… from its Nazi roots, to its success in the '60s, to their diesel cheating scandal, to how it has been impacted by the war on Ukraine, and to its plans for the future. If you didn’t see this last night, you owe it to yourself to watch this report, which runs about 13 minutes–I think.
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I listened to that segment on the radio last night. Quite interesting. Definitely worth 13 minutes for car-interested folks. I expect a written transcript is available on the inter-webs as well.
I haven’t listened to a full 60 minutes report in years. I learned a few things like 40% of the business is in china but the guy hasn’t visited the plant yet. Also the wire harnesses are made in Russia that might explain some things.
I didn’t know they had a battery plant in Chattanooga. Somewhere around there I was looking for a place to eat and where I turned around there was a bank of about a dozen Tesla chargers all lit up but none in use. Seemed really strange. The only ones I saw in 1500 miles. Maybe to compete with vw.
At any rate not a great hard hitting program. Leslie must be close to retirement now.
If you jump to the 1:00 minute point–and a bit beyond–in the video, you will hear Mr. Diess state that their wiring harnesses and some other electrical components came from Ukraine, and that their supply of these vital parts has been shut-down by the war on that nation. Nowhere does he state that VW’s parts come from Russia.
I enjoyed the segment but I don’t watch 60 Minutes for hard-hitting journalism. Anyway, Leslie hit 80 in December. I don’t expect her to retire any time soon. Folks on that show tend to die in the saddle from what I recall.
+1
Factual reporting?
Yes
Exciting or hard-hitting?
No
I’ll take your word for it. I’m not going to subject myself to it a second time. One thing that did pop into my mind though is what a mess has been created over there. Of course something that Leslie just couldn’t cover except for the obvious destruction.