In our BriefLetter 9, Week 25, we wrote that, on the European auto market in the Economy segment of the Waisted Rectangle© 2004 (SchmidPreissler’s picture of the markets), the offer for simple and inexpensive cars is missing.

Over the last few years, the car makers have built more and more expensive cars and have neglected the Economy segment of the market. Trend and market researchers have made erroneous forecasts. Bad investments amounting to millions have been accrued. The factories are no longer working to capacity, production had to be reduced and the loss of jobs is looming.

Volkswagen announced it is now going to build a car for the people (meaning a car for the Economy segment of the market) at a price “under 10,000 Euro”. This short information does not yet allow us to draw a conclusion as to whether or not Volkswagen is actually going to meet daily demands, but this much can be said: The management at Volkswagen has identified the problem.