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VW's Winterkorn tells 20,000 staffers of big cost-cutting plans

During a gathering of 20,000 Volkswagen Group employees at company headquarters in Wolfsburg, Germany on Wednesday, CEO Martin Winterkorn dropped a bombshell. The boss stated that the automaker isn't operating efficiently enough and admitted the company needs to radically start cutting back to raise its profit margins. To right the ship, Winterkorn has proposed killing off less profitable models and spending less on research and development.
According to Reuters, Winterkorn wants to raise the VW brand's profit margin from about 2.9 percent in 2013 to a target of 6 percent. To make that possible, his plan amounts to increasing cost cutting until Volkswagen reaches about 5 billion euros ($6.7 billion) per year to get things back in order. "Over the short-term, we urgently need more efficiency and higher profit," the CEO said during his speech, according to Reuters.
However, Winterkorn can't make these decisions unilaterally. Volkswagen's works council also has a seat on the supervisory board to represent laborers, and it isn't likely to take the proposed cuts sitting down.

VW modular platform strategy goes all-in on EVs

The Volkswagen Group has already revealed or put on sale a broad slate of new electric vehicles: the E-up, the E-Golf (shown above), the Porsche 918 Spyder, the Panamera S E-Hybrid and the XL1. In 2014, there will be at least six more models, including the A3 Sportback E-Tron. And after that? Well, to hear Rudolf Krebs, Group Commissioner For Electric Vehicle Drive Systems, tell it, VW's future is full of plug-in goodness. "With our platform strategy, it is quite easy to bring a lot of electrified vehicles to the market for the different brands in a very short time," he said. "We try, with a minimum of those components, to produce a maximum number of variants of cars" That strategy starts with three platforms: MQB for small cars, MLB for midsize models and MSB for sporty and premium products (there's also the NSF for cars like the E-up). Speaking to AutoblogGreen, Krebs said VW has designed modules, things like engines and electric components (think: AC compressor, on-board chargers and battery management systems), to be used across all three platforms and across all brands all. "We try, with a minimum of those components, to produce a maximum number of variants of cars," he said. "This is only possible if, at an early stage of the design of new vehicles, we implement the idea that these cars are not only designed for gasoline and diesel powertrains but that we can also include CNG concepts, flex-fuel concepts, pure electric vehicles or plug-in hybrid vehicles. With minor changes in the body in white, we can produce those vehicles, bumper-to-bumper, in one factory." "VW wants to be the leader in the electrification of vehicles" In this way, customers can choose the powertrain that they want, or whatever powertrain their local regulations demand. Politicians have already put a lot of pressure on the automotive industry, with ever-stricter CO2 regulations coming into effect in all of the major markets. In the US, the fuel economy regulation numbers require the equivalent of 101 grams of CO2 emissions per kilometer by 2025. Europe, it's 95 grams by 2020. And China, which is asking for 118 grams by 2020, will be a tough scenario, Krebs said. Today, by optimizing conventional technologies and supporting things like CNG and biofuels, more than 300 VW Group models emit less than 120 g/km. A hundred of those are even under 100 g/km. But this is not sufficient, and VW admits that conventional powertrains will not be not enough.

New Audi design chief Massimo Frascella shaped cars for Jaguar Land Rover

At the Audi brand, style and design have long been a high priority; think the super sleek and sexy A7 sedan, the Bauhaus-inspired TT coupe, the single-frame grille that instantly identified the marque with its down-the-road graphics. So when the Bavarians install a new head of design, that’s also worth a look. Massimo Frascella is that person, a 52-year-old Italian designer who this summer will succeed Marc Lichte. Lichte ran Audi design since 2014 and will take up a new role within the Volkswagen Group. Frascella, a student at the Istituto d`Arte Applicata & Design in Turin, ignited his career at Stile Bertone, and his resume after that evolves impressively. He subsequently held positions at Ford Motor Company and Kia, and since 2011, Frascella has held senior positions at Jaguar Land Rover. He was responsible for the creation of several models: Discovery Vision Concept (2014), Discovery Sport (2014), Discovery (2016), Velar (2017), Evoque (2019) and Defender. In 2019 he became creative director of Land Rover and in 2020 design director. He was also instrumental in the development of the range of new electric Jaguars that are in the works. “Joining Audi is a very special moment for me,” Frascella said. “I am deeply honored to assume the role of chief creative officer and to guide such a talented team in shaping the future of the brand to new heights of innovation and distinction. I believe in the emotional power of design to inspire, connect, and drive change, and I am here to nurture and promote creativity as the beating heart of our brand.” Looking back a couple of decades, it was one of FrascellaÂ’s predecessors who helped to cement AudiÂ’s reputation in automobile design: Walter de Silva. De Silva was appointed head of Audi design in 2002. From 2007 to 2015, he supervised the design strategy for the entire Volkswagen group, including the TT, the Scirocco, the Passat and the Golf. Not a bad list of achievements, but in a interview several years ago, de Silva said that he considered the 2007 Audi A5 coupe the pinnacle of his automotive design art, citing its “sex appeal, the shape of the lights, the architecture.” Design/Style Audi Jaguar Land Rover Volkswagen Automotive History