Re: The Volkswagen Connection: Setting the Stage for a New Era

Now this guy is a certified moron.

Reply to
Magnus
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"Dori A Schmetterling" haute in die Tasten:

In fact, VW is the only german car manufacturer which is partly state owned. This is frequently criticized by EU officials.

Frank

Reply to
Frank Kemper

It seems like a smart move for a government to own stock in a manufacturer.

There are no obvious inherant noncompetitive attributes to such an arrangement.

Lower Saxony should be applauded for not conforming to misguided expectations.

.
Reply to
greek_philosophizer

"cp" haute in die Tasten:

AVUS stands for "Automobil und Verkehrs Uebungs Strasse" (Car and Traffic Training Track). Its primary purpose was testing and racing cars. Today AVUS is part of the Autobahn in Berlin.

Frank

Reply to
Frank Kemper

ahhhhh

Yes, been there many times, especially fun with the top down in an SLK :)

cp

Reply to
cp

There is most certainly a noncompetitive attribute to state owned manufacture. Laws will be passed and enforced to the benefit of that manufacturer.

Reply to
calcerise

???? I am not sure why you think it's good?

What if you were another car maker and you wanted to open a factory in lower saxony? Would you still think it's a good idea for the government there to have a vested interest in your competitor?

Just a thought. Marty

Reply to
Martin Joseph

Martin Joseph haute in die Tasten:

You are right - basically. But in the real world nobody would like to open a real competition for VW in Lower Saxony. But Karmann in Osnabrueck is doing quite well - with or without VW;-)

Frank

Reply to
Frank Kemper

That is true but it is not inherent because it requires the lawmakers to implement noncompetitive rules. They could be smart enough to avoid the temptation.

As long as they behave like passive shareholders it should be ok.

.
Reply to
greek_philosophizer

Monkeys could be smart enough to avoid bananas too....but they aren't.

Reply to
calcerise

What happened to the semi-automatic transmissions ?I used to own a 71 Super Beetle Cabriolet with this transmission and haven't seen one since.Just curious since this discussion is about VW.

Reply to
CaptainW116

You are talking about the Automatic Stick Shift or ASS (really). It _was_ a pain in the ass and VW came to the same conclusion Detroit did in the '50s-a manual transmission and fluid coupling is a worst-of-both-worlds solution.

Most ASS Volkswagens have been converted to the conventional box. I had one I bought cheaply when the ASS box cracked a shaft and jammed, and the local shop told the 60+ year old female owner it would be $3000 to rebuild it and it was illegal (!) to convert it to the standard transaxle. I did and drove it to the shop to ask the guy if he wanted to call the cops on me-he got real belligerent.

Reply to
calcerise

Yeah,the transmission on it was a pain no doubt!When it not longer "hooked" into reverse,I washed my hands of it.

Reply to
CaptainW116

All that stuff they are making for DC...

DAS

Reply to
Dori A Schmetterling

Codswollop. :-)

State ownership/shareholding is state ownership/shareholding. No government should hold stakes in private business, especially if is non-strategic and non-essential or fulfils no agreed social purpose.

Divestment/privatisation has been (mostly) a great success story. And don't bring up the mess that is the British railways.... :-)

DAS

Reply to
Dori A Schmetterling

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