Until fairly recently, if you asked someone to describe their idea of an established world-class European business, it seems likely that Volkswagen would get a mention.
Still the world’s second-largest carmaker by volume, despite a diesel emissions scandal that came to light in 2015, VW is a brand that suggests solidity, reliability and engineering soundness; a company which, like its products, is built to last.
So it is startling to read reports of possible factory closures, with job losses and 10 per cent pay cuts, for the first time in Volkswagen’s 87-year history. This sort of thing is not supposed to happen, not at this company, anyway. Yet there is no iron law that states a company will keep growing — even one with a deserved reputation for excellence.