r/anime_titties • u/ObjectiveObserver420 South Africa • 13h ago
Israel/Palestine/Iran/Lebanon - Flaired Commenters Only Volkswagen strikes deal with Israeli investment firm to turn car plant into defense facility
https://edition.cnn.com/2026/09/07/business/volkswagen-car-plant-defense-production-intl•
u/Winjin Eurasia 10h ago
Oh how the tables have tabled. Like, I understand that they can't properly compete with Chinese brands that offer a lot of bells and whistles for the same or lower price, but still that combination seems to be coming straight from the Onion
"Next up: Audi will be partnering with Saudi Arabia, and Mercedes Benz with Iran. BMW is in the last stage talks with Moscow"
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u/Dragoncat_3_4 Europe 7h ago
but still that combination seems to be coming straight from the Onion
Is it? Nazis be nazi-ing. Germany's power structures seem like they totally approve of genocide seeing as they obstruct attempts at EU action, nay even a mere "strongly worded letters", quash protestors, sneak in Palestine reporters as Russian assets in sanction packages, and various other things. Why wouldn't the German automakers join in on the fun in a more literal sense.
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u/Weird_Point_4262 Europe 8h ago
No one wants to buy their overpriced cars that are less reliable than budget options and offer less features so now they're turning to the grift of the defence industry. They'll be able to leech off the taxpayer and sell overpriced, underperforming equipment to the military instead.
This is why NATO in Europe is pushing towards 5% gdp on defense spending. European Industry is entirely uncompeterive globally and will now be put on life support at the expense of the tax payer.
The idea that we need to spend 5% of GDP on defense when Russia, in an ongoing war, is only spending 7%, while it has an economy smaller than that of Italy alone is everything you need to know. We should be vastly overequiped to defend against Russia with 1% GDP, let alone 5. Especially considering the supposed benefits of free market competition in our defence sectors and lack of corruption. Unless of course private defence manufacturers actually just extract more money from the state for less capability and out defence departments are in fact corrupt.
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u/Dragoncat_3_4 Europe 7h ago edited 7h ago
No one wants to buy their overpriced cars that are less reliable than budget options and offer less features so now they're turning to the grift of the defence industry.
What's funny is that I just came from a thread on /europe calling a 25k euro base trim Polo with the shittiest battery range "cheap" lol. Some people have completely lost the plot, including the German automakers themselves.
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u/Bicentennial_Douche Europe 6h ago
That would be my comment? Yeah, 25k is pretty cheap for a brand new car. Not as cheap as cheapest ICE-cars out there, but they are on the cheaper side. The cheapest BYD right now, Dolphin Surf, costs something like 24k, so apparently the difference between "expensive" and "cheap" is somewhere between 24k and 25k.
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u/Weird_Point_4262 Europe 6h ago
The dolphin costs 24k after a 35% tariff
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u/Bicentennial_Douche Europe 6h ago
There was no real change in price before/after the tariff.
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u/Weird_Point_4262 Europe 6h ago
Just checked, Byd dolphin is actually €20000, base trim polo is €25000
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u/Bicentennial_Douche Europe 5h ago
Over here Dolphin Surf starts at 24.590e:
https://www.byd.com/material/__EU/finlandpricelist/BYD%20Pricelist%2013.7.2026.pdf
Polo starts at 26.390e:
https://api.k-auto.fi/priceCatalog/api/PriceCatalog/206e42ef-899b-4ce9-b9cf-e307663656eb
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u/Dragoncat_3_4 Europe 4h ago
Yup, And you have lost the plot. Cheapest BYD config in my country is 19400 euros. Cheapest Polo config (ES12CDW4) is 25 985. Mofos can't even be honest about it and write 26k but have to use cheap visual tricks. For reference, the Toyota Yaris Hybrid is 22 995 and base trim Dacia Spring is 17 900. You should realise that the difference is actually quite large for people in Central and Eastern Europe
But, quite frankly, it's not only about cheapest. It's about the overall range of choices and VW is dropping the ball.
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u/Bicentennial_Douche Europe 4h ago
Why are you constantly so rude and aggressive in your comments?
"Mofos can't even be honest about it and write 26k but have to use cheap visual tricks."
Here Polo starts at 26.390e: https://api.k-auto.fi/priceCatalog/api/PriceCatalog/206e42ef-899b-4ce9-b9cf-e307663656eb
BYD Dolphin Surf starts at 24.590e: https://www.byd.com/material/__EU/finlandpricelist/BYD%20Pricelist%2013.7.2026.pdf
"But, quite frankly, it's not only about cheapest. It's about the overall range of choices and VW is dropping the ball."
VW has EVs ranging from 26.390e to 80.000e (iD.Buzz GTX LWB). Next year or so the bottom price would be lower when they come out with the iD.1. And this is not even including Skoda, Cupra and Audi.
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u/Dragoncat_3_4 Europe 3h ago
Why are you constantly so rude and aggressive in your comments?
sample size (n=2) type comment.
Sorry, didn't realize we're at an academic forum requiring formal etiquette Mx. Bicentennial_Douche.... Like, seriously? you have a problem with "mofos" with a username like that?
But to answer, the tone gets the point and emotions across better.
VW has EVs ranging from 26.390e to 80.000e (iD.Buzz GTX LWB)
Yes. And all of them are quite shit, except maybe Skoda. At least one automaker is lapping them in either price/performance category, best price category or best performance category because they've become complacent, and their reaction is to legislate and tariff foreign competition away in order to not crumble.
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u/Bicentennial_Douche Europe 3h ago edited 2h ago
” Sorry, didn't realize we're at an academic forum requiring formal etiquette Mx. Bicentennial_Douche .... Like, seriously? you have a problem with "mofos" with a username like that?”
Remember your very first comment to me? “ The. Polo. Is. Not. Cheap. you absolutely disconnected from reality high-earner knobs.”
That kinda set the tone, for sure. But I have been civil towards you and treated you with respect.
“ Yes. And all of them are quite shit, except maybe Skoda.”
What exactly is the problem with them? ID3 and 4 had meh interiors, but were otherwise good. They had very good engines, range competetive , charging was perfectly fine, they drove well, they supported V2X. Id.7 is one of the few EVs available as estate. So what exactly is the problem?
“ their reaction is to legislate and tariff foreign competition away in order to not crumble.”
They opposed the tariffs on Chinese EVs.
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u/PaoloCalzone European Union 7h ago
Also, 7% of Russia's GDP does not translate into 7% of spending in (Western) Europe, but probably a lot more, because of its inventory to catch up with, but also because of lower salaries and potentially less market-exposed procurement.
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u/loggy_sci United States 18m ago
Tankie doesn’t want Europeans to be able to defend themselves. What a surprise.
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u/Anton_Pannekoek South Africa 9h ago
This is not going to end well. An arms race with Russia. Looking forward to some kind of future confrontation with Russia...?
It's just not a good idea. It's totally unnecessary.
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u/VicenteOlisipo Europe 8h ago
Agreed, totally unnecessary. I mean, when was the last time Russia tried to blow up European infrastructure? Last week? Ancient history.
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u/historicusXIII Belgium 5h ago
Ukraine is blowing up Russian infrastructure with European weapons.
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u/blankedblank Russia 4h ago
Oh yeah, the legendary half-assed russian sabotage ops, conveniently timed to coincide with a serious political crisis at home and a military-industrial complex that’s gone completely off the rails, drooling all over itself. Petrov and Boshirov are back at it again...
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u/Anton_Pannekoek South Africa 7h ago
Except that we're not allowed to see any evidence.
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u/Professional-Syrup-0 Multinational 6h ago
Yeah but Russia totally did it, just like Russia totally blew up the Nord Streams, right?
Or how we have to keep talking about invading a country “in Europe” to relativise all the bombing and invading the US and its European friends have been doing just a little bit east of Europe.
The biggest war mongers in the planet projecting their own ambitions on the enemy of the day.
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u/Monterenbas Europe 6h ago
Russia is the one invading European countries, not the other way around.
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u/BernieMP Multinational 28m ago
The German car brand founded by Nazis is the first German car brand to collaborate with Nazis, it's impressive that history has come full circle like this
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u/blankedblank Russia 10h ago
Just look at all these comments from the ironclad defenders of european values. The enlightened inhabitants of the flourishing garden, united in perfect harmony, are saying ewww to any contact with those barbaric aggressors who reject the sacred norms of humanism...
Wait a minute...
Where did all those people go?
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