Who, me?
I was on the phone with one of my prime hallway radio monitors in Wolfsburg this morning (last night his time), bugging him for the latest scuttlebutt north of the Mittelland-Kanal. “Actually, I have a question for you,” the informant said: “Why are Stackmann and Stadler still around?”
“Excuse me, who?” I said.
“Jürgen Stackmann, still head of Seat, soon brand chief of Volkswagen” said the man in Wolfsburg. “Rupert Stadler, still the head of Audi. Why are they still around.?
“Why shouldn’t they?” I asked.
“Mann, wie bloed kann man nur sein,” the miffed mole shouted, „aren‘t Seat and Audi using the same diesel engines? Shouldn’t the guys have been asking what miracle tech makes those engines so clean at such low a cost?”
The man was beginning to have a point.
”Winterkorn is gone. Vahland is gone at Skoda. The R&D chiefs of Porsche, Audi, and Volkswagen – gone. People like Doerenkamp, Rudolph, Tuch, Jelden – gone. Each day it’s more. And the bosses of Audi and Seat are supposed to be blank-faced and clueless?”
“Well, are they?” I asked.
“Some people here think they aren’t as clueless as they appear,” the deep throat grumbled. “But aren’t you the reporters? Why don’t you start asking questions? Do we have to do everything ourselves?”
Standard disclaimer: Hallway radio reports reflect the current buzz of Volkswagen’s internal rumor mill, and as such the reports are not always correct. No responsibility is taken for the correctness of this information. However, the radio has a very high batting average, so far, at least.
