Hackenberg's fundamental rethink of vehicle platforms, the industrial Lego from which cars are designed and made, is helping power the German company to the top of the global sales charts several years ahead of its 2018 target. It could also make VW one of the most profitable carmakers in the world.
tinyurl.com/cwe4ghs
A long and fascinating read.
Last edited by: madf on Mon 11 Feb 13 at 09:29
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>> A long and fascinating read.
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... and a bit depressing. :-(
VW have a better-than-average range of cars and excel at production and marketing. They leave no niche unfilled, and I give them credit for boldly creating a hatchback in the small exec class (against conventional wisdom) which attracted me to buying one of the groups' products. They also have a number of "halo" models and have managed to create an icon in the form of the Golf.
They also seem to have the motoring press firmly "on side". (Some might say this is due to lavish promotional budgets - I couldn't possibly comment)
However in terms of quality and engineering, I am not so sure.
- No decent hybrid or electric vehicle,
- late-comer to the world of common-rail diesel (and then have the arrogance to talk to me as if they invented it!),
- poor results in quality surveys (as reported in other threads),
- no modern replacement for quattro in sight,
- a strange attraction to gimmicks (e.g. push-button parking brakes, pop-up sat nav screens, weird-and-not-so-wonderful gearboxes),
- an un-Germanic love of form over function (e.g. pretty air vents).
Maybe I'm a bit down on VW products because my own car has a bit of an issue at the moment - but that's for another thread once the matter is concluded.
Last edited by: Londoner on Mon 11 Feb 13 at 11:24
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I think VAG were the first to adopt a versatile platform that underpinned many different cars. The latest MQB takes this a step further and makes it easier and cheaper to vary the length of the shared platform to become the basis for even more cars. Okay I know a variant of the previous platform used for the Golf/A3 also underpins the larger Passat.
The economies of scale must make this a no brainer and yet they were criticised for doing it originally. And then the others followed although without a many marques/brands the other companies probably didn't have as many models to hang off the same platform.
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I know a couple of Skoda owners who like to say "It's really an Audi you know".
What VAG has to avoid is Audi customers thinking they are being ripped off for a Skoda.
I'm sure marketing will triumph as it usually does.
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"The strategy is not without risk. It could, for instance, expose Volkswagen to the threat of a massive global recall if a single part, used in millions of cars, fails"
I doubt they are losing any sleep over this at all, considering it has already happened a couple of times, and they have come out the other side. The 2.0 PD TDI engine had a well documented problem with it's £1,000-a-pop Siemens injectors failing around 2006/7 and when you consider that engine appeared in pretty much every car of Golf size or bigger in the VAG stable, it was probably about as bad as a component failure can get. The Teves mk60 ABS/ESP modules were also frequent (expensive) failures due to an ongoing manufacturing defect, and presented out of warranty owners with a bill well into four figures.
That said, in both cases, a significant part of their strategy seemed to involve denying all knowledge, and forcing customers to jump through hoops to get help with the cost involved, only backing down when customers shouted loudly enough.
The benefits of platform / component sharing are huge, and the risks, thanks to the way any company this size, and with an indirect sales model can operate in such cases, are actually minimal.
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>>That said, in both cases, a significant part of their strategy seemed to involve denying all knowledge, and forcing customers to jump through hoops to get help with the cost involved, only backing down when customers shouted loudly enough
Just like BMW with the Nikasil bore problem, and more recently the wheel cracking!
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>> I doubt they are losing any sleep over this at all, considering it has already
>> happened a couple of times, and they have come out the other side. The 2.0
>> PD TDI engine had a well documented problem with it's £1,000-a-pop Siemens injectors failing around
>> 2006/7 and when you consider that engine appeared in pretty much every car of Golf
>> size or bigger in the VAG stable, it was probably about as bad as a
>> component failure can get. The Teves mk60 ABS/ESP modules were also frequent (expensive) failures due
>> to an ongoing manufacturing defect, and presented out of warranty owners with a bill well
>> into four figures.
And they shrugged off the hundreds of thousands of cars around europe that were grounded by coil pack failures. So many that the supply of spares dried up.
But, at the end of the day, its all very well talking about modularity, but car makers live or die by making cars that sell. They still have to make them attractive and desirable. They have a stunningly effective marketing department.
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They are not going to admit to any faults if there are any in their cars.It's not that type of company take it or leave it and make your own choice.
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Volkswagen - VW is 10 years ahead of all competitors . - Londoner
