Not surprising.
It is apparently a requirement for my peers in SoCal to own VWs, and it's quite shocking how much VWs quality has gone downhill. I own a 1996 Jetta GLX VR6, and it's been a pretty good car, overall. The interior is still nice, and just a few things have gone wrong since I bought the car in early 2000. New VWs have bad trim and electrical problems from what I've seen and servicing them is a total *****. It seems like they just don't care about quality any more, just catchy advertising.
JCM
Quote:
Originally posted by Decolliber
http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,BT_CO_20040210_004666,00.html?mod=aut%2Dmre%2Da up
The above is just the latest. Goldman Sachs advises sell VW (I sold my meagre 200 shares at $10.25). VW's problems:
1. Very high production costs
2. Has difficulty moving production outside Germany because its major shareholder (state of Lower Saxony) expects it to be a social welfare agency in that state.
3. Wasted huge amounts of money on unprofitable luxury cars (Bentley, Bugatti, Lamborghini, Phaeton)
4. Heavily invested in the overheated China market, which has massive overcapacity.
5. Significant quality problems (like DCX) and dealer service issues in US market.
... and finally ...
6. IMHO, the new Audi styling for the next A6 and A8 (enormous front grill) is not attractive, though not as hideous as the Bangled BMWs.
|