How they mighty shall fall and especially how quickly it happens. 2015 was a tough year for Volkswagen and the share price have dropped dramatically during the year based on the discovery of the cheating. It is interesting to see how one man, the CEO, can destroy a company so quickly by doing what they think is correct and probably thinking and believing that they are excellent leaders. Mr. Winterkorn, in the end, proved to be such an incompetent leader that not only did he not know what was happening under his command but he built a culture that scared people from speaking up. That takes plenty of ignorance, arrogance and incompetence to accomplish that over so many years. That said... over the years with him as the captain he did accomplish an amazing journey for VW and it is a pity that it ended like it did because now he will most likely be remembered only for how it ended. It is a tough balancing act and one probably needs to reinvent oneself when sitting as a CEO for many years in these large companies. Some manage to do this and others do not. For many years he pushed VW into what they are today a force to be reckoned with AND it was the reason why I bought it in the first place. So, yes... he must be blamed... he was the captain... but he did much good and one must remember both.
To read the report in full please go here and to read the previous summary then please click on VW report Q3 2015 and to find out more regarding VW then please visit analysis of VW 2015 (a new one will arrive shortly).
The financial statement below is... at the bottom line bad. Before that line arrives I am not so disappointed. The revenue increased very nicely, the costs unfortunately also but ok. Then we continue down and we arrive at Other Operative Expenses... well... there we crash and burn. Crash and Burn. In the end there is a loss of -1.6 billion €. I never like to see that and what is worse is the reason for why that loss must be taken.
Conclusion: VW had a bad year and we shall see where and when it will stop. The CEO has been changed and hopefully they will manage to bring in a cultural change which means that cheating is not ok. The thought to cheat is not even allowed to enter the mind of the employees. In the long run I have full confidence and I will remain as a shareholder.
To read the report in full please go here and to read the previous summary then please click on VW report Q3 2015 and to find out more regarding VW then please visit analysis of VW 2015 (a new one will arrive shortly).
The financial statement below is... at the bottom line bad. Before that line arrives I am not so disappointed. The revenue increased very nicely, the costs unfortunately also but ok. Then we continue down and we arrive at Other Operative Expenses... well... there we crash and burn. Crash and Burn. In the end there is a loss of -1.6 billion €. I never like to see that and what is worse is the reason for why that loss must be taken.
Conclusion: VW had a bad year and we shall see where and when it will stop. The CEO has been changed and hopefully they will manage to bring in a cultural change which means that cheating is not ok. The thought to cheat is not even allowed to enter the mind of the employees. In the long run I have full confidence and I will remain as a shareholder.
No comments:
Post a Comment