A deal like this is about convincing shareholders that you are more credible than the incumbent management, would investors buy the idea that Sergio Marchionne could run GM better than Mary Barra? Possibly, but it won't be easy.

Max Warburton

Categorized in : Mergers & Acquisitions

The focus will be Europe.

Market acceptance of a lot of this tech and exactly what people are willing to pay remains very, very unclear.

His stewardship of VW has been indisputably successful. Piech will go down in history as an automotive legend, in the same class as Gottlieb Daimler, Henry Ford and Kiichiro Toyoda.

All manufacturers deliberately engineer their cars to do well in the test.

The company holds together operationally due to an intense management focus and disciplined financial control. But it hardly looks in good shape to withstand a downturn.

Will the opportunity be seized? History suggests these situations require some very detailed post-conflict reconstruction - and it's not clear there's yet a plan in place at VW, it's going to be fascinating to watch.