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Opinion
Chris Bryant

A Musk Bromance Is No Way to Win Friends at VW

The CEO’s admiration of Tesla and his talk of job cuts are the latest distractions at the Wolfsburg headquarters.

A VW badge on the front of a Volkswagen ID.5 GTX all-electric automobile during the world unveiling last month. 

A VW badge on the front of a Volkswagen ID.5 GTX all-electric automobile during the world unveiling last month. 

Photographer: Krisztian Bocsi/Bloomberg
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Customers opt for a Volkswagen vehicle because everything tends to gel nicely together: top engineering, a clean design and high-quality finish.

In contrast, VW shareholders get a far less harmonious package: a maddening melange of family, trade union and political interests that often ends in internal bust-ups and disappointing performance.