Volkswagen’s U-turn
FT News Briefing
Forhecz Topher
4.4 • 1.3K Ratings
🗓️ 13 April 2022
⏱️ 9 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Stockpiles of some of the world’s most important industrial metals have dropped to critically low levels, US banks start reporting quarterly earnings today and Boris Johnson has become the first British prime minister to commit a criminal offence. Plus, the FT’s Frankfurt correspondent, Joe Miller, explains why Volkwagen is pivoting its strategy away from growth and toward profit.
Mentioned in this podcast:
Metal stockpiles shrink as energy prices hit production
US banks set for big hit to revenues as dealmaking dries up
VW to scrap dozens of models to focus on profitability
The FT News Briefing is produced by Fiona Symon and Marc Filippino. The show’s editor is Jess Smith. Additional help by Peter Barber and Gavin Kallmann. The show’s theme song is by Metaphor Music. Topher Forhecz is the FT’s executive producer. The FT’s global head of audio is Cheryl Brumley.
Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | The FT News Briefing is supported by Equinole, the UK's energy partner. |
| 0:06.3 | Learn more at equinole.co.uk |
| 0:09.8 | Good morning from the Financial Times. Today is Wednesday, April 13th. |
| 0:13.5 | And this is your FT News Briefing. |
| 0:19.2 | US banks are out with quarterly earnings this week. We'll get a preview from FT US Banking |
| 0:23.9 | Editor Josh Franklin and companies have another big supply chain headache. |
| 0:28.3 | The metals they need to make everything from refrigerators to cars are at crazy low levels. |
| 0:33.7 | And speaking of automobiles, we'll find out why Volkswagen wants to shift away from making |
| 0:38.4 | people's cars and veer towards the more elite driver. The VW, which was the pioneer of the people's |
| 0:44.8 | car. In fact, that's what Volkswagen means. It means the people's car is doing and about turn. |
| 0:51.3 | I'm Mark Filipino and here's the news you need to start your day. |
| 0:58.3 | Copper, aluminum, nickel, zinc, stockpiles of industrial metals like these are drying up, |
| 1:05.3 | and it's creating a huge logistical mess for manufacturers around the world. |
| 1:10.2 | Inventories of these four key metals have plunged as much as 70% over the past year. |
| 1:15.4 | The price of zinc hit a 16 year high yesterday. And that'll affect a whole bunch of industries |
| 1:21.3 | since zinc is used as a protective coating in construction, cars, and appliances. |
| 1:26.8 | Stockpiles are being drained by booming demand, but soaring energy prices are adding to the problem. |
| 1:32.4 | Over the past several months, spiking electricity costs have forced companies to cut production. |
| 1:37.6 | Also, the war in Ukraine is threatening output from Russia. |
| 1:45.9 | This week, US banks report their latest quarterly earnings with |
| 1:49.2 | JP Morgan kicking things off today. And results are likely to show that the blockbuster days of |
| 1:54.8 | the pandemic are in the rear view mirror. The FTZ US banking editor Josh Franklin says banks have |
... |
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