{"id":349624,"date":"2024-10-31T15:21:45","date_gmt":"2024-10-31T14:21:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=349624"},"modified":"2024-10-31T15:21:47","modified_gmt":"2024-10-31T14:21:47","slug":"dont-feel-sorry-for-vw-liberal-arts-college-dropout-anti-auto-activist-on-supervisory-board","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=349624","title":{"rendered":"Don\u2019t Feel Sorry For VW\u2026 Liberal Arts College Dropout, Anti-Auto-Activist On Supervisory Board!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" height=\"405\" width=\"723\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/00Screenshot-2024-10-31-151626-1024x574.png?resize=723%2C405&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-349630\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">From <a href=\"https:\/\/notrickszone.com\/2024\/10\/30\/dont-feel-sorry-for-vw-liberal-arts-college-dropout-anti-auto-activist-on-supervisory-board\/\">NoTrickZone<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>By\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/notrickszone.com\/author\/admin\/\">P Gosselin<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>After its politically driven foray into electric vehicles, Volkswagen is facing significant financial challenges\u2026plans to close at least three of its German factories\u2026unprecedented move in the company\u2019s history\u2026. tens of thousands of jobs will be lost!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Anti-auto green party activist, liberal arts college-dropout on the supervisory board!&nbsp;<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The news for VW is real bad, and now the powerful IG Metall engineering and metal workers\u2019 union is already hinting at strikes to prevent the cuts. Additionally, the company is looking to cut more than $4.3 billion in costs<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Hat-tip:&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=XK-aPOVxPqI&amp;t=4s\">Aktienmitkopf<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Misguided foray into electric vehicles<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But don\u2019t start feeling sorry for VW. The problems are largely self-made by incompetent managers and politicians.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Firstly, the German state of Lower Saxony, where VW is headquartered in Wolfsburg, owns approximately 20% of Volkswagen. Then, secondly, in the late 2010s, VW began its earnest push into electric vehicle production with the introduction of its ID family of electric cars. The increased focus on electric vehicles was largely politically driven by factors like increasingly stringent emissions standards and overly optimistic future&nbsp;demand for electric vehicles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>EV car sales stall, plant closure<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">However, VW electric vehicle sales have since taken a turn for the worst. EVs aren\u2019t popular in Germany. Their sales in the first half of 2024 were approximately 317,200 units worldwide,&nbsp;lower than the same period in 2023 (321,600 EVs). The future of EV sales now looks bleak:&nbsp;Volkswagen just announced the closure of its Audi Brussels plant in Belgium, which primarily produces electric vehicles.&nbsp;This decision comes due to lower-than-expected demand for electric vehicles and is expected to take effect in February 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Green Party anti-auto activist, college dropout on VW supervisory board<\/strong><strong>!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And if you think VW being owned by a green-leaning state is already problematic for the management of the company, take a look at who sits on the company\u2019s supervisory board:&nbsp;<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Julia_Hamburg\">Julia Willie Hamburg<\/a>,&nbsp;<\/strong>a German politician from&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Alliance_90\/The_Greens\">Alliance 90\/The Greens<\/a>, Ms. Hamburg also serves as the Deputy Minister-President of Lower Saxony&nbsp;and the&nbsp;State Minister for Education and Culture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Now let\u2019s look at her qualifications: According to her resume, Ms. Hamburg was educated in Hanover where she studied political science, German philology, and then studied philosophy at the University of G\u00f6ttingen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">She dropped out of all her studies without a degree. Moreover, she\u2019s an anti-car activist who travels by bicycle. She has neither industrial management experience, financial expertise nor an inkling of automotive engineering. That folks, is one of the top executives at VW. No joke!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">So, don\u2019t be surprised if VW gets its clock cleaned by the competition over the next few years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>After its politically driven foray into electric vehicles, Volkswagen is facing significant financial challenges\u2026plans to close at least three of its German factories\u2026unprecedented move in the company\u2019s history\u2026. tens of thousands of jobs will be lost!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":121246920,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","_crdt_document":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-349624","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","has-post-thumbnail","fallback-thumbnail"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paxLW1-1sX6","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":278959,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=278959","url_meta":{"origin":349624,"position":0},"title":"Volkswagen cuts jobs as demand for EVs\u00a0plunges","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"16\/09\/2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Subsidies, wealthy buyers and niche markets only get EV makers so far, it seems. The old problems are still there \u2013 initial cost, range anxiety, slow charging, battery life etc. Moaning about humans supposedly having adverse effects on the weather turns out to be a weak selling point for the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"China\"","block_context":{"text":"China","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=china"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/0vw-id-crozz-concept-2-1024x683-1.jpg?fit=1024%2C683&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/0vw-id-crozz-concept-2-1024x683-1.jpg?fit=1024%2C683&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/0vw-id-crozz-concept-2-1024x683-1.jpg?fit=1024%2C683&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/0vw-id-crozz-concept-2-1024x683-1.jpg?fit=1024%2C683&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":403742,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=403742","url_meta":{"origin":349624,"position":1},"title":"Porsche delays new electric car after demand slump","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"21\/09\/2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Porsche has delayed the launch of its new electric vehicle (EV) as weak demand forces the German car manufacturer to focus on petrol and diesel engines.","rel":"","context":"In \"Automotive industry\"","block_context":{"text":"Automotive industry","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=automotive-industry"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/0AQOY5MCZIZy5tDwsJYmjtX_jJWc3RS5XoKX3OobVAYmWqWGMXRR-xBEpkOE-ejGMZ0VWMcHKzLjXqN-FaHqlLtDsa5ADbk0HY_5oBMU_7pjE6ZDEQX7Q7v389GdJKlVRg99lMvwmTwnvVs8R0CbqhlvZKSWeLg-1.jpeg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/0AQOY5MCZIZy5tDwsJYmjtX_jJWc3RS5XoKX3OobVAYmWqWGMXRR-xBEpkOE-ejGMZ0VWMcHKzLjXqN-FaHqlLtDsa5ADbk0HY_5oBMU_7pjE6ZDEQX7Q7v389GdJKlVRg99lMvwmTwnvVs8R0CbqhlvZKSWeLg-1.jpeg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/0AQOY5MCZIZy5tDwsJYmjtX_jJWc3RS5XoKX3OobVAYmWqWGMXRR-xBEpkOE-ejGMZ0VWMcHKzLjXqN-FaHqlLtDsa5ADbk0HY_5oBMU_7pjE6ZDEQX7Q7v389GdJKlVRg99lMvwmTwnvVs8R0CbqhlvZKSWeLg-1.jpeg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/0AQOY5MCZIZy5tDwsJYmjtX_jJWc3RS5XoKX3OobVAYmWqWGMXRR-xBEpkOE-ejGMZ0VWMcHKzLjXqN-FaHqlLtDsa5ADbk0HY_5oBMU_7pjE6ZDEQX7Q7v389GdJKlVRg99lMvwmTwnvVs8R0CbqhlvZKSWeLg-1.jpeg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/0AQOY5MCZIZy5tDwsJYmjtX_jJWc3RS5XoKX3OobVAYmWqWGMXRR-xBEpkOE-ejGMZ0VWMcHKzLjXqN-FaHqlLtDsa5ADbk0HY_5oBMU_7pjE6ZDEQX7Q7v389GdJKlVRg99lMvwmTwnvVs8R0CbqhlvZKSWeLg-1.jpeg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":430574,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=430574","url_meta":{"origin":349624,"position":2},"title":"Destructive Green New Deal: German Energy And Metal Group Warns Of Drastic Crisis","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"12\/03\/2026","format":false,"excerpt":"150,000 industrial jobs to be lost this year! 270,000 since 2018","rel":"","context":"In \"deindustrialization crisis\"","block_context":{"text":"deindustrialization crisis","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=deindustrialization-crisis"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/0-Destructive-Green-New-Deal-German-Energy-And-Metal-Group-Warns-Of-Drastic-Crisis1.jpg?fit=784%2C1168&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/0-Destructive-Green-New-Deal-German-Energy-And-Metal-Group-Warns-Of-Drastic-Crisis1.jpg?fit=784%2C1168&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/0-Destructive-Green-New-Deal-German-Energy-And-Metal-Group-Warns-Of-Drastic-Crisis1.jpg?fit=784%2C1168&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/0-Destructive-Green-New-Deal-German-Energy-And-Metal-Group-Warns-Of-Drastic-Crisis1.jpg?fit=784%2C1168&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":292051,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=292051","url_meta":{"origin":349624,"position":3},"title":"Audi hits brakes on EV rollout as enthusiasm\u00a0wanes","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"20\/12\/2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Audi, whose electric models include the \u00a369,480 Q8 e-tron, faces cheaper competition from China, which is also a key market for Volkswagen\u2019s brands.","rel":"","context":"In \"Audi\"","block_context":{"text":"Audi","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=audi"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/02024-audi-q8-etron-drive-motion-lead-image.webp?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/02024-audi-q8-etron-drive-motion-lead-image.webp?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/02024-audi-q8-etron-drive-motion-lead-image.webp?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/02024-audi-q8-etron-drive-motion-lead-image.webp?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/02024-audi-q8-etron-drive-motion-lead-image.webp?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":265068,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=265068","url_meta":{"origin":349624,"position":4},"title":"Volkswagen: \u201cStrong Customer Reluctance\u201d in the Electric Vehicle Sector","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"03\/07\/2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Volkswagen scales back EV production","rel":"","context":"In \"Electric Vehicle\"","block_context":{"text":"Electric Vehicle","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=electric-vehicle"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/0684454_logo-vw-wallpapers_1600x1000_h.jpg?fit=1200%2C844&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/0684454_logo-vw-wallpapers_1600x1000_h.jpg?fit=1200%2C844&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/0684454_logo-vw-wallpapers_1600x1000_h.jpg?fit=1200%2C844&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/0684454_logo-vw-wallpapers_1600x1000_h.jpg?fit=1200%2C844&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/0684454_logo-vw-wallpapers_1600x1000_h.jpg?fit=1200%2C844&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":414258,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=414258","url_meta":{"origin":349624,"position":5},"title":"Wirtschaftlicher Selbstmord","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"22\/11\/2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Germany 2025 is the engine room of European industry and the warning siren for anyone who thinks intellectual arrogance and green wishful thinking can outlast the laws of economics. In just six weeks, Germany lost another 125,000 industrial jobs; the grand total since 2019 is pushing a quarter-million\u2014out the door,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"car manufacturing\"","block_context":{"text":"car manufacturing","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=car-manufacturing"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/AQPN8RbCdryV_ICK6ku5b0zStW3KrYdoNeSqgVECbVVo-s8zm7vLPDFxoP1MMvaJP_DyjEJSXiNdL0zJqiC8bf9emv4840C8PloeBPSoJuof3AkLl3GsmiO8eyG7f9-3.jpeg?fit=1200%2C757&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/AQPN8RbCdryV_ICK6ku5b0zStW3KrYdoNeSqgVECbVVo-s8zm7vLPDFxoP1MMvaJP_DyjEJSXiNdL0zJqiC8bf9emv4840C8PloeBPSoJuof3AkLl3GsmiO8eyG7f9-3.jpeg?fit=1200%2C757&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/AQPN8RbCdryV_ICK6ku5b0zStW3KrYdoNeSqgVECbVVo-s8zm7vLPDFxoP1MMvaJP_DyjEJSXiNdL0zJqiC8bf9emv4840C8PloeBPSoJuof3AkLl3GsmiO8eyG7f9-3.jpeg?fit=1200%2C757&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/AQPN8RbCdryV_ICK6ku5b0zStW3KrYdoNeSqgVECbVVo-s8zm7vLPDFxoP1MMvaJP_DyjEJSXiNdL0zJqiC8bf9emv4840C8PloeBPSoJuof3AkLl3GsmiO8eyG7f9-3.jpeg?fit=1200%2C757&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/AQPN8RbCdryV_ICK6ku5b0zStW3KrYdoNeSqgVECbVVo-s8zm7vLPDFxoP1MMvaJP_DyjEJSXiNdL0zJqiC8bf9emv4840C8PloeBPSoJuof3AkLl3GsmiO8eyG7f9-3.jpeg?fit=1200%2C757&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/349624","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/121246920"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=349624"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/349624\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":349632,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/349624\/revisions\/349632"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=349624"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=349624"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=349624"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}