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VW’s Labor Chief: Company’s U.S. Business Is a “Disaster”
Bernd Osterloh, chairman of Volkswagen AG's global works council, tells reporters in Germany that the company's skimpy product lineup and lack of marketing prowess in the American market is a "disaster."
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Bernd Osterloh, chairman of Volkswagen AG's global works council, tells reporters in Germany that the company's skimpy product lineup and lack of marketing prowess in the American market is a "disaster."
The outspoken executive blames the VW's chronic losses in the U.S. the world's second-largest national market after China on slow decision making about product and an inability to understand the marketplace.
Osterloh points out that VW has become the dominant carmaker in Europe and China. But he says the company continues to dither about the American market. He grouses that VW still hasn't decided whether to produce the CrossBlue crossover concept it unveiled at the Detroit auto show a year ago in the U.S. or Mexico.
Last month VW removed Jonathan Browning as head of its U.S. unit after sales increases of 26% in 2011 and 35% in 2012 were followed by a 7% decline last year. But Reuters says his replacement, Michael Horn, complained earlier this month that VW's leadership has ignored the dynamics of the American market.
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