Category: Corporate Wokism

Electric U-Turn

Corporate Wokism, Drive Time

Someone else sees the light:

Audi has become the latest auto manufacturer to perform a dramatic U-turn on its electric vehicle commitments, writing off its promised to stop developing internal combustion engines (ICE) in 2033.

Instead, the Bavarian-based marque will continue to make both ICE cars and plug-in hybrids into the next decade, as part of a ‘completely new’ fuel-powered line-up.

CEO Gernot Döllner confirmed the brand’s revised plans, explaining that ‘flexibility’ is the new direction Audi will take so it can see how ‘markets develop’.

The German car giant had originally planned to build its last ICE-only car next year with the new-generation Q7. However, it suggested earlier this year that petrol and diesel models could run for longer.

Stupid assholes thought they could buy credibility with the wokerati Greens by putting a deadline on the eeeevil fuel-powered engines, despite all the writing on the wall indicating that EVs are not popular in the mass market, that there are serious concerns about the “green-ness” of the EV when the total energy cost of their manufacture is taken into account and not just their eco-friendliness on the road.

And speaking of “on the road”, there’s always this little EV problem:


…and the fact that the EV fires are almost inextinguishable (and can re-ignite even after they are extinguished), and give off toxic smoke.

Yeah… I can’t imagine why a company might want to rethink their position, either.

The fact of the matter is that the auto companies should never have drawn that line in the sand in the first place.

In the meantime, here are a few pics to make us all feel better about this.

There;  I told you it would make you feel better.

Return To Common Sense?

Corporate Wokism

Reader Mike L. sent me this article about Walmart:

On Monday Walmart confirmed that it’s ending some of its diversity initiatives, removing some LGBTQ-related merchandise from its website and winding down a nonprofit that funded programs for minorities.

The nation’s largest employer, which has about 1.6 million U.S. workers, joined a growing list of companies that have stepped back from diversity, equity and inclusion efforts after feeling the heat from conservative activists.

Some have also attributed changes to the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision last year that struck down affirmative action programs at colleges.

Those companies include Tractor Supply, which said in June it was eliminating DEI roles and stopping sponsorship of Pride festivals. Lowe’s, Ford and Molson Coors have also walked back some of their equity and inclusion policies in recent months.

Others, such as Anheuser-Busch-owned Bud Light and Target, have faced sharp backlash and falling sales after marketing campaigns or merchandise focused on the LGBTQ community.

In a statement, Walmart said it is “willing to change alongside our associates and customers who represent all of America.”

…followed by the usual weasel corporate-speak about “being a Walmart for everyone”  blah blah blah.

One would like to think that such a rethink involved realizing that at its heart, the whole “Diversity/Equity/Inclusion” initiative was anything but a vehicle for racial- and sexual inequality, but the reality is that the policy reversal was caused by the economic consequences of customer backlash and revulsion.  (Jaguar, of course, has responded to such a reaction to its latest marketing campaign by calling its customers and the public in general hateful and intolerant — we’ll see what happens, but pretty much any fule can predict disaster… for Jaguar.)

And yes, the political ethos has changed as well:

All of a sudden (the Socialists think), what was okay is now somehow not okay.  In the past, we made jokes about it:

…and all of a sudden, they think, it’s not okay.

Except that it’s not “all of a sudden”.  Most of us have never thought all this woke nonsense was “okay”, but then something happened:

And to paraphrase Forrest Gump:  “…and just like that, everything changed.”

Of course, those in the path of this new change are worried and are calling for “moderation” and “bipartisanship”, except:

So:

The change is not just going to come with the destruction of the Deep State (a political institution), but also in the Woke Mindset (a cultural one).

It’s been a long (too long a) time coming, but it’s about time now.

Update On Big Auto’s Duracell Drive

Corporate Fuckery, Corporate Wokism, Drive Time

Following on from yesterday’s post on VW, Mercedes and Stellantis (the bastards), there’s this:

Car makers slash EV prices, suspend production and extend petrol model availability as electric demand wanes

The global downturn in sales of EVs has been triggered by a cocktail of diverging policies on green incentives, range and charge anxiety among drivers and the fact prices haven’t come down as much as experts had forecast.

As such, 2024 has been awash with a wave of U-turns by legacy car firms in response to a lower-than-expected appetite for electric vehicles.

‘Appetite for EVs among consumers is quickly diminishing. There are many factors contributing to this, including the lack of clarity around incentives, high prices and concerns around the low residual value of EVs.’

Yeah, not to mention the paucity of charging points when your Duracell phuts out, the cost of replacing said Duracell when it becomes as worn out as Madonna’s box at a P Diddy White Party, and those pesky spontaneous combustion episodes — to name but some “consumer concerns”.

Looks like corporate obeisance to the great Global Cooling Climate Warming Change© is losing its luster, especially when that pesky cold hard cash is involved.  (Also see:  Germany restarting coal-fired electricity generating plants.)

This is especially rich:

‘The new pricing structure on Corsa Electric and Astra Electric is the latest in a number of measures we have taken to democratise access to electric vehicles.’\

“Democratize access”, my aching African-American white ass.  That’s just a fancy term for “getting rid of unwanted stock”.

But when it comes to weaselly corporate-speak, it’s hard to top this:

Volvo Cars chief executive Jim Rowan said: ‘We are resolute in our belief that our future is electric. An electric car provides a superior driving experience [nazzo fast, Guido] and increases possibilities for using advanced technologies that improve the overall customer experience [like having their every move tracked and sent to insurance companies and ad agencies].

‘However, it is clear that the transition to electrification will not be linear [ya think?], and customers and markets are moving at different speeds of adoption [or not moving at all, see above].

‘We are pragmatic and flexible [except of course when we try to coerce people into buying our Duracell cars by eliminating the ICE option completely], while retaining an industry-leading position on electrification and sustainability.’ [and I hope you’re the first to go out of business, Mr. Leader]

Wait… what’s this I’m experiencing?

Oh, and one more thing, speaking of Duracell cars:

…not that any of my Readers would be affected, of course, being Sensible Chaps.

Ummm Okay, Maybe Not

Corporate Wokism, Drive Time, Management

One has to laugh at this latest development:

Volvo has confirmed it has backtracked on its promise to sell only fully electric cars by 2030 due to a fall in demand for battery vehicles.

The Swedish company announced today it is now aiming for 90 to 100 per cent of its global sales to be either pure electric or plug-in hybrid by the end of the decade.

It comes in response to a decline in appetite for EVs across major markets, including a slowing uptake of battery cars among private buyers in the UK. 

Volvo executives said the delay to its EV schedule will ‘allow for a limited number of mild hybrid models to be sold, if needed’.

Let me be the first to say that “if needed” is going to become “vital to the company’s survival”, and the “limited number” will become most if not all of the entire product line.

In marketing terms, this is known as a “soft retraction” — note the shift from “all-electric” to “okay, we meant hybrids” — thus leaving space to keep using a normal internal combustion engine (ICE) instead of Duracell-only.

Gosh… let me see.  The original plan can be characterized as follows:

“We’re going to refocus our company’s entire product line into a technology that is unreliable, unsupportable and ultimately unsustainable, relying on a support system that doesn’t yet exist, all while hiding behind the twin figleaves of government mandate/coercion and feelgood eco-friendship”.

…because in cold hard business terms, that’s exactly what the “all-electric” policy came down to.

Were I a major shareholder in such a corporation, I would demand the resignation of the entire management group that initiated such stupidity.

Not for the first time, the oh-so politically-correct Swedes are getting their noses rubbed in the hard reality of their silliness (see also:  liberal immigration policy).

Couldn’t happen to a nicer bunch of well-intentioned wokist assholes.

So Much For Mickey

Corporate Wokism, Management

Here’s a tale of how to screw up a franchise, perhaps the greatest franchise of them all:

Back in 2021, the bottom began dropping out of Disney stock, which had been worth around $175 a share before Disney decided to hyper-politicize its movies and TV shows. Disney specifically targeted little kids for grooming with gay-themed propaganda aimed at sexualizing them and encouraging them to question their gender.

Additionally, Disney destroyed some of its most beloved and profitable Golden Geese franchises—Marvel, Pixar, Star Wars, Willow, Indiana Jones, etc.—by turning them into left-wing propaganda videos obsessed with sexuality, race, and gender.

And the result?

In April the stock rallied to $123 per share, up from $91 per share at the beginning of the year. In Early May, Disney stock reached as high as $116. But all this year’s gains are now gone. Currently, the stock sits at just $90 per share.

It will probably sink still lower — perhaps as low as $70.

Couldn’t happen to a nicer bunch of wokist, child-grooming assholes.  No corporation is too big to fail, and I hope this one perishes utterly.