I was shocked to read this article– but not shocked about the common platform approach that VW has adopted. That just makes sense. What shocked me was this part:

“At a gathering in Japan five years ago, Renault and Nissan executives lifted the hoods on several VW Group vehicles side by side — including models from Skoda, Seat and Audi brands — and saw trouble.”

That C-Level types were able to even get a hood open, let alone recognize what was under the hood, amazed me.

But then I realized these were French and Japanese auto executives. Of course, it couldn’t happen here in the US with our American auto executives. That notion is just downright silly. Besides their lack of car knowledge, I’m sure they are too busy maximizing shareholder value and collecting TARP funded bonuses based on ill-defined goals.