Volkswagen boss attacks Tesla Motors for “barely selling 80,000 cars a year”

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Volkswagen boss attacks Tesla Motors for “barely selling 80,000 cars a year”


During a discussion on the future of the automotive industry, the head of Volkswagen, Matthias Müller ripped into Tesla during a panel discussion.

The VW CEO certainly set the cat among the pigeons. Prompted by a comment from the moderator, Müller laid into the electric car company for its small production volumes, regular quarterly losses, and for firing hundreds of workers.
“Now I really need to say a few words about Tesla: With all respect, there are some world champions of big announcements in this world—I don’t want to name names. There are companies that barely sell 80,000 cars a year. Then there are companies like Volkswagen that sell 11 million cars this year, and produce a profit of 13 or 14 billion euro. If I am correctly informed, Tesla each quarter destroys millions of dollars in the three digits, and it willy-nilly fires its workers. Social responsibility? Please. We should not not get carried away and compare apples with oranges.”

It certainly is a tough time for Tesla and the production of the Model 3 as the company's new mass-market EV, is mired in "production hell," with Tesla having little chance of meeting its goal of building 20,000 in the month of December.

There have also been stories of a spate of allegations of harassment at the company's factory.

Volkswagen is not one to throw stones while in the glass house as they also have not been without their own troubles. The diesel emissions scandal is now well into its second year, even culminating with arrests made in both the US and Germany.

In actual fact, the the VW emissions scandal was actually a factor in Müller getting his job. The scandal, as most know by now has also cost VW Group tens of billions of dollars in fines, write-offs, and losses.

The VW Group, as a result is, like most car makers is aggressively pivoting toward electric cars. They announced at this year's Frankfurt auto show, that 50 battery EVs and 30 new plug-in hybrid EVs will be coming during the next 13 years.









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Justin Kavanagh
Justin Kavanagh is a recognised leader in automotive intelligence and vehicle data supply to the entire motor industry. He has almost 20 years experience in building systems from the ground up. As the Managing Director of Vehicle Management System, he understands the need and importance of trustworthy and reliable vehicle history and advice to both the trade and the public.
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