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Raise your hand if you remember VW management (warning about the future of VW) attempting to undertake a radical transformation that would both skew hard towards EV and also majorly disrupt job security, etc, such that the gov and unions rejected the effort.

The New York Times@nytimes.com

Breaking News: Volkswagen said it is cutting about 50,000 jobs in the face of surging Chinese competition, energy prices and the costly transition to electric vehicles.

nyti.msVolkswagen Plans to Cut 50,000 JobsFacing growing competition from China and rapidly advancing technology, the German auto giant said Thursday its board had approved a “comprehensive” restructuring.

Gregor Macdonald

@gregor.us

There will be many competing EV narratives, but one that will endure is that in a match up between OECD appetite for disruption and the China industrial juggernaut, the OECD never stood a chance.

3/9/26, 9:15 pm0 reposts7 likes

Gregor Macdonald

@gregor.us

3 Sept

Perhaps the most intriguing feature of national auto industries is that there is no political economy that can solve their habitual, historical problems. Left, right, pick one. Doesn't matter. A national auto industry, one that has to be cared for, is a kind of curse.