VW's problems

In their quest to be the number 1 car maker in the world VW took bold steps to push for more sales but by doing so their reputation took a massive hit when countless number of problems surfaced due to the lack of focus on quality and reliability. Firstly the transmission problem for the dry DSG gearboxes, then the cylinder malfunction in the 1.4 TSI engines and now the diesel gate scandal. I am not sure who should be blamed but the CEO at the time was very driven by sales figures.

Naturally making a car is never easy since there are so many components that make up a car. For a car maker that has so much history and experience one would expect them to be more professional in their approach to quality and reliability. Like Toyota, their cars are rather conservative but undeniably reliable and this made for rock solid residual values and dependability that all consumers like. Toyota don't make the most exciting cars but they make by far the most reliable cars on the planet. VW obviously forgot about this point and furthermore, they forgot about the critical value of after sales service.
If a customer had a problem with the car and the car maker was very willing to fix the problem at no cost to the customer, naturally the customer would feel good and willing to come back to buy another car in the future knowing that the car maker is responsible and will assist or support in the event of a problem. The knowledge of this assurance in the minds of the customer will keep the customer loyal. Customer loyalty is more powerful than trying to sell a car to a new customer. It was obvious that VW forgot about this as well.

Having heard stories from VW senior managers in Beijing who had to endure the ordeal of hiding in their office until 4 am because of the angry customers protesting outside their office is incredible. You would think that VW Germany would do the right thing to step in and fix their problems firstly by recalling faulty cars or immediately rectifying the problems faced by customers. the lack of responsibility by senior management really goes to show their lack of leadership and direction for the company.

I seriously wonder if VW will ever regain the respect they once commanded. the confidence in the brand has been seriously tarnished by the foolish and irresponsibility of the VW senior management in Germany. The problems was not isolated to several countries but worldwide. VW management was very slow to react and practically did nothing to help angry customers. the problems that they face now will not go away for a long time to come.