Carry cash when you head off for FrankfurtBy Robert Prendergast(Filed: 31/01/2006)Frankfurt-am-main had often been a business destination of mine so whenI moved there in 1997 I felt quite confident.Like many other middle-aged IT executives in the 1990s, I had been'downsized'. I went back to basics and retrained myself as a programmerin the latest IT technology and, trading on my past experience ofairline reservation systems, obtained a contract with Lufthansa.Initially, Frankfurters seem to fit the German stereotype of 'towels onrecliners by the pool' but that belies the many kindnesses that wereshown to me, almost from the first day that I was there.I now have many friends in Frankfurt and feel at home with them, eventhough they sometimes fall about in laughter at my terrible German.Never say the Germans have no sense of humour.The taxi drivers are familiar with all the usual destinations and theirmispronunciations in many languages. As the taxi eases up to 200kph thedriver hums Anatolian folk tunes while the 'Taxi Meister' controlsystem beeps continuously like an old satellite. Meanwhile, you arethankful that Mercedes have a great reputation for safety.Frankfurt prides itself as an international business and bankingcentre. English is commonplace but have your euros ready.One of the first differences you will find is how few restaurants andstores accept credit cards. One colleague told me, the attitude inGermany is: "If you can't afford to pay for something, you shouldn't bebuying it".This still catches me out, such as when we were in a local store andwent to the check-out with a collection of electrical appliances,proffering our credit cards. "Sorry, cash or Eurocheque only". I haveto admit, though, to a perverse pleasure in leaving the goods at thecheck-out.On another occasion I had taken a group of 16 customers to a well-known restaurant and when I gave them my credit card to pay the bill,received a polite "Nein, danke, only cash". Ever tried doing businesswith...

Carry cash when you head off for FrankfurtBy Robert Prendergast(Filed: 31/01/2006)Frankfurt-am-main had often been a business destination of mine so whenI moved there in 1997 I felt quite confident.Like many other middle-aged IT executives in the 1990s, I had been'downsized'. I went back to basics and retrained myself as a programmerin the latest IT technology and, trading on my past experience ofairline reservation systems, obtained a contract with Lufthansa.Initially, Frankfurters seem to fit the German stereotype of 'towels onrecliners by the pool' but that belies the many kindnesses that wereshown to me, almost from the first day that I was there.I now have many friends in Frankfurt and feel at home with them, eventhough they sometimes fall about in laughter at my terrible German.Never say the Germans have no sense of humour.The taxi drivers are familiar with all the usual destinations and theirmispronunciations in many languages. As the taxi eases up to 200kph thedriver hums...

Where the taxis go 125 mph .......

Feb 01, 2006 62 Replies

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Juergen . 20 years ago

Yes, he did.

He was there until summer 2004, second man at Chrysler. In Feb 2004 he was announced as successor of Juergen Hubbert as chief of Mercedes (Mercedes, not DC). But he voiced an opinion contrary to that of Juergen Schrempp regarding the future of Japanese Mitsubishi (partially owned by DC then) and so got fired.

Juergen

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Max Richter 20 years ago

Sorry Folks,

i have to apologise. I thougt You meant Bernd Pischetsrieder which is the CEO of the Volkswagen-Gruppe. Greetings Max

Juergen . schrieb:

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Juergen . 20 years ago

No need to apologize as nobody knows everything you don't, I don't.

Regarding Pischetsrieder: Leading German news magazine _Der Spiegel_ has an article about Volkswagen and Pischetsrider titled _No Plan in Wolfsburg_ (today's printed mag, 13.02.06, P. 71 + 72). There also is mentioned that Pischetsrider seems to have no real plan about the long-overdue and necessary restructuring of Volkswagen and that the influential supervisory board chairman Piech is not really satified with Pischetsrider's performance. But it seems that the prolongation of Pischetsrider's contract will take place in May as scheduled.

And some interesting figures from the article: Production of a Golf Mk V needs 43 hours, that of a Renault Megane only 17 hours, the figures for a VW Passat are 50 hours and a Ford Mondeo only

18 hours (ok, what is NOT menioned is manufacturing depth = amount of parts manufactured in the plants which NOT come from suppliers).

Juergen

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