It'll be really interesting to see how this whole thing is handled. On the one hand, VW is a foreign company. A huge hit to them won't be a huge hit to American jobs like it would if this were GM. They're big, but they're not too big and local to punish, if that makes sense. On the other hand though, Germany is strong diplomatic ally to the US Government and probably a pretty strong trading partner to boot. It wouldn't be hard to imagine the German government encouraging The US to go easy on them, if not openly then at least behind closed doors.
Euro concerns led to the Fed not pushing interest rates last week. Meanwhile, as I mentioned earlier, the Euro is rippin' weak right now giving Europe a potent trade advantage. Remind me - how old were you when Toshiba sold electronics to the Soviet Navy? There were congressmen smashing boom boxes with sledge hammers. Expect some epic pageantry.
I think we are gonna be in for a hell of a ride. Seeing as how Autoblog and The Truth About Cars are two of my mainstay blogs, I think I'll get a pretty good view of the action too. I'll try to refrain from inundating Hubski with posts on the subject. ;)Expect some epic pageantry.