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Audi's unions demand electric model for main German plant

reuters.com

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Re: Audi's unions demand electric model for main German plant

#61

Post by vvanders »

zardo wrote: post #52
vvanders wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's a cooling system(at least in the EVs where you don't want fast battery degradation) so that is the only "large" maintenance item. Even then it's only at ~45k and runs about $700. Overall running costs for EVs are incredibly low. At 48k miles right now and my cost in tires($1k @ 30k mi) is actually my highest per-mile cost, even above electricity.

Critically though, there is nothing like the head to block interface, which is a major source of cooling system issues on IC engines.

Yeah, it's less about design issues and more that you should do a coolant swap @ ~50k.

From what I've heard there's some people out there with ~150k and still on the original brake pads(!).

Re: Audi's unions demand electric model for main German plant

#62

Post by masklinn »

johnchristopher wrote: post #56
masklinn wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> This works well in companies where managers don't have a lot of imagination and who's first reaction is to fire staff when the going gets tough. Not really that's US-style or French-style management and the result is hard clashes between labour and management.

But aren't US and French unions considered weak compared to Germany ? That would make the stance correct.

Companies and unions are in a prisoner's dilemma, the german/nordic model works because both parties cooperate, historically US or French companies have not been cooperative (many a US labor movement or union was put down by private armies — pinkerton was a big one — or even the US army).

If the union cooperates with an uncooperative company it just gets rolled over, if the union is combative it works better (until the union falls below the level of strength which lets them balance the company).

Look no further than Amazon in Germany for a demonstration.

Re: Audi's unions demand electric model for main German plant

#63

Post by bingomad123 »

1ba9115454 wrote: post #8

The Unions in Germany are considered to be very strong. This works well in companies where managers don't have a lot of imagination and who's first reaction is to fire staff when the going gets tough. For example VW wanted to cut 3000 workers. http://www.reuters.com/article/us-volkswagen-redundancies-id... After talks with the Union they rescinded somewhat and now the losses will be through attrition. i.e. wait for p…

Given the Union's intimidation and blackmail it makes so much business sense for Audi to move out of Germany to other places in Europe and elsewhere.

Re: Audi's unions demand electric model for main German plant

#64

Post by amenghra »

jessewmc wrote: post #44
bluGill wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Depends on a lot of factors. There is no engine oil, so the first scheduled maintenance will probably be the cabin airfilter (20000 miles in every car I've had that has one), and I would guess that anything in the suspension that needs grease will get the same interval (many cars have nothing to grease today but it is a possibility). Then there are tires. Brake pads should last a little longer, but I'm not sure how m…

A4s (and to a slightly lesser extent all other Audis) have been, up until very recently, among the most unreliable new vehicles for sale since the model's inception. Combine that with expensive Audi parts, expensive and zealous dealership labour, and they are unbelievably expensive to maintain. I own a 2006 that I bought for a song--I do my own service, so I was willing to take a bit of risk. The cars are very diffic…

A post about BMW Engines: http://thegarage.jalopnik.com/bmw-engines-are-gigantic-piece...

Re: Audi's unions demand electric model for main German plant

#66

Post by Dalex0 »

johnchristopher wrote: post #56
masklinn wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> This works well in companies where managers don't have a lot of imagination and who's first reaction is to fire staff when the going gets tough. Not really that's US-style or French-style management and the result is hard clashes between labour and management.

But aren't US and French unions considered weak compared to Germany ? That would make the stance correct.

In my university days the statistics showed that a lot of more strikes happen in France and USA compared to Germany. Theory was that the German model had more build in mechanism to deescalate problems between booth parties regulated by law. From my perspective the unions are really weak these days.

Re: Audi's unions demand electric model for main German plant

#67

Post by rajathagasthya »

paulddraper wrote: post #51
rajathagasthya wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

1k per 6 months of maintenance costs? If you don't mind answering, what kind of maintenance was it that you had to do every 6 months?

More likely it was maintenance every 18 months that cost 3k. Everything is more expensive on an Audi. It's thousands to replace the fan belt, because you basically have to take the whole car apart.

The $3k is for additional repairs on top of regular maintenance, correct?

Re: Audi's unions demand electric model for main German plant

#68

Post by xenophonf »

Retric wrote: post #17
epistasis wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>it's Henry Ford that's responsible for the 40 hour week etc. Your comment is pretty hard to parse, but that's not a thing that I've ever hard anybody say. >PS: Remember, the best way to keep power long term is to convince everyone else to hand it to you. Your phrasing makes me think that you're trying to be sarcastic, but that's exactly how every long term transition of power has ever worked. If people are not convi…

> that's not a thing that I've ever hard anybody say. Google search "40 hour work week Henry Ford" and it auto suggests "henry ford started 40 hour work week" "henry ford invented the 40 hour work week" Which takes you to "Does the 8-hour day and the 40-hour week come from Henry Ford, or labor unions?" http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2015/sep/... "In 1914, at a time when most workers still lacked a…

It drives me crazy that PolitiFact, which publishes its work on the web, cannot manage to include citations and sources beyond Such-and-Such-Authority-Told-Us-So-When-We-Asked. It's not that I don't believe PolitiFact, but if they bothered to interview a bunch of college professors, surely they could have gotten primary or secondary sources too. I mean, that's basically a professor's job!

Re: Audi's unions demand electric model for main German plant

#69

Post by paulddraper »

rajathagasthya wrote: post #67
paulddraper wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

More likely it was maintenance every 18 months that cost 3k. Everything is more expensive on an Audi. It's thousands to replace the fan belt, because you basically have to take the whole car apart.

The $3k is for additional repairs on top of regular maintenance, correct?

Not the OP, but that's certainly including regular maintenance.

To use a previous example, replacing the fan belt is regular maintenance. The problem is that Audis are very tightly engineered. Good in some response, but not for easy maintenance/repair.

Re: Audi's unions demand electric model for main German plant

#70

Post by anigbrowl »

csomar wrote: post #2

Is it me or unions on Germany are a species of their own kind? I mean I'm expected the union to do strikes to raise salaries, protect laziness and unproductive workers, counter automation and firing of current workers... Edit: I'm not sure why I'm getting down-voted over this.

I'm not sure why you're getting downvoted either. Unions do operate a bit differently in Germany, which takes manufacturing capability seriously as a national goal and treats industry as a cooperative venture of labor and capital. It's a pragmatic approach that seems to consistently pay dividends. The Economist has some excellent coverage of the differences, look up one of their periodic special reports on manufacturing or Germany.
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