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The repeated denials by VW officials from global headquarters in Wolfsburg, Germany, and from VW in the U.S., since 2012- when the problem of higher emissions on roads compared to emission test readings first came to public attention- show that VW management took the problem lightly. The deep consequences of such a move to hide real emissions, not just from the EPA but from unwary buyers, appears to have been entirely missed by management. Even when the issue was raised by the EPA, VW stated to EPA that the differences in results on roads vs actual emissions tests were technical flaws. In December 2014 VW even made a voluntary recall of half million diesel vehicles. Yet the high emissions on roads continued till VW officials told EPA about the software that was the real cause in August 2015. Even then VW officials offered to personally apologize, and asked for certification of 2016 models in the U.S., missing entirely the deep consequences of their actions. VW now says that the software to conceal the real emissions was installed on 11 million vehicles worldwide. VW management has set aside $7.7 billion as provision for penalties. The VW stock declined by 35% by September 22, 2015....

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BYD's expansion in the EV market is a threat to established automakers in the US, Japan and Germany, says this report in WSJ. BYD making its own batteries means it can keep costs low. It made 1.8 new energy vehicles in 2023 through August and 83% increase over 2022. It is now the largest car brand in China overtaking VW and its product mix enables it to overcome a cut in EV prices. 1 in 3 cars in China are EV's giving China and BYD the experience and scale for world wide competition.

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What it takes to put a CDU/SPD coalition government in Germany- 16 working groups, 250 negotiators, 10 work days. And that is only the first step. It then goes to party leaders talking with their working groups. Taxes and migration policy are 2 key hurdles. Lars Kingbeil on the Social Democrat side, Carsten Linnemann on the Christian Democrat side with to be chancellor Merz. Both sides say some friction, dissent is normal after an election in which the CDU barely crossed 29% and the SPD made it only to 16% of the vote. Both sides see each other as indispensable. CDU feels SPD is sticking to its positions. Migration- SPD's Carl Stegner says- "The SPD will not engage in a contest to treat as badly as possible those who have come to Germany and have done nothing wrong." The CDU wants to give only "bed, bread and soap," to rejected asylum seekers. It sees its promises in the election as real when it made clear statements to stop migration and cut benefits, with its credibility at stake. CDU also believes that like DJT in the USA this tough policy is certain to make such migration unattractive. The other difference is on Taxes- the SPD wants to see higher taxes on the well off. ...

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A new family sedan will come out of a new manufacturing plant VW has built in Chattanooga, Tennessee, in 2011. The plant will turn out a new version of the Passat to compete with the Toyota Camry and the Honda Accord. Production capacity will be 150,000 A new Beetle will also be introduced. This is the first time VW has built a car specifically designed for the U.S.. During its previous efforts in the 80's VW used European designs and transferred them to the U.S. Its plans are to sell 400,000 VW's in the U.S. by 2013. VW sold 213,000 cars in the U.S. in 2009, so this means doubling sales in 4 years. At it height VW sold 577,000 cars in 1970, but this was before the Japanese and the Koreans entered the market in a significant way, and now the potential is there for Chinese and Indian imports at the low end of the price scale. Another factor making this goal difficult to achieve is the smaller car market and lower economic growth. By 1992, sales had dropped to 49,000, after the boxier replacement to the bug- in its Rabbit and Golf models- never took off. The new Beetle's introduction in 1998 improved sales, which reached 356,000 in 2001, and then declined as a result of too few new models, declining quality and a weakening dollar. There is a feeling among VW's American dealers, that VW's European headquarters staff is not giving the US the priority it deserves. The revolving door change in CEO's for the US operations, has only reinforced this impression. Mr Browning of GM's European operations replaced Jaccoby recently. Jaccoby joined Volvo as its new CEO. Steps taken to address these issues are to revamp the Jetta model for American customer preferences, and advertising that appeals to price conscious customers with the line: "Great for the price of good." Another innovative effort is an ad strategy that tries to capture Hispanics in the US market, with ads on Spanish language television networks. A sign of how much German management is involved in the detail of the new Jetta, is the discussion at the management board level about whether the new model should have American style cup holders. This meant pushing the brake two inches forward towards the driver, a decision that was made to do so after some deliberation at the management board. This will lead to intense competition in the US market, with Asian, European and US manufacturers all vying for the same price conscious customers....

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These pictures show the evolution of German films and Romy Schneider as she does roles as part of the Hapsburg monarchy's Elisabeth in popular German roles in the 1950's, and moves away from that typecast with some very different roles, opposite Anthony Perkins in Kafka's Trial, Heinrich Boll's Group Portrait with a Lady, and The Passersby. In divided postwar Germany in the 1950's these films of the Hapsburg monarchy and Elisabeth with Franz Joseph were popular, and still find fans during Xmas, says DW.com. During the 19th century after the French Revolution the Hapsburg monarchy and Vienna- Budapest its home base were close to Prussia and the German states. Germany was pulled into the first world war by the Hapsburg monarchy, and after its disintegration Austria was part of Germany during the Second World War. Today Vienna and Austrian culture remains close to Germany in the way Swiss culture in Geneva remains close to France and Belgium remains close to France. ...

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VW AG China will recall cars with direct shift gearbox systems with quality issues, including acceleration problems. This follows a CCTV broadcast of consumer issues program 315 on World Consumer Rights Day. The 315 program has taken up quality issues of foreign brands in China, including Carrefours, McDonalds, Yum Brands, and Apple. The program shows the shift in China supported by the new government for greater attention to consumer issues. It acts as a signal to foreign manufacturers in China to provide the same quality and attention to detail in the Chinese market that is provided in their home markets. For companies such as VW that depend on the Chinese market for growth, and generally for German, Japanese and U.S. manufacturers that depend on export growth, this will be the new standard for the Chinese market. Companies are at greater risk of quality problems during periods of rapid expansion, such as that being experienced by VW as it ramps up to become the leading global automobile manufacturer. This is similiar to the situation Toyota faced in 2009 leading to recall problems in the U.S. and negative publicity....

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Preliminary results show the SPD Social Democrats leading in Germany. The SPD had 25.7% of the vote, ahead of Merkel's CDU at 24.1%. This is the worst showing for the CDU in German elections. The environmentalist Greens Party came in at 14.8% of the vote. The pro-business FDP Free Democrats came in at 11.5%, the far right AfD at 10.3%, and the socialist Left party at 4.9%. Parties calling for big infrastructure investments in Germany with tax increases emerged as big winners reflecting the public mood in Germany after CDU led coalitions with SPD for the last eight years focused on the eurozone crisis and opened migration into Germany, while neglecting much needed investment in broken infrastructure. Both the SPD and Greens are calling for big investments and taking on additional borrowing to do so. They now have a combined 42% of the vote, and 47% when combined with the socialist Left. The Afd with 10% remains mainly a fringe party - and primarily a result of Merkel's decision to open migration from war torn Arab countries which she later reversed, and from from the CDU's failure to tackle social and economic problems of eastern Germany.    ...

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Christmas market running car into a crowd on Dec 21 in Magdeburg pushes security as the main issue with migration not attracting workers for labor shortages. All parties are against migraton today in Germany. Professor Hohne of the Technical University in Chemnitz says

"With that, other facets of migration are pushed to the background — such as, for example, how to address Germany's labor shortage or attract skilled workers. I fear that the attack in Magdeburg will further strengthen this bias."

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The usage of long distance and short distance passenger trains in Germany has dropped to 15%. Yet Deutsche Bahn is keeping the trains running on schedule with 65% of short distance and 75% of long distance trains running on schedule so that the service is available for essential workers who need it. This is similar to weekend schedule. Deutsch Bahn says it is "stability" that is its motto, and that "whoever works in systematically relevant professions, and is dependent on rail travel should be able to do so without drawbacks." The government is the owner of Deutsche Bahn and is likely to provide financial support for Deutsche Bahn to keep the trains running.  Passenger trains are being used to transport whatever needs to be transported including groceries such as pastry wares, flour, and toilet paper. In the case of freight trains 70% of capacity is being utilized, as the freight is now not autos but things that need to be moved in the times of the pandemic. ...

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Care home care or nursing home in Germany goes from $1700 a month in 2018 to $3760 in 2025 doubling in 7 years. Most of it is from increase in nurses pay and training that has gonu up after years of stagnant pay levels.

In Germany 85% of older citizens elder care is in their own homes with help of relatives and outpatient care assistance is covered from a nursing care insurance fund that pays $330 to $990 a month depending on level of care required. The average pension is $1100 a month.

Statutory long term care insurance is part of German Social Security System with long term care insurance compulsory paid for by employers and employees and 3.6% of pay income going to contributions for this long term care.

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New affordability and choice in EV's in US under $40000 in 2025. Even without incentives from the government EV's remain an attractive option now that new gasoline cars cost an average of $49,000 and affordable EV's come at price range uder $40,000. In Germany VW has EV models for about $30,000 and this pricing and choice of models can be expected in the US in 2026. Mims looks at how EV's are now a realistic option for car buyers in 2025. Americans drive an average of 33 miles a day- the 300 mile range of new EV's means charging once a week is good enough. New EV batteries are better and can outlast a vehice's life. Savings from low maintenance costs can make up for any shortfalls for EV's.

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The Federal Administrative Court in Leipzig, Germany, ruled in an appeal of a lower court decision, that German cities Stuttgart and Dusseldorf could ban diesel vehicles from urban traffic to reduce air pollution. Diesel vehicle technology of German manufacturers took a hit with the VW emissions cheating scandal. This ruling now puts pressure on the next German government to force car makers to take on estimated 8 billion euros in costs to refit older diesel vehicles to reduce pollution. Another option for government is to push this cost onto taxpayers, not a popular move. A longer term trend is also underway now that diesel fumes are seen as being more damaging to health than previously thought. Cars made up half of cars sold in Europe before the 2015 VW diesel emissions scandal when VW misrepresented the real amount of emissions taking place. This has dropped now to 44%, and is now more concentrated in delivery vehicles, craftsmen vehicles, according to analysts. This is expected to drop to 20% by 2025. The Leipzig ruling accelerates the decline of the diesel engine in Europe. As the Leipzig ruling is at the federal level the Environmental Action Germany which setup the lawsuit says the first diesel bans could go into effect in 3-6 months.    ...

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Compared to chancellor Scholz Merz sets his goals and is clear about his goals. His active style is different from previous chancellors. His first meeting with Trump showed this personal style which is proving to be more effective than Merkel or Scholz. Merz had to wait for a long time in the private sector till Merkel retired to come back to politics. During Merkel's early years Merz challenged Merkel for leadership of the Christian Democrats party. Merkel's policy on migrants has proved to be a failure, and Merz is now in a position to take the CSU in a new direction closing the border and working closely with the US and Britain, Italy, on border enforcement. Merz is also unique and very different from the disinvestment period under Merkel which let German infrastructure deteriorate and fall apart, another failure of Merkel's years as chancellor. Merz's first action was to get close to a trillion dollars of new funding to rebuild defense and infrastructure over the next decade. Merz is head of a coalition with the SPD with SPD's leader Lars Klingbeil as finance minister. Scholz headed a coalition that was dysfunctional as the Free Democrats Lindner was opposed to investment in German economy from the outset. Under Merkel the Christian Democrats took no action to rebuild Germany, and were preoccupied with eurozone finances. ...

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Merkel visits China in August 2012 with a large trade delegation including heads of SAP, Siemens, VW and BASF. Germany's largest export market is in the eurozone, at the same time growth in exports has surged to China and India. Between 2005 and 2011, German exports to the EU countries increased by 24%, to the U.S. by 6.3%, and to China by 206%, according to German government data. German investment in China was 26 billion euros in 2011. By contrast China's investment in Germany is small- only about 1.2 billion euros. The impression is that large firms such as VW and Siemens make up most of the investment. In actual fact the German Chamber of Commerce in China says 5000 German companies operate in China, employing 220,000 people, and three fourths of this is from the German "Mittelstand," midsize family owned companies. The Foundation for Family Businesses, representing 400 German Mittelstand companies says it needs more help regarding intellectual property protection in China and is not as well represented in the German trade delegation....