Volkswagen Will Eliminate Almost Half of Production Brands After Losing Market Share to China

Conservative Treehouse ^ | July 10, 2026 | Sundance

[Red Badger]

The European auto industry is a case study on how short-sighted trade policy goals, results in consequences.

Previously, German auto companies like Volkswagen entered into trade agreements with China and began manufacturing their vehicles with immediate financial success in the market. However, it did not take long for Chinese auto companies to reverse the engineering and begin to deliver the same quality vehicles at much lower prices.

The Chinese then stop purchasing the Volkswagen vehicles and purchase the cheaper version, while simultaneously begin exporting those same vehicles into the home market from where the technology originated.

Today, with a double-digit decline in production, Volkswagen announces they will cut almost half of their brands due to diminished sales.

BLOOMBERG – BERLIN — Volkswagen reported weak sales numbers on Friday, a day after the giant German automaker announced plans to slash the number of models by nearly half as sales plunged, particularly in China.

The Wolfsburg, Germany-based company said group sales fell 8.6 per cent in the second quarter to just under 2.1 million vehicles, with sales in China alone plummeted by more than one-third.

After a board meeting on Thursday, Volkswagen said its “fundamental realignment” over the last three years had reached its next phase, announcing plans to streamline the model lineup by up to half, without providing specifics.

CEO Oliver Blume laid out plans to make VW faster and more competitive through less complexity, focused technologies, better alignment across regional markets and reduction of overcapacities, among other things, citing an “increasingly demanding environment.”

Among its main brands, the core Volkswagen unit saw deliveries of slightly over 1 million vehicles in the second quarter, a drop of 14 per cent from a year earlier. Deliveries at Audi declined 8 per cent and those at Porsche fell 18 per cent. (read more)

Maybe Canada will take note, likely they will not.

The only way to avoid this issue is to protect the domestic market. As soon as you open your market to this claimed reciprocity (panda face), it will not take long until the mask drops, and you notice the dragon face behind it.

[alternatives?]

Driving an old original car is enjoyable regardless of model.

[BobL]

Ever since Germany blew up its 12 (flawlessly operating) nuclear power plants and ended its purchases of very cheap energy from Russia, their economy has been in a tailspin.

Totally self-inflicted.

[DIRTYSECRET]

Volkswagon got lucky in the 60’s when we let them in. Remember Hudsons and Nash.

[trebb]

I think Germany did it to themselves. Some years ago they cheated on the emissions tests for their diesel engines and got caught, and quality has gone down to the point where “German Engineering” is no longer a valid boast. I owned to mid-range Mercedes and both had “issues”. Both had times when the main screen would blank out - even when the backup camera was supposed to be on - they claimed it was my imagination. My new Toyota did the same and they came out with 2 recalls to fix it.
My CLA AMG (fast as heck and held the road like it was on rails - but the suspension was so hard that running over a ruler in the road would give you a “Bang!”, had the driver side blind spot warning stop working on the sideview mirror. I was told that the diagnostics showed a bad sensor - but my car didn’t have that sensor - so their programmers suck. Then My GLC 300 was on cruise control on a trip and going up a steep hill. traffic ahead was sow, but the left lane was clear so I pulled out and tried to accelerate - it didn’t drop a gear like it should have and the engine lugged, then started running real rough. Limped to a dealership and they said a cylinder “misfired” which automatically turned it off. Turning it off and then back on again was supposed to fix it, but it didn’t so they had to play with the computer.

The “Krauts’ did it to themsleves.

[PAR35]

While there are slight variations in the national brands, Skodas and VWs are built on the same platform. Same with Seat. They could eliminate the variations and save engineering costs if they went to straight up badge engineering and just varied the labels and trim.

[TwelveOfTwenty]

Also the Chinese cars are not cheaper they’re subsidized to the max by the Chinese government

That means WE'RE subsidizing them with OUR consumer dollars. Thanks, free traitors.

[oldbill]

You are comparing 1960’s VW Beetles to the modern day Mustangs.
He was referring to the contemporary 1965 Mustang which stands out as much as those VWs.

[PAR35]

What ever happened to the Simca?

Chrysler sold the brand to the French, who killed it off. Chrysler had gotten it from Fiat. So, Italian engineering, Chrysler design, French manufacturing. French cars have never sold well in the US.

[Red Badger]

SCREEN BLANKING OUT is a common problem, not just with Mercedes. GM, FORD, TOYOTA and others have all had the same problem.

It’s apparently the TOUCHSCREENS themselves can’t take the heat and vibration of normal everyday driving.

Designers love them because they can eliminate knobs and switches and dashboards can be reduced to one component and a bunch of cables. And assembly line installation is fast and easy.

A certain car I was looking to buy recently had a screen that went all the way from one side of the dash to the other with no mechanical controls at all.

They will have to come up with a more heavy duty touchscreen to solve this problem, but that makes them more expensive................

[PAR35]

stunning aesthetics!

They stole that toilet seat front from Edsel. Not angular enough to have been inspired by the Boeing F-32 "Monica".

[PAR35]

It’s apparently the TOUCHSCREENS themselves can’t take the heat and vibration of normal everyday driving.

That's a feature, not a bug. Profit in out of warranty replacements, not in new vehicle sales.

[OldCountryBoy]

“There’s something else going on here. Red CHina does not have cars that compete with Porsche, but it dropped twice as much as the other brands. That tells me that people are going downscale because they have less money.”

Manufacturer’s focus on electric cars, hybrid cars, and generally, cars with overly complex electronic systems prone to failure. This has resulted in lost sales. It has happened to large truck sales too. The idea of elegant, simple design has disappeared.

But, because the replacement/aftermarket auto parts market has also been decimated, keeping your old car running is getting tougher too.

[Campion]

European auto manufacturers have the idea that owning a car (any car, not just a top-end model) is a luxury (which it is, in Europe), and therefore you should expect to visit a dealership and pay through the nose for anything related to car ownership.

In practice, that means to do most maintenance and repair jobs right requires parts and sometimes even tools that you have to buy from the manufacturer. (Some VW models, back when I was a VW owner, even required proprietary tools just to do an oil change correctly !! ... good luck taking that car to Jiffy Lube.)

The result is that you either have to take the car to the dealership for service, or to a shop that specializes in, e.g., German cars (of which there aren't many) ... or you have to learn to do it yourself, and buy the appropriate tools. I mentioned to a tech at a German-car repair shop once that I did a lot of work on my own car and found it rather difficult and tricky. "Yeah," he said, "we call that 'Hitler's revenge'!"

This is not only true for VW. Mercedes-Benz and BMW are reportedly even worse.

Disclaimer: I owned VW diesels for 26 years. Fun and economical cars to drive, but with a high appetite for expensive maintenance.

[central_va]

Back in the day a new VW bug always smelled like a barn to me. I think they used real straw as seat cushioning. Not sure.

[Vaduz]

Chinese auto companies to reverse the engineering and begin to deliver the same quality vehicles at much lower prices.

Sticker on their cars THIS CAR MADE AT LABOR CAMP #32 ?.

[Red Badger]

It will be in Mandarin so nobody can read it..................

[Vaduz]

Yeah that’s it

[Dr. Sivana]

“Yes, but T-Birds, Corvettes, Mustangs, Jaguar E-Type, and Lincoln Continentals are also easy to identify."

You got some strange stuff for examples.

I was responding to a post about identifying cars in old TV shows. When I said they were all more desirable, I was comparing to the desirability of the very identifying VW Beetle from the original poster.

So yes, the T-bird with its opera windows, the sporty Corvette, the distinctive Mustang that was a new look in 1964, the legendary Jaguar E-type immortalized in song, and the Lincoln Continental of the early 1960s with suicide doors ALL are easy to identify when watch Perry Mason (Paul Drake drove a T-bird), the Fugitive, or other shows with a lot of now classic cars. Check Post 4 for context.

[Dr. Sivana]

Driving an old original car is enjoyable regardless of model.

I agree. And though I preferred all the models I listed over the VW Beetle, I respect the Beetle for doing exactly what it set out to do. Extremely simple (no radiator, no long drive train), parts everywhere, inexpensive, can be made reliable. You do not see a lot of them here in Phoenix. I wouldn't trust air cooling when the air is 115 degrees F.

[Dr. Sivana]

But, because the replacement/aftermarket auto parts market has also been decimated, keeping your old car running is getting tougher too.

That is a problem. There might be three choices for aftermarket alternator, all of them substandard. There are some interchange guides, and some creative hacks. So, for instance, when I owned my 1965 Chrysler 300 two-door hardtop C-Body, parts were very hard to find, because they weren't muscle cars. However, enthusiasts machined a simple part to allow use of GM pick up truck motor mounts to hold up the big 383ci engine. If you are not bent on keeping things all original, you can do a lot (though plopping a GM 350 in the "wrong" car would be sacrilege to some). It all depends on what you want the old car for. For everyday drivers that are not TOO old to easily maintain due to parts availability, but also don't have TOO many electronics, I would lean towards 1990s GM 3.8l drivetrain or the 350 ci B-Bodies (Roadmaster, Caprice, Impala). Be aware that some of those have a hard to replace optical distributor.

Money helps, but the knowledge of the older cars is fading. I was describing my frustration with not having an alternator gauge in my vehicles, and he downplayed their usefulness. He was knowldedgeable, but he had confused the old GM GENERATOR gauges (of minimal usefulness) for the Chrysler ALTERNATOR gauges that I described.