Word: volkswagener
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...paper, he had a horrific childhood. Growing up near Toronto, he dropped out of school in his early teens after his father lost his accounting job and the whole family had to work nights in a wheel factory; for a time they all lived in a Volkswagen van. He describes the van part, at least, as being not all that bad, and discounts the easy conceit that there's an A-to-B line between childhood scars and his comedy, or anyone else's. Then again, he once did a bit in his stand-up routine that went like this...
...also for its symbolism. The creation of DaimlerChrysler Akteingesellschaft represents a triumph of the global economy and the end of car companies as national emblems of industrial might. The car business is too capital and customer hungry to care about flags. Witness last week's other big news: Volkswagen's $713 million deal to buy Rolls-Royce, the once regal, now tarnished marque of British motoring. Ford also announced last week that it will consider increasing its 16.9% stake in Kia Motors Corp., South Korea's troubled No. 2 automaker, which filed for bankruptcy last summer. Audi is apparently considering...
Specifically, Iacocca's Global Motors was to be an alliance of Chrysler and Volkswagen (or Fiat or Renault if VW didn't want to play), with American Motors thrown in to make trucks and utility vehicles. American-designed cars would run on German (or Italian) engines, and joint dealerships around the world would be able to match the market penetration that only GM and Ford had at the time. It was one of Iacocca's typically brash ideas...
QUESTION Now that the Volkswagen Beetle has been resurrected, what other automobile would you like to see brought back...
DIED. FERDINAND PORSCHE, 88, who helped his father engineer the Volkswagen Beetle (at Hitler's behest) and later created the wildly popular and profitable German sports car that bears his name; in Zell am See, Austria...