Volkswagen

The scandal cost Volkswagen over **$33 billion** in global fines, settlements, and buybacks, forcing them to buy back roughly 350,000 cars in the US alone. CEO Martin Winterkorn resigned within days, VW pleaded guilty to US federal criminal charges, and several top executives and engineers served prison time. As part of its legal settlement, VW was forced to invest $2 billion into US electric charging infrastructure—creating Electrify America—which ultimately killed off their "Clean Diesel" lineup and forced the company's massive pivot into electric vehicle Image is from The guardian

Does this mean we will soon be able to buy reasonably priced cars again? Edit: /s for those that need it.

TBF, cars sold as a Volkswagen probably should. Does that mean Audi and Porsche should also adopt that design language? Probably not.

A menedzserek, azért kapnak majd még bónuszt.

They need to stop chasing the premium market, focus on decent quality and sharply priced products, like they did in mid 2000's. They really messed up with their ID range, but the ID7 actually looks like a decent product. I'd love to see them get a Polo sized hot EV out there for a reasonable price. Even just a standard EV Polo, look at the success of Renault 5.

Irony is that American, European and Asian automakers created this “monster”. They were all so desperate to get into the Chinese market, they gave away their tech. They all knew this day would come. They just kicked the can down road for the next generation to figure out. 🤷🏻‍♂️

Excerpt “This includes cutting around 50,000 positions, including management roles, it said, citing global competition, changing demands, and technological shifts. It also said it plans to streamline its leadership with a flatter hierarchy. It adds to [50,000 job cuts that were already approved](https://www.cnbc.com/2026/07/13/volkswagen-ceo-50000-job-cuts-may-be-needed-to-close-competitive-gap.html), bringing the total job reductions to 100,000.” I would start by immediately firing the communications teams which has made a mess out of the narrative for the past few years. All four including Sebastian and Pietro and of course the croonies Jens and Caroline

Everyone talking about China when VW is losing handily to Korean brands like Hyundai too. Hyundai made like 50% more profit and with a profit margin of 6.8% compared to VW's 2.8%.