VW’s strategy change shows little regard for industry suppliers – op-ed
Handelsblatt
The strategy shift towards electric vehicles announced by Volkswagen shows that Germany’s largest carmaker does not care too much about the fate of its long-time business partners in the automotive supplier industry, Martin Buchenau writes in an op-ed for Handelsblatt. “It is remarkable,” Bucheanu says, “that out of all car companies it (Volkswagen) happens to be the one that gave the entire industry a bad name with its diesel fraud scandal which now gets ready to become an ecological pioneer.” While it might be understandable that VW CEO Herbert Diess quickly wants to get rid of the company’s dirty legacy and let it shine in a new light, its contempt for industry suppliers like Bosch or ZF is at least questionable, he writes. “Diess should not underestimate the fact that suppliers are set to become even more important with the rise of electric mobility,” Buchenau says, adding that the transformation will take time and cannot simply be imposed by the industry’s biggest player.
