Germany's car industry faces a perfect storm

Post by iagovar » Sat, Mar 02, 2019, 3:51 PM UTC

edem wrote: post #62

iagovar wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They won't learn. I work for another euro behemoth and it's exactly the situation you describe. As long as they pay me and support my lifestyle I have no problem, but Im already tired of trying to fight the nonsense. Sadly Im not a programmer so finding other companies with the same conditions is hard.

I'd really like to be able to just sit and do the work and don't care about these things (I'm not talking about you but the ability in general). I just can't help myself. I'm always trying to fix things but with a company like this it feels like as if I was trying to climb the Mount Everest.

Post by leonroy » Sat, Mar 02, 2019, 4:22 PM UTC

edem wrote: post #119

dabeeeenster wrote: post #76

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You're describing all large organisations, pretty much.

I'm not sure. I think this hierarchical nonsense is a German thing. I've worked for IBM and it was a different experience. Still dysfunctional, but in a different way. I never felt at IBM that I was not heard. I also see how Microsoft fixed itself and turned itself around which is an admirable achievement.

Post by greedo » Sat, Mar 02, 2019, 4:46 PM UTC

mk89 wrote: post #36

paganel wrote: post #31

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> What kind of innovation did Germany establish besides ABS? Not sure why you got downvoted, afaik the most important technological breakthroughs when it came to cars in Europe were made by the Italians (Fiat, mostly, but Alfa Romeo too), the French (the Citroen DS is one of the best technological products ever) and the Swedes (Volvo and its emphasis on security). Somehow the Germans navigated the ‘90s and early 2000…

Did you ever drive a German car (not necessarily a Mercedes, even a simple VW Polo) vs a non German car? Seriously, that's the reason. Quality. You can be as innovative as you wish, but if you are cheap and provide low quality products, that's what you get. Eventually someone is able to provide the same technology and then quality wins.

Post by iamgopal » Sat, Mar 02, 2019, 5:11 PM UTC

chimen wrote: post #54

Latteland wrote: post #9

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It was shocking that LG trying to block them from building their own battery supply became public. I think if they don't get serious about battery production in the next couple of years, it will take a decade to catch up. tesla's lead and ability to make their own batteries with panasonic is a massive advantage. i went the auto companies to make their own batteries too. there will be a shortage of battery productions…

I hope something drastic takes place. Batteries are the only piece of "hardware" without any new discoveries in decades. Li-Ion I had in high school and it still drives my phone today. Whoever finds a better alternative is going to completely change the automotive industry and mobile. I just don't hear about many researches being made in this field.

Post by LifeLiverTransp » Sat, Mar 02, 2019, 5:40 PM UTC

ahartmetz wrote: post #45

jeena wrote: post #42

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I've been working in the car industry for 5 years and the last 2 with a big German car manufacturer which gave us a lot of money to set up something on the side which would work better. Once we showed that we probably can do it (after 1,5 years) they started getting interested in the project and that's where the problems started. Long story short they are forcing us to do things as they always been done even though t…

That happens all the time. German car companies are buying working companies and messing them up or starting new daughter companies to "do it right this time" but the contagious rot always kills those attempts surprisingly quickly. I guess that is what another poster mentioned as the changes that are currently happening. But it's not helping yet.