5 ms·

The german car industry killed itself by being complacent and ignoring the writing on the wall. Now innovative companies like Tesla and BYD come and just eat t

• 317070 3y ago
  I remember being at a robotics conference in 2014, chatting with an engineer from some German car company. He was saying that EV would never break through, because "who doesn't love the sound and feel of a combustion engine." Of course the engineers that work at German car manufacturers love combustion engines. That is why they chose to go work there in the first place. That is why they had (and have) such a disconnect from the consumer market. Cars are built by people that love cars, not by people that want to get you from A to B. They're people that love the solution, not the problem. The inertia of big companies starts even in people who are not part of the company yet. It is the people who love finicking with the intricacies of combustion engines that end up at car manufacturers, not the other way around.
  • geraldhh 3y ago
    you're forgetting about the massive value add in cars due to custom infotainment systems. you are right thou, solutionists love problems and will even create new problems if their solutions no longer apply.
• RandomLensman 3y ago
  Right now, the profits and revenues of the German car industry are multiples of Tesla and BYD.
• badpun 3y ago
  > The german car industry killed itself by being complacent and ignoring the writing on the wall. "Killed itself"? Do you know VW is the largest car company in the world?