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I guess I should have phrased it differently. Going forward, they don't seem competitive in comparison to Tesla and the upcoming Chinese competition. Selling a

I guess I should have phrased it differently. Going forward, they don't seem competitive in comparison to Tesla and the upcoming Chinese competition. Selling a lot of cars doesn't mean it's a profitable business. I am quite sure the German government will come up with new tariffs, subsidies and regulations to make it look as if they can continue to dominate the local market though, hurting consumers and the German industry even more along the way.

einr 3y ago
I guess I should have phrased it differently. Going forward, they don't seem competitive in comparison to Tesla and the upcoming Chinese competition. Phrased that way I would generally agree with you. I think not only European, Japanese and Korean brands but Tesla too is in for a bit of a rude awakening once all the Chinese stuff really hits Europe.
- TheLoafOfBread 3y ago
  Then Chinese stuff will get hit by tariffs, as it was the case with Chinese steel.
  - starbugs 3y ago
    Germany is not the US. We are not energy independent. In fact, we are not independent of anything other then water maybe. Germany is reliant on exports. Tariffs are not helpful there. If you can’t manufacture a product at competitive prices on the world market, Germany has no real business in manufacturing anything anymore unless in a war economy. As a leading economy in the EU you might have the means to stretch that out for some time, but ultimately this makes matters worse in the end. Germany is currently trying to subsidize what remains of the industry at the cost of consumers. This is already causing substantial backlash from consumers, voters and even the federal courts. Good luck with all of that.
fxtentacle 3y ago
Politics was, luckily for VW, very successful at massively delaying Vinfast's market entry with regulations. Otherwise, that electrical 5-seat SUV for only €17600 would have been a massive problem for German car companies. It's like 70% cheaper than an ID.4 and people will probably accept a lot of small hiccups for that amount of money saved.
- starbugs 3y ago
  The state and VW are quite intertwined, so I guess our politicians will not stop before they have driven this whole thing into the ground completely. Ultimately, I believe this will be a good thing for Germany in the long run. But for quite some while, this will cause substantial pain to a lot of German citizens.
hilux 3y ago
Compared to internal-combustion cars, electric cars are much more of a commodity, specifically, the hardware is a commodity. In the the long run, this will hurt manufacturers in high-cost countries.

einr 3y ago

I guess I should have phrased it differently. Going forward, they don't seem competitive in comparison to Tesla and the upcoming Chinese competition. Phrased that way I would generally agree with you. I think not only European, Japanese and Korean brands but Tesla too is in for a bit of a rude awakening once all the Chinese stuff really hits Europe.

TheLoafOfBread 3y ago
Then Chinese stuff will get hit by tariffs, as it was the case with Chinese steel.
- starbugs 3y ago
  Germany is not the US. We are not energy independent. In fact, we are not independent of anything other then water maybe. Germany is reliant on exports. Tariffs are not helpful there. If you can’t manufacture a product at competitive prices on the world market, Germany has no real business in manufacturing anything anymore unless in a war economy. As a leading economy in the EU you might have the means to stretch that out for some time, but ultimately this makes matters worse in the end. Germany is currently trying to subsidize what remains of the industry at the cost of consumers. This is already causing substantial backlash from consumers, voters and even the federal courts. Good luck with all of that.

fxtentacle 3y ago

Politics was, luckily for VW, very successful at massively delaying Vinfast's market entry with regulations. Otherwise, that electrical 5-seat SUV for only €17600 would have been a massive problem for German car companies. It's like 70% cheaper than an ID.4 and people will probably accept a lot of small hiccups for that amount of money saved.

starbugs 3y ago
The state and VW are quite intertwined, so I guess our politicians will not stop before they have driven this whole thing into the ground completely. Ultimately, I believe this will be a good thing for Germany in the long run. But for quite some while, this will cause substantial pain to a lot of German citizens.

hilux 3y ago

Compared to internal-combustion cars, electric cars are much more of a commodity, specifically, the hardware is a commodity. In the the long run, this will hurt manufacturers in high-cost countries.