Have disdain for this.
So it’s not surprising to hear a CEO of a major German company repeat such trash.
What is surprising, though, is the fact that this CEO heads a company deriving most of its sales and profits from catering to the rich in – America. The name of the company is Porsche, and the CEO is Wendelin Wiedeking. He had this to say about America in an interview with the German weekly SPIEGEL (Issue 39-2006):
SPIEGEL: Are you promoting the idea that the old German economic system with its social market economy, which is increasingly giving way to the Anglo-American, should be retained?
Wiedeking: We mustn’t copy one to one everything that works in the Anglo-American realm, particularly since we have proof delivered over the centuries that our idea about economies works too. We have a tradition. Europe’s culture is decidedly older than that of the USA. The Fuggers were doing business, while hunting was still the order of the day in America. Right now 37 million people in the USA live below the poverty line. The gulf between poor and rich has widened brutally. Do we want to have a situation like that in Europe and particularly in Germany? (Translation of quote by Richard Bartholomew) (For original German quote see below)
May I pose a question of my own: why would Americans buy one of the world's most hedonistic and expensive products from a foreign company whose CEO thinks, and frankly states, that America's culture is inferior to Europe’s and who accuses the American economic system of producing millions of poor people at an ever increasing rate? (And I didn't even mention Porsche's Nazi past...)
What’s your opinion American Porsche owners?
Royal european inbreeding will make people think like that...
The amazing thing is the poor here are wealthier than the middle class in most of Europe.
The new GT3 sure is nice.
But for those who can't afforded it (like me) the Honda S2000 offers a spectacular sports car experience and Honda quality for a mere 30K
Can't hold a candle to my disdain for all things German. Well, secular German.
The Poverty Line is an invention of the United States Department of Agriculture. It does not apply to Germany, obviously. Germany does not have anybody below the Poverty Line, because there is no such thing as a German Poverty Line.
It would be interesting to compare the economic condition of the American poor with the German poor, but nobody bothers to do that. They just use our government-generated statistics to create sound bites to reinforce their own ignorance.
As for the brutal widening of the gap between rich and poor, what does that have to do with the plight of the poor? The fact of the matter is that the US poor are better off, by every conceivable measure, year after year. Their income, standard of living, and employment prospects continue to improve, while Germany and the rest of Europe stagnates.
People who complain about the gap between the rich and the poor are really complaining that the rich are too rich. Well, if being too rich is a problem, it is a problem I would like to have. Truth be told, good economic conditions make some folks very rich, but they make everybody better off. Whining about the gap between the extremes of rich and poor is just a poor attempt to find a negative in what is an altogether positive thing.
But it should not surprise us when ignorant Europeans parrot these idiotic talking points. They have been a staple of the US Democrat Party for the last 25 years. If all you did was listen to Democrat politicians and watch American television, you could easily get this mistaken impression.
Have disdain for this.
When you make a product as capable and well built as Porsche it doesn't really matter what you say. It ain't going to affect sales one iota. The car does the talking.
Besides compare the corporate health of GM or Ford with BMW or Porsche..
Comment? In a word, 1973 911E Targa fully optioned for $13,800. Been there, done that, got the T-shirt, wore it, sold it. Socio-economics are clearly beyond this guy's grasp.
I have always made it a rule to never pay attention to what guys named "Wendelin" have to say.
.....The life of Ferry Porsche was intimately related to his father, Ferdinand Porsche senior, who taught his son all of his technical knowledge since his childhood. Father and son opened a bureau of automobile design, at Stuttgart in 1931.
Almost immediately, they worked together to fill their country's National Socialist regime's needs and they met Adolf Hitler at many business events. The Volkswagen Beetle was designed by Ferdinand Porsche senior and a team of engineers (that included Ferry Porsche).
After World War II, while the senior Porsche remained imprisoned in France being accused as a criminal of war....
Fuggers all right. (??? I guess I have to look it up)
I love it when the "poverty line" is usedas a political tool. You see, the so-called poverty line is an arbitrary line drawn by politicians and social engineers to promote an agenda.
That so-called poverty line is raised every so often to make certain that a certain percentage can register as "below" and give a continuing reason for social programs.
My in-laws raised two children on what was, at the time, well below poverty line income. Yet they never wanted for necessitites, and actually had more than many of my students today who live in homes with a comparible income level.
The whole "poverty" BS comes from someonen's opinion of what is "necessary".
It is all about priorities. And when an arbitrary figure representing the "poverty line" is thrown out, I get rather perturbed by it.
But as I will likely never be able to afford a Porsche automobile, I guess I too should be classified as below the "poverty line"...
I'd rather have a Humvee...and keep my rifle, thanks.
Not sure I care what this kraut thinks.
"...and who accuses the American economic system of producing millions of poor people at an ever increasing rate?"
Of course, there is no reason for Wiedeking to sell cars in the U.S. considering the fact that his country's socialistic system has eliminated poverty and everyone -- EVERYONE -- can afford to buy his cars.
Yeah it's really bad over here, you Germans wouldn't like it so you should probably keep away.
I love how some Europeans extol their venerable culture, as if they had anything to do with it.
Why go to Germany to find these guys? We've got plenty of them here. For example: Ted Turner. In fact, virtually every American media figure.