Volkswagen’s quality chief, who did actually exist, is leaving his post after being suspended following the Dieselgate scandal, according to Automotive News. Maybe the new guy will help them build cars that actually last past their warranties.
Frank Tuch, who was the head of group quality assurance, was the man keeping tabs. But after six years, he’s putting in his two weeks to “take on new challenges elsewhere,” Autonews reports.
But Tuch may have ditched because of the Dieselgate scandal, as he was one of nine top-brass managers who were put on leave right after the scandal broke last year.
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Let’s be honest with ourselves here: Volkswagen isn’t exactly the poster child of high quality automobiles. Their cars fall apart like the meat on a slab of slow-cooked Texas ribs.
Given their track record, it’s funny that VW rolled out this new commercial about repeat VW buyers—a group of people that, outside of air-cooled die-hards and VW Vortex-ers dead set on getting their MK4 Golf project cars stanced real nice for the next H20 fest, simply doesn’t exist.
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First-time VW owners, after a couple years, learn their lessons. After continually refilling the oil on their oil-burning 2.0-liter turbos and repeatedly replacing the oil pans that might as well be made of glass, VW owners tell the fragile DSG to go screw itself and limp their heap of junk to the nearest Honda dealership never to look back.
(To be fair, the company seems to be doing better these days, having its best showing ever last year in Consumer Reports’ annual reliability study. But it still lags behind most of the Asian brands and has left a trail of disgruntled former owners in its wake.)
Taking over for Tuck is Hans-Joachim Rothenpieler, a man whose name couldn’t be more German if he added an Umlaut and a Sharp Ss (ß). He’s a mechanical engineer who’s a bit of an old-timer, having worked for the Wolfsburg-based company for three decades.
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Rothenpieler will report directly to CEO Matthias Mueller in what Autonews says is an attempt to “[reshuffle] a number of key positions as he looks to reform a hierarchical corporate culture many experts believe was at the root of the deception.”
Given what we know about VW quality, Rothenpieler’s got a hell of a job ahead of him.
Photo Credit: AP Photo/Markus Schreiber
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