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Mini Case: Volkswagen

Volkswagen $($VW$)$ Group is a global automobile manufacturer headquartered in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony, Germany. The largest German automaker and the third largest automaker in the world, VW produces more than $7$ million cars, trucks, and vans annually, including the Beatle, Golf, Passat $($trade wind$),$ Jetta $($jet stream$),$ Rabbit, and Fox. VW also owns luxury carmakers such as AUDI, Lamborghini, Bentley, and Bugatti, and other brands such as SEAT $($family cars, Spain$)$ and $$koda $($family cars, the Czech Republic$).$ VW owns $49\mathrm{.}9$ percent of Porsche.

VW$$s American and Chinese versions of the Passat won the $2012$ Motor Trend Car of the Year. The VW Golf won the $2013$ European Car of the Year. In $2013,$ Fortune ranked VW as the $9$th largest company in the world, the $6$th most profitable, and the $33$rd most admired company outside the United States. In August $2013,$ a study by the Trendence Institute $($TI$)$ showed that the VW Group rose from $4$th to $2$nd place in the rankings of the most attractive employers in Europe, trailing only USA$-$based Google. In this same study, $320,000$ students from $24$ European countries were interviewed regarding their career plans and preferred employers. Ralph Linde, Head of the Volkswagen Group Academy, stated that as well as a trainee scheme for university graduates, Volkswagen also takes great pride in the mentoring and individual career development of each of its employees. This result confirms a TI survey filled by $37,000$ German students in April $2013.$ It revealed that companies in the Volkswagen Group are the most sought$-$after employers among German students.

For the January through August $2013$ period, Volkswagen delivered $3\mathrm{.}84(+3\mathrm{.}1$ percent$)$ million passenger cars worldwide, doing particularly well in China, where $1\mathrm{.}56(+18\mathrm{.}4$ percent$)$ million units were delivered, and in Mexico, with $92,100(+18\mathrm{.}3$ percent$)$ deliveries. For that period, Audi delivered $1\mathrm{.}03$ million vehicles worldwide, an increase of $7\mathrm{.}2$ percent, led by China, where $310,300(+19\mathrm{.}5$ percent$)$ Audi vehicles were delivered.

Audi deliveries during that period in the United States rose $14\mathrm{.}7$ percent compared with the same prior$-$year period, with $101,300$ cars sold. VW$$s sports car manufacturer Porsche joined Volkswagen Group on August $1,2012,$ and delivered $106,800$ vehicles in the first eight months of $2013$ with the $32,500$ units sold in the Asia$-$Pacific region comprising the largest share of Porsche deliveries. Another $31,400$ Porsche$$s were handed over to customers in the North America region. Also, during those eight months, VW$$s $$KODA delivered $598,400(5\mathrm{.}5$ percent$)$ vehicles worldwide, while SEAT delivered $234,200(+11\mathrm{.}4$ percent$)$ vehicles.