Profits are in a tight squeeze as the world’s second largest carmaker battles with fierce competition in China, the billion euro cost of switching to electric vehicle production, a stagnant European economy, Donald Trump’s tariff war and high labour costs in Germany. The FT’s Frankfurt correspondent Patricia Nilsson looks at the unprecedented challenges facing Germany’s leading industrial company, and what it means for the future of European manufacturing
#volkswagen #evs #electricvehicle #germany #vehicles #trump #trumptariffs #us #china #europe #euro #europeaneconomy #cars
00:00 – Introduction
01:25 – Crisis
04:15 – Workers v managers
06:19 – Unique ownership
07:43 – History
09:53 – Wolfsburg at heart
11:38 – Electric challenge
15:36 – Politics and software
18:12 – China challenge
25:20 – Europe stagnates
26:47 – US and tariffs
28:40 – German factories
30:34 – New electric models
31:55 – China future
32:57 – VW and the future
► Enjoying FT content? Get a daily slice of the very best FT journalism with FT Edit. Free for 30 days then just £4.99 a month
See if you get the FT for free as a student (http://ft.com/schoolsarefree) or start a £1 trial: https://subs.ft.com/spa3_trial?segmentId=3d4ba81b-96bb-cef0-9ece-29efd6ef2132.
► Check out our Community tab for more stories: https://www.youtube.com/@FinancialTimes/community
► Listen to our podcasts: https://www.ft.com/podcasts
► Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/financialtimes
► Follow us on Instagram: https://www.tiktok.com/@financialtimes
