Wednesday, November 23, 2016

Volkswagen is making a change in their portfolio of products.

It had been a very bad habit of the "W" administration to look the other way when it came to cutting safety margins on consumer products in the USA. The VW issue is only one of the many product failures inherited by the Obama Administration. 

The folly of allowing consumer products to be sold with product flaws that enhance illegitimate profits are lawsuits. Those lawsuits are legitimate and exist even with all the oppression of these legal remedies in the USA law. There is a basic underestanding of contract law when consumers purchase products, so these lawsuits are not going away. Among the sting felt by Wall Street corporations and companies it has been the auto industry witnessing their fair share. 

There is absolutely NO REASON to short change consumers on safety. It can cause the fail of a company in a profound way. When the consumers are at risk for injury or worse because of a product, that cannot tolerated. The Ameican people are also not guinea pigs to test the profit over consumer safety. One of the valued aspects within the culture of the American people is the striving for longevity. That striving has basis in a life insured by safety margins. Those margins are in place for a reason. Those safety margins have been developed over a century of time often beginning with the dissolution of child labor laws. This aspect of safety is culturally based in profoundly important precepts to the life of Americans.

What occurred with the VW errors in their product performance has caused senior management in Germany to rethink their strategy for products in the future. They have taken this concern for safety seriously and transformed it into a better strategy of their portfolio of products. I applaud VW and am looking forward to their new products. I strongly believe they are doing the very best for their company.

Americans love VW. It would not be the same in the USA if this company failed and did not come back to the auto market with wonderfully new models slated for future development. I can't wait. Thank you to VW for taking Americans seriously and the profound worry this country has about our safety including our climate. The future looks very promising.

November 21, 2016
Frankfurt, Germany -- Volkswagen announced plans Friday (click here) to cut 30,000 jobs in a wide-ranging restructuring of its namesake brand as it tries to recover from a scandal over cars rigged to cheat on diesel-emissions tests.
The German company said the job cuts, which account to about 5 percent of its global workforce, are part of a long-term plan to improve profitability and shift resources and investment to electric-powered vehicles and digital services.
At a news conference at Volkswagen's headquarters in Wolfsburg, company officials said 23,000 of the job cuts will be in Germany, and the measures will save about $4 billion a year from 2020.
Volkswagen employs about 120,000 people at its namesake brand in Germany.
The company also said it would hire 9,000 people related to new technology, and that some of those jobs could go to current employees.