VW CEO: 'We Have to Become Relevant in the U.S'

Matt Posky
by Matt Posky

Volkswagen CEO Herbert Diess has explained that the automaker would very much like to get back in to the United States’ good graces now that it has cut ties with Russia. With the future of Europe looking shaky, VW is hoping to maintain its position as the best-selling brand in China and start making inroads in America after burning a few bridges there.

Despite the Dieselgate scandal being seven years in the rearview mirror, the automaker is still coping with the resulting financial penalties and the resulting decision to scale back its U.S. aspirations a tad until its electric models hit the road. But the company has always had an issue understanding what American drivers wanted, resulting in boom and bust phases for the company until it manages to solve the puzzle. The most common issue was an inability to adhere to ever-changing emissions standards. But there are also periods where the manufacturer was snubbed for offering subpar electrical equipment or simply having a lineup that was out of sync with American tastes. But Volkswagen has historically enjoyed a resurgence after making the necessary changes and Diess is hoping for another comeback.

After enjoying a whopping 467,408 U.S. deliveries in 2012, VW rapidly began losing its share of the market. The emissions scandal only made things worse and the automaker failed to gain any ground until 2017. Unfortunately, subsequent growth has been slow and the business has had trouble garnering more than 360,000 sales in a single year.

“I think we didn’t take the US customer seriously enough. We tried to sell the European product here in the U.S.” Diess told 60 Minutes in a recent interview. “We have to become relevant in the U.S. And we are in the right way.”

According to the segment, the “right way” involves electrifying everything in its lineup and making sure its plant in Chattanooga, TN, likewise makes the transition. The factory will soon be producing the battery-electric ID.4 crossover, which VW thinks will be the EV that resonates best with American consumers.

But there are still headwinds to contend with. Americans have expressed less interest in EVs than car buyers in other developed nations and VW still has to sell combustion vehicles at healthy volumes to rationalize its status as the world’s largest automaker by revenue, second-largest by sales, and third-largest by market capitalization. It’s also enduring a lot of the same economic pressures as its peers, if not more so. Volkswagen was one of the first businesses to shutter factories in Russia this year and was forced to stall numerous assembly lines in Germany as a result — not that things were going swimmingly beforehand.

While the war in Ukraine has indeed impacted the global economy and complicated international trade, it’s also become a popular scapegoat for businesses and governments that were seeing problems prior to the conflict. Truth be told, the automotive sector was already in trouble before a single Russian boot touched Ukrainian soil. The industry entered into 2022 coping with inflation, supply chains that had not yet recovered from two years of COVID restrictions and chip shortages, and studies were showing that general productivity was on the decline pretty much everywhere on the planet.

Meanwhile, Volkswagen saw IG Metall threatening a labor revolt based on what it claimed was lopsided compensation for executives and shareholders while workers simply had to watch the wealth gap widen. The union had likewise grown annoyed with the company’s decision to prioritize all-electric vehicles, saying they would result in fewer factory jobs. As currencies started losing their value, line workers demanded a wage increase and finally got their wish in April of 2021.

However, VW kicked off 2022 with Diess suggesting further complications would “lead to huge price increases [and] scarcity of energy and inflation.” Shortly thereafter, the business announced that the situation with Russia had made it exceedingly difficult to continue operations in Europe as if everything was normal and would be instituting a new plan that placed a greater emphasis on China and the United States. We know that the automaker was having trouble procuring electrical components and basically stopped receiving wiring harnesses once the war broke out in Ukraine. But Volkswagen Group had also spent the last few years coping with chip shortages and absentee components anyway and botched the launches of a few key products (e.g. Golf and ID.4) before Eastern Europe went into battle mode.

It would be easy to frame VW Group’s recent messaging as little more than an effort to relax investors during a period of economic uncertainty, and there’s certainly some of that taking place here. CEO Diess undoubtedly wants to present a brave face for its troubles in Europe while making sure its biggest market (China) understands it will not be abandoned. The company is attempting to convey something similar to the United States, which is backed up by promises of increased localization and additional investments in Chattanooga. That entails a very real $7.1 billion dollar investment to set the stage for 25 new electric models it wants to sell in the U.S. by 2023.

[Image: Volkswagen Group]

Matt Posky
Matt Posky

A staunch consumer advocate tracking industry trends and regulation. Before joining TTAC, Matt spent a decade working for marketing and research firms based in NYC. Clients included several of the world’s largest automakers, global tire brands, and aftermarket part suppliers. Dissatisfied with the corporate world and resentful of having to wear suits everyday, he pivoted to writing about cars. Since then, that man has become an ardent supporter of the right-to-repair movement, been interviewed on the auto industry by national radio broadcasts, driven more rental cars than anyone ever should, participated in amateur rallying events, and received the requisite minimum training as sanctioned by the SCCA. Handy with a wrench, Matt grew up surrounded by Detroit auto workers and managed to get a pizza delivery job before he was legally eligible. He later found himself driving box trucks through Manhattan, guaranteeing future sympathy for actual truckers. He continues to conduct research pertaining to the automotive sector as an independent contractor and has since moved back to his native Michigan, closer to where the cars are born. A contrarian, Matt claims to prefer understeer — stating that front and all-wheel drive vehicles cater best to his driving style.

More by Matt Posky

Comments
Join the conversation
3 of 80 comments
  • Mustangfast Mustangfast on Apr 24, 2022

    “25 new electric models it wants to sell in the US by 2023” As in the 2023 that’s 7 months away?! From the factory not yet making even the ID4? To include models clearly not even designed? What are they smoking?

  • Sumgai1986 Sumgai1986 on Apr 28, 2022

    Volkswagen has never appealed to me. It feels like they've picked a market niche where everyone else does something better. If I want reliable, I buy Japanese. If I want luxury, I buy MB or Lexus. If I want technology, I buy Tesla. If I want low price, I buy domestic or Korean. If I want cargo/towing, I don't even have an option at VW. So why do I even need VW at this point? I don't.

    • Sumgai1986 Sumgai1986 on Apr 28, 2022

      This is business school 101. Pick a market niche without much competition and make the best damn product you can. VW trying to catch too many rabbits at once and isn't getting any of them.

  • CanadaCraig You can just imagine how quickly the tires are going to wear out on a 5,800 lbs AWD 2024 Dodge Charger.
  • Luke42 I tried FSD for a month in December 2022 on my Model Y and wasn’t impressed.The building-blocks were amazing but sum of the all of those amazing parts was about as useful as Honda Sensing in terms of reducing the driver’s workload.I have a list of fixes I need to see in Autopilot before I blow another $200 renting FSD. But I will try it for free for a month.I would love it if FSD v12 lived up to the hype and my mind were changed. But I have no reason to believe I might be wrong at this point, based on the reviews I’ve read so far. [shrug]. I’m sure I’ll have more to say about it once I get to test it.
  • FormerFF We bought three new and one used car last year, so we won't be visiting any showrooms this year unless a meteor hits one of them. Sorry to hear that Mini has terminated the manual transmission, a Mini could be a fun car to drive with a stick.It appears that 2025 is going to see a significant decrease in the number of models that can be had with a stick. The used car we bought is a Mk 7 GTI with a six speed manual, and my younger daughter and I are enjoying it quite a lot. We'll be hanging on to it for many years.
  • Oberkanone Where is the value here? Magna is assembling the vehicles. The IP is not novel. Just buy the IP at bankruptcy stage for next to nothing.
  • Jalop1991 what, no Turbo trim?
Next