Can Ford build an Audi?

The September 5^th issue of Autocar contains a very interesting interview with Ford CEO Allan Mulally - a man who managed to turn the fortunes of both Boeing and Ford for the better. He must now face the same challenge that all automakers are sweating over – a contracting market dominated by Volkswagen with their easily scaled, high profit, MQB platform. Autocar’s Steve Cropley asks the difficult question; ‘How come Volkswagen is doing so well in Europe’. Mulally points out that they do exceedingly well in their home market as well as China going on to say, ‘the VW Group is mostly VW and Audi. The Volume is VW, but most of the profits come from Audi’.

‘The Volume is VW, but most of the profits come from Audi’

The Squeezed Middle

If you cast your mind back to the last UK elections you’ll remember this phrase being chucked about a lot. I can’t remember who exactly said it, as all politicians have since become a faceless blur to me, blithering on about a financial crisis which none of them control. This blog, despite a title based in politics, is about cars. Who this squeezed middle is in society seems to be something that no one wants to define. However with the much simpler motorcar, it’s more easily pin pointed.