Brazilian Vw T1 Split Window on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Porsche board members facing another ˆ1.8B lawsuit over VW takeover bid

Back in 2008, Porsche got the bright idea that it could take over Volkswagen in the midst of the worst economic slump since the Great Depression. Ignoring that this was a catastrophic move for the Stuttgart sports car manufacturer that that eventually resulted in it nearly going bankrupt and eventually being taken over by the same company it sought to control, the aftermath has left Porsche Chairman Wolfgang Porsche and board member Ferdinand Piëch in the crosshairs of seven hedge funds that lost out during the takeover and are now seeking €1.8 billion - $2.43 billion US - in damages from the two execs, according to the BBC.
See, investors bet on Volkswagen's share price going down, partially because Porsche said it wasn't going to attempt a takeover. But Porsche was attempting to take over VW, having bought up nearly 75-percent of VW's publicly traded shares. When word broke that Porsche owned nearly three-quarters of VW (which indicated an imminent takeover attempt), rather than go down like the hedge funds bet it would, VW's share price skyrocketed to over 1,000 euros per share, according to Reuters.
Naturally, when you bet that a company's share price is going to drop and it in turn (temporarily) becomes the world's most valuable company, you lose a lot of money, unless you're able to buy up shares before prices jump too much. This led to a squeeze on the stock, which the hedge funds accuse Porsche and Piëch (who are both members of the Porsche family and supervisory board) of organizing.

VW's Skoda says Ukraine partner making wire harnesses again

PRAGUE — Skoda Auto, part of the Volkswagen Group, said on Tuesday its supply partner in Ukraine had decided to restart production of wire harnesses which should allow the Czech carmaker to resume production of its electric ENYAQ iV model. Russia's invasion of Ukraine has added to supply chain problems for global automakers — which were already struggling with semiconductor shortages that have cut production — with a break in deliveries of wire harnesses from the war-torn country. While Skoda, the Czech Republic's biggest exporter, said it expects the supply of semiconductors to improve in the second half of 2022, it said the war in Ukraine and supply bottlenecks will put a significant burden on its operating business. Skoda's 2021 deliveries fell 12.6% year-on-year and earlier this month it stopped production of the ENYAQ because of harness shortages, saying that two other models were at risk because of the lack of availability of the component. "Our partner ... in Ukraine decided to restart production of wire harnesses this week, with full service and full security for workers there," Karsten Schnake, Skoda's board member for purchasing, said during its online 2021 earnings presentation. Wire harnesses form a key part of a car's electrical system, which group and guide cables inside the vehicle. "We decided to double the production in case something is going wrong, and this production will be ramped up in an alternative factory," Schnake said, adding that work there would start in three or four weeks. "Hopefully we can restart production of ENYAQ one or two weeks later when we have wire harnesses," Schnake said. Skoda delivered 878,200 cars worldwide in 2021, the first time that this had fallen below the 1 million mark since 2013. Nevertheless, the VW group brand's sales revenue rose 3.9% to 17.7 billion euros ($19.5 billion) in 2021 and operating profit rose 43.2% to 1.1 billion euros ($1 billion) as it took cost measures. Skoda did not give a financial or production outlook, saying there were still considerable uncertainties as a result of the conflict in Ukraine and the impact on its Russian operations. Skoda, like VW, has suspended production and other business activities in Russia, which was its second-largest market last year, with 90,400 vehicles delivered. ($1 = 0.9089 euros) (Reporting by Jason Hovet, Editing by Louise Heavens, Kirsten Donovan and Alexander Smith) Related video: Green Plants/Manufacturing Volkswagen Skoda Electric ukraine war

VW Jetta TDI Value Edition drops price of diesel ownership to $21,295*

Getting a new diesel-powered car just got a bit easier. Volkswagen has announced a new Jetta TDI Value Edition for 2014 that trims over $2,000 off the starting price of a Jetta TDI, making the most affordable diesel-powered car in America even more so. Prices start at $21,295 (*plus $820 for destination) for a Value Edition with a six-speed manual transmission, while a six-speed dual-clutch automatic adds $1,100 to the price. For that money, owners will get 140 horsepower, 236 pound-feet of torque and 42 miles per gallon on the freeway.
Despite the lower price and being down on content versus the previous base Jetta TDI, the Value Edition does come quite well equipped, with standard heated cloth seats, a six-speaker stereo with a Media Device Interface, satellite radio, and one-touch, up-down power windows on all four doors. Customers will be giving up some notable stuff though, including tilt/telescopic steering, Bluetooth streaming audio, power seats and a multi-function steering wheel.
Still, if you're aching to get your hands on a new TDI, this is now the most affordable way to do it. We suspect having the lower MSRP will help the German manufacturer make even further diesel-powered inroads here in the States, a land where they cleared their decks of over 100,000 TDI models in 2013.