Wolfsburg factory production article

[Understeer'd]

I'm glad my car was made before this change.

Not saying that this will vastly effect the quality of VW's, but it wouldn't be the first time something like that happened to an automaker.

 

[djm1968]

yeah man, after taxes that's still right around 100k a year...that's my kinda job right there :thumbsup:

You obviously do not know the German tax system! :smile: After taxes and healthcare payments they pay about 55% tax, perhaps more!

Cheers,
DJM

 

[Sinan]

last thin we want is angry germans building our cars.

 

[bennylenny88]

god they musve been building mine when they were angry!
had to replace, CV joint, engine cover broke, speaker, headunit, and worse of all its only a 1.4!

 

[Joe Diver]

I lived in Germany for 5 years....and while $69 and hour sounds good, you have to figure the cost of their taxes as someone already posted...then the cost of living over there is way more than what it is here....ever price any real estate over there?????

 

[djm1968]

I lived in Germany for 5 years....and while $69 and hour sounds good, you have to figure the cost of their taxes as someone already posted...then the cost of living over there is way more than what it is here....ever price any real estate over there?????

Joe,

Yeah, I am the guy that posted earlier -- I also lived and worked in Germany for many years (my wife is a German citizen). While we lived in Germany, our combined household income was over 200,000DM, and with such an income, we could barely just afford a Honda CRV. Our tiny one bedroom apartment, if we wanted to buy rather than rent, would have cost 500,000DM! Ouch. Health insurance for my wife and son was roughly 1000DM/month -- that was her half of the bill, the employer is responsible for the other half; my health care cost about 500DM/month.

Also, keep in mind: to work in the German auto industry, at any level, you must complete an arduous 4 year apprenticeship and become a Journeyman -- easily as difficult as most college educations.

Cheers,
DJM

 

[hakan2o]

All true.

For all the history and culture Europe has.
I do find Europe a little overrated. Been there and worked there many times.
I live in Australia and having no ice and snow, 250+ days of sunshine in most cities, relatively low taxes and a reasonable cost of living in comparison to most parts of the world we are very lucky. Plus we don't carry the "baggage" of all that history and culture.

Living is very expensive in Europe. Coupled with rather high taxes (eg. 60% in Belgium) leaving most of the population just scraping through.

This isn't living!!!

 

[Rabbit GTI]

yikes, i knew it was bad for taxes and such, but i didnt know it was that bad...i think i might retract my previous statement...

 

[djm1968]

All true.

For all the history and culture Europe has.
I do find Europe a little overrated. Been there and worked there many times.
I live in Australia and having no ice and snow, 250+ days of sunshine in most cities, relatively low taxes and a reasonable cost of living in comparison to most parts of the world we are very lucky. Plus we don't carry the "baggage" of all that history and culture.

Living is very expensive in Europe. Coupled with rather high taxes (eg. 60% in Belgium) leaving most of the population just scraping through.

This isn't living!!!

Europeans do have alot of baggage, as does the US, and other countries for that matter. Euro's are fond of making fun of the US for racism against African Americans -- fair critique for sure; however, they fail to see their own internal problems -- how about the Turks living in Germany? They were brought in as guest workers, they have kids, the kids live in Germany their entire life, go to German schools, speak fluent German, and then at 18 years of age the kids are deported back to Turkey. There is not so much "racial" tension in Euro, but national orgin can be a big deal. My wife, whom is under 40, did not want anyone to know she was German when we visited Holland -- the Dutch still hate the Germans because of WWII, never mind my wife was born in 1968!

On last note on taxes: my wife was in sales with a base salary + commision. One month she sold alot and got a nice commision payment and get this: her net pay went DOWN as she got pushed into a higher tax bracket. That was actually one of the event that lead to us thinking about leaving Europe.

Have said all that: the autobahn freakin' rocks and Euro chicks are hot! :thumbsup:

DJM