I was in Europe earlier this year and find that hard to believe. It was like a 10-1 ratio of manuals to automatics in the cars I looked into. I looked in a lot cars because so many of them are unavailable here in the USA. Need to import a Dacia Sandero for obvious reasons. Of course they were the cars parked on the street and may not represent the whole population.
The biggest production problems (aka cost) to manage are procurement and workforce. A fluctuating manufacturing schedule plays havoc with suppliers, inventory and human resources. It is a horrible factory utilization.
I understand that they're still more popular for the average person there, but VW has been weird on the manuals. The US is one of the few markets where we can get a manual Golf R. Almost every market with the R is DSG only. The GTI so far has retained the manual, but if the news is true for it going hybrid unless they're going to adapt the manual for the hybrid we'll likely not get one. I have the DSG now and I like it, I see it as the best case scenario for an automatic, but I would prefer a manual next time.
Not only that but making some of it modular that still allows interchangeability on parts. A good platform that saves money by allowing differentiation between models can go along way for making a number of unique products. This is the model VW started with from the beginning.
In 1960 Chevrolet alone (not all of GM) made 1.6 million cars not including Corvair, El Camino, vans and trucks, many models, lots of drive train and comfort option on every model and that was with no modern robotics or JIT parts delivery, over 60 years ago. Some plants had different model lines being built in the same plant at the same time.
Look at the undermining of union contracts and layoffs and you'll see the answer to that. Good pay and incentive to work hard goes a long way in production. To be fair though most of those parts were made by companies in the US, some of them right next door to Chevrolet's plant. Most of that is gone now, towns dead from them backing out completely from some that are nearby me and most of the companies supplying parts outsourced to other countries. The Chicoms come to mind.
Yep, and they have learned from their past mistakes.
Well that leaves Tesla out, one thing Tesla is not is quality.
And how does one order a Tesla with Master Optimized leather seating? Easy to make one car with no options cheaply, yet that is not what the Germans want apparently, judging by what they are buying.
Sour grapes?
Tesla sells more EVs than BMW, Porsche-Audi and MBZ combined.
@Trav contributions to this site and to me have been incredibly valuable. His hate for Tesla, (maybe for EVs in general, not sure) is silly.If it's about Tesla @Trav hates it. If you have hate in your heart brother, let it out!
I think he's a good dude, I just think his energy is a bit misguided.
BMW Porsche-Audi and MBZ all offer leather. And heads up display. And chassis that aren’t a decade old. And switches. Tesla is great for the masses I guess. Like the VW bug ,it might sell a lot, but it’s a far cry from being the best. That’s why they are losing in Germany.
Tesla is not trying to be like other car companies. Leaders don't follow.
I’ll let the leaders sit in their vinyl seats. I prefer something more.
But they're not good EVs. If you want a good VW, literally buy anything else they make. The Taycan seems to be great, but the price is on another planet.
