MORE DELUSIONAL THINKING BROUGHT TO YOU BY VW. – Rants

By Peter M. DeLorenzo

Detroit. Every time this organization appears to be to be lulling itself into a tiresome keeping pattern of waiting for “The Grand Transition” (or is it Waiting for Godot?) to EVs – with the mind-numbing cadence, predictability and many years this will entail – blundering controversy constantly appears to be to be hardly ever significantly absent. This week, it is those rumbling, bumbling and stumbling executives from Volkswagen AG who have arrive to the entrance of the line, broadcasting their assumed balloons out loud substantially to the consternation of all people, especially their prolonged-suffering U.S. dealers.

What have these preening – “we’re geniuses, just talk to us” – VW executives unleashed on their unsuspecting U.S. dealers this time? VW dropped the information – completely out of the blue, of training course – that the firm would produce a pickup and off-highway-oriented SUV for the U.S. current market underneath the Scout title, not VW, beginning in the year 2026. 

There was extremely minimal compound to the announcement beyond that, which created VW dealers mad and very suspicious as to what VW’s CEO, Herbert Diess, was genuinely up to. Was Diess aiming to reduce U.S. VW dealers out of the equation and sell immediately to consumers? That is a distinct chance, as it is typically recognized that Diess is a massive, unabashed enthusiast of St. Elon. And the point that there have been generally no other facts – as in zero – about the program forthcoming fairly significantly verified these suspicions. No plant aspects, no initial advertising and marketing approach, no nothin’. Just, “Ya, we’re gonna have them in-sector by 2026.”

Do the U.S. VW dealers have fantastic explanation to be suspicious? Absolutely. The German-dependent VW executives have a lengthy history of abusing U.S. sellers. The abuses consist of: 1. Failing to acquire even a modicum of comprehension of the U.S. market place, let on your own care. 2. Dim-bulb marketing and advertising and strategic conclusions based on these very same executives’ “gut feel” for what the U.S. sector wanted, rather than listening to immediate feed-back from the individuals who in fact understood the industry, aka the VW sellers. I could incorporate many additional factors, like shoving unpronounceable (and nonsensical) names on VW automobiles sure for the U.S., primarily based on the essential assumption produced by individuals exact same German VW executives that they understood what was greatest, and apart from, the dealers would make it perform someway. And the Germans’ steadfast refusal to hear to their U.S. sellers about the have to have for a more substantial, aggressive SUV for this sector to the point that it was almost also late by the time the Atlas arrived on the scene. (The Atlas has proved to be a worthwhile lifesaver for the model listed here.) 

You are damn correct VW dealers below in the U.S. have each and every reason to be wary of Herbert Diess and his longing to be considered a futurist and an EV visionary when it will come to cementing VW’s foreseeable future standing in the “Grand Changeover.” Diess’ delusional thinking is no true surprise, either, considering it has been a trademark of every German auto govt more than the previous 40 years, at minimum (see Dieter Zetsche’s “Smart car” folly, for just a person obvious example). 

The teach of imagined for these German automobile executives goes anything like this: 

“I am a genius, and it will be superior for all of us if you just acknowledge that reality.” (To be good, this applies to sure notorious U.S. automobile executives far too.)

“My intestine feelings are considerably far better and far more accurate than any analysis, in-market place dealer input or other reasoned information, particularly from the denizens of our U.S. current market outposts.” (Ditto, see higher than.)

“Anyone who concerns my directives or orders will be exiled to an inconsequential situation, hardly ever to be read from all over again.” 

But then all over again, none of this is shocking to any German brand name supplier listed here in the U.S. It’s all the same refrain irrespective of whether it’s Audi, BMW, Mercedes-Benz or Porsche. The horror tales from these sellers are eerily related, and they all revolve all-around the point that there has in no way been a more depressing great deal of so-called “executives” who have done less with extra than your common German auto govt. Paraphrasing what Joe Pesci famously explained in Casino: “These men could fuck-up a cup of coffee.”

I’ll give you a pair of examples. Bear in mind when BMW’s German executives adopted the basic phrase “Joy” for a world wide redirect of its advertising? And then they proceeded to consider to shove it down the throats of its U.S. dealers? The similar dealers who had been residing, breathing and nurturing “The Supreme Driving Machine” – one particular of the most iconic automobile marketing themes of all time – for about 30 years? Certainly, BMW executives in Germany really experimented with to get the U.S. sellers to adopt “Joy.” And pointless to say, it did not go well. BMW’s German overlords backed down, and “Joy” was never ever listened to from or witnessed all over again right here in the U.S., and “The Top Driving Machine” lives on.

And then there is Mercedes-Benz. M-B executives are the acknowledged Kings and Queens of carrying out fewer with much more. They have botched product launches, tried out to pawn-off faux Mercedes as serious Mercedes, experimented with to influence the American buyer that the Wise auto was really well worth thinking of, squandered decades of a as soon as-glorious brand history by unleashing countless marketing screwups, unloaded far too several products in this marketplace by generating niches on niches that only served to confuse buyers, whilst conveniently disregarding the actuality that their dealers weren’t inquiring for them. I could go on, but you get the strategy.

That’s why this latest Diess-led VW initiative has all the signs of still yet another German vehicle executive directive based mostly on “We know what is finest for you, even although you are also silly to determine it out for yourselves” kind of a enjoy. Except this initiative stinks to higher heaven, and if I were being a VW dealer, I would not let Diess and his minions get away with it. 

And which is the Superior-Octane Fact for this week.

(VW)

The Scout renderings produced by VW very last 7 days.

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