German elites. I am surprised regular Germany is this will to larp this propaganda
You are still ignoring key fact that a family who made their fortunes as nazis are still a key shareholders of major German publically traded company.
This is the first time you've mentioned it to me directly. I haven't ignored it.
And again, what's the relevance? Yeah some people who were Nazis 85 years ago had a business. Now in 2024 their descendants are still rich and still invested.
What does this have to do with news that VW is considering moving a factory?
How is this proof of present-day Nazism within the VW group? Can you point to any Nazism? Do you have proof? Because your original comment was about VW effectively being a Nazi organisation making Nazi moves.
What is it you want? People today being punished by the government based on the sins of their ancestors? If so, I certainly hope nobody in your family tree has ever been a criminal.
My response was the cavalier attitude that germans have about their elites and how they went completely without punishment.
Common German bootlicker sees no issue with this, rest of people are tired of this behavior. American slavers and Germany nazis got away with the crime because "capital"
No, nobody is going to just "completely" move on.
No amount of stupid books written by some cucked historians to white wash this history going to fix bad historical facts for the German elites. I am surprised regular Germany is this will to larp this propaganda
Sounds like you should be expressing this opinion on a submission about the postwar period in Germany, not on a submission about a car factory possibly being moved, which is a completely and utterly unrelated matter.
E: more removed comments. Can I at least get an explanation, please?
No, not "completely". "completely" implies they secretly want to exterminate jews/LGBTQ people/gypsies/the disabled, etc. I.e. that they're Nazis.
I said completely.
Because only the biggest fuckwit on Lemmy would believe that being a profit-seeking car company is tantamount to being a literal Nazi. Are you the biggest fuckwit on Lemmy?
I am highlighting the fact that German elites have a lot people who made money during nazi times by actively collaborating with the regime.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Porsche%E2%80%93Pi%C3%ABch_family
Ain't this family still key shareholdrr of the group?
Didn't their grand daddy or some shit collaborated with nazis and used slave labour for manufacturing equipment for the german war crimes?
"Completely"
I have the impression that you're just trying to derail here. Yes, Nazi fortunes in German industry are a fact but: How does the presence of Nazi money impact e.g. VW's (lack of) success in electric cars?
Ultimately, money is money, no matter where it originally came from. And investors generally invest to get a return. And VW is acting like basically any other capitalist company.