Word: volkswagen
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...CHARGED. Peter Hartz, 65, former Volkswagen personnel director; with 44 counts of breach in trust in connection with a corruption scandal at Europe's largest automaker; in Braunschweig, Germany. State prosecutors allege that Hartz oversaw illegal payments of $2.4 million made without Volkswagen's knowledge to labor representative Klaus Volkert, who resigned soon after the investigation began last June. Hartz, who quit last July, denies wrongdoing but accepts the perks were in his "area of supervision." If convicted, he could face five years in jail...
...hottest seats in European business these days are in the auto industry. Last week, Volkswagen, Peugeot and Fiat all announced that they're trading in their chief executives. That leaves just highly profitable Porsche as the only significant European auto firm not to have switched bosses in the past 18 months. The turnover reflects upheaval in the industry worldwide as firms not only jostle to take advantage of new markets in Asia and elsewhere, but also struggle with unrelenting cost pressures at home. The big surprise came at VW. Bernd Pischetsrieder had just signed a new contract...
Other branding consultants use similar methods. "The majority of kids coming out of college are essentially generic," says D.A. Hayden, who did p.r. for clients like Volkswagen and the Washington Redskins before co-founding Hayden-Wilder last fall to help college grads land their first job. "They need key brand attributes and to be able to talk about them to employers." Rob Borden, 25, who graduated from Middlebury in 2005, paid $2,950 for Hayden-Wilder's "Illumination" package. During his initial fake job interview, which was taped, Borden sat stiffly and said "um" a lot. He rambled without direction...
...makers can't control the weather, of course. But Volkswagen's latest model, the Eos, named for the goddess of dawn, does eliminate many of the compromises you used to have to make to enjoy the benefits of owning an affordable convertible. Its standout feature is a retractable hard-top, which doubles as a sun-roof. Flip a switch and in 25 seconds, it automatically stows in the rear. Watching this shape-changing act is worth the price of admission; the rear deck opens, the roof panels split apart, stack atop each other and neatly fold away. If you engage...
...Each of Volkswagen's big shareholders has a hand on the steering wheel too--making VW notoriously unwieldy. Representatives of government, trade unions and Porsche, which owns a stake in VW, follow their own interests, so decisions can take eons by American standards. The state of Lower Saxony, for instance, holds a stake in the company, and Saxon politicians routinely pressure VW to maintain jobs and generous benefits in the hinterland. VW's unions, also powerful, recently agreed to extend the workweek--to 35 hours for factory workers, up from 28.8 hours. In return VW promised to keep production...