Dear reader,
The record of electric models with a retro look is mediocre. Volkswagen, for example, electrified its Bulli with a T1-like look under the name ID.Buzz – and made a mistake when looking at the sales figures. On the other hand, the electrically revitalized Renault R5 appears to be better received by customers. In Germany, the brand said it had already achieved its goals for the entire year in July.
One thing is certain: retro alone is not enough. The Munich company Govecs found this out the hard way. The company gained sympathy points with its electric scooters, which look like the legendary Schwalbe from the GDR. From an economic point of view, however, the electricity swallow appeared to be lame: on Monday, Govecs filed for insolvency.
Our topics of the week:
Why Europcar’s future at Volkswagen is shaky
Why the Ferrari boss doesn’t fear relegation
Which top manager is leaving Volkswagen
Topic of the week: What’s next for Europcar?
If you look today at what automobile manufacturers set out to do around five years ago, you’ll see that a lot didn’t work out. Last week we reported on failed luxury strategies
. Today we are dedicating ourselves to the dream of becoming a vehicle manufacturer into a mobility provider. Volkswagen, for example, wanted to do this by purchasing Europcar. Instead of being an “enabler,” the car rental company turned out to be a disappointment. Europcar is in need of restructuring, junior partner Attestor wants to get out, and Volkswagen has to inject more and more money. The group is currently desperately looking for cash generators, not cash burners. Now there are different scenarios, how – or whether – things could continue with Europcar at Volkswagen
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Employees of German automotive suppliers are currently taking to the streets more often than climate demonstrators. There were just thousands again in Baden-Württemberg. For example at the Bosch locations in Waiblingen, Reutlingen, Brühl or Feuerbach. “Pure fear” prevails among the workforce about the planned austerity programs, says works council leader Frank Sell. According to Baden-Württemberg’s IG Metall boss Barbara Resch (50), a survey of works councils showed: Over 60 percent believe that the companies are not doing enough to turn things around. “Many companies don’t invest enough in their future,” complains Resch. “If things continue like this, we will soon be talking about redundancies on a large scale.”
Deepdrive: Worry often cycles along
First of all, the good news: The majority (58 percent) of those who cycle in German cities feel safe. However, a large number of cyclists (39 percent) do not feel this way. What would have to happen to change that? You could say the journey is the destination. According to the most recent Bicycle study
According to Dekra and Ipsos, those affected primarily want: more cycle paths (48 percent), wider cycle paths (41 percent) and cycle paths that are disconnected from the road network (39 percent).
Ghost driver of the week
As we exit, something about the change in strategy. These have at least as big an impact as on automobile manufacturers themselves “further up” in the automotive value chain, namely on the suppliers. This is currently shown by the example of Ford. The smaller Bavarian supplier Swoboda received an order from the larger supplier Nexteer in July 2023 to produce cylinder heads for Ford’s planned e-pickup platform. Swoboda invested over $2.5 million in machines and tools. But then Ford swore off its electric pick-up plans. Swoboda complains that Nexteer then “suddenly and unilaterally” canceled the order. In the truest sense of the word: the case goes to an Oakland County court
. Swoboda is demanding $3 million in reimbursement from Nexteer. Once panned, many offended.
I wish you a week without any unpleasant surprises.
Yours, Christoph Seyerlein
Do you have any wishes, suggestions or information that we should take care of journalistically? You can reach my colleagues in the Mobility team and me at manage.mobility@manager-magazin.de
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