Japanese and Korean auto workers work like robots, ultra efficient and have a level of correctness to their work few other countries can compare to, they also have to because the level of competition for employment in these countries is phenomenal. Manufacturers in these countries also have different values of how a car looks, drives, how easy it is to use and of course how reliable it is.

German auto workers in comparison still have a reasonably high level of these characteristics, however their values are more focused on the drivability, how comfortable is is to be in, how ergonomic it is/ease of use and of course how efficient the drive train is. There is less competition (in numbers) for auto work in Germany than compared to the other countries because there are many times less people there. Plus, it is hard for any manufacturer to do all good from one country, totally different cultures.

As for how well Volkswagen are going to fare in last half of the financial year, my prediction:

they will focus their efforts on small ultra efficient petrol and diesel engines which are a lot cheaper and which have far superior embodied energy/emission levels compared to more expensive and highly polluting hybrid drive trains. Combined with this the inclusion of an industry leading percentage of recycled components they should be in a position to float through the recession to pop out into the new generation of reasonably sustainable cars which don’t need more than one planet to produce cars on.

Affordable sustainable cars for the people is what a good manufacturer should be aiming for and a little birdie told me that the dub will be climbing the plateau sooner than latter if they go with that strategy.

Actually VW has announced a SALES DECLINE of 16% and PROFIT DROP of 74% for the first qtr.

So much for headlines and the real truth……
(Not that this phenonema is unique to CA)

Getreal, not a smart thing to say, especially with ANZAC day coming up.

We keep hearing that the market share of some of the world’s other major manufacturers (ie. GM & FordMoCo.) have plummeted, so it would stand to reason that their percentage of sales are going elsewhere. To VW perhaps….? Call me crazy but I think it’s a pretty logical.

Now, please continue discussing the varying quality of interior plastics…..