An interesting read in AutoBlog.

According to typical MBA tenents, certainly those governing Detroit makers and many/most other, VW should be an economic basketcase rather than the largest and most profitable company in the world by most measures.

Interestingly, it is set up much like GM pre-1960s when it was the largest and most profitable car company in the world when Alfred Sloan ran it as a very vertically integrated yet strongly decentralized organization. Unfortunately, when he hung up his hat, the MBA suits infested the management structure and implemented their business school business orthodoxy and, well, the rest is history, GM's been struggling ever since.

Anyways, a good read.

 

IMO, another reason why Volkswagen is so successful is because they don’t experiment much with the design. Each new Volkswagen keeps what buyers loved in the past and improves on what they didn’t. Because of this, their sales rarely go down by a lot and unlike the Big 3, they rarely have to close factories and pay workers while they’re not working.

They also don’t push sporty design too much. Let’s face it – majority of drivers there aren’t 20 year old kids who has to have a sporty car. Majority of drivers are people in their 30s and 40s, who pay more attention to space, safety features, fuel economy and resale value than design.

Volkswagen also invested in all markets. 20 or 30 years ago, Asian and South American markets were a joke, but Volkswagen still sold vehicles there. Today, Asian market is the largest one in the world and South American continues to grow. And VW is a major player there because they have built a reputation.