VW

choi

(1) Alex Taylor III, Das Aoto Giant; How VW shucked off its provincial ways and became a global powerhouse. Fortune, July 26, 2012 (cover date).
http://management.fortune.cnn.co ... bal-500-volkswagen/

Quote:

"Globally, VW added sales of more than 1 million passenger cars last year and roared past General Motors (GM) and Toyota (TM) to become the largest automaker in the world. (GM claimed unit sales of 9.03 million last year, compared with VW's 8.27 million, but that included 1.2 million units contributed by its Chinese affiliate, Wuling, in which it holds a minority interest.)

"Most important, it has enabled VW to execute a strategy that carmakers often attempt, seldom with success: using the same basic parts in dozens of car models marketed under different brands, thereby slashing costs for engineering, procurement, and manufacturing. VW calls it the 'toolkit strategy.' Mishandled, it can lead to a fleet of commoditized cars, but it can generate formidable efficiencies when properly executed.

Note:
(a) The "das" is an article, similar to "the" in English.

German phrasebook
http://wikitravel.org/en/German_phrasebook
("There are 3 different noun genders: masculine, feminine and neuter. The article of a noun depends on the gender: der (m), die (f) and das (n). Unlike in English, inanimate objects frequently have a different gender than neuter assigned to them, often arbitrarily; for example, Tür (door) is female, while Tor (gate) is neuter")

(b) Wolfsberg
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolfsburg
(in the state of Lower Saxony; on the River Aller; The city is world famous as the main headquarters of the Volkswagen AG and was one of the few German cities built during the first half of the 20th century [specifically in 1938 to house workers of the Volkswagen factory who built VW Beetle [production 1938-2003])
(c) SEAT
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SEAT
(1950 by the Instituto Nacional de Industria (INI), a state-owned industrial holding company; The headquarters of SEAT, SA are [note the present tense] located at SEAT's industrial complex in Martorell near Barcelona, Spain; from 1986 to 1990, VW increased its stake from 51% to 99.99%)
(d)
(i) Bugatti Veyron
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bugatti_Veyro
(first introduced in 2005; section 1 Name origin)
(ii) Bugatti Automobiles
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bugatti_Automobiles
(French carmaker; Table: founded in 1909 by Ettore Bugatti with headquarters in Molsheim, Alsace, France [still there]; acquired by VW in 2000)

(e) Audi
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audi
(founded in 1909; The company name is based on the surname of the founder August Horch, his surname meaning listen in German—which, when translated into Latin, becomes Audi; VW acquired 50% stake in 1964 and 18 months later, the complete control)

(f) The article states, "The [sub-subcompact] Up! is powered by a tiny three-cylinder engine displacing one liter that, despite its pokey acceleration, as I discovered during a brief test drive in Wolfsburg, can speed past 100 mph. It also gets 55 miles per gallon -- a big selling point in Germany, where gasoline costs nearly $10 per gallon."

pokey (adjl from poke as a verb): "annoyingly slow"
poke (vi):
"1a : to make a prodding, jabbing, or thrusting movement especially repeatedly
* * *
2a : to look about or through something without system : RUMMAGE <poking around in the attic>
b : MEDDLE
3: to move or act slowly or aimlessly <just poked around and didn't accomplish much>"

It is definition 3.


[to be continued with an Economist article]

choi

(2) Volkswagen | VW Conquers the World; Germany’s biggest carmaker is leaving rivals in the dust. Economist, July 7, 2012.
http://www.economist.com/node/21558269

Note:
(a) The article describes Subaru as "Toyota's distant affiliate."

Subaru
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subaru
(is the automobile manufacturing division of Japanese transportation conglomerate Fuji Heavy Industries (FHI); FHI is currently in a partial partnership with Toyota Motor Corporation, which owns 16.5% of FHI; Subaru is the Japanese name for the Pleiades star cluster, which in turn inspires the Subaru logo and alludes to the six companies that merged to create FHI [in 1953])

(i) Pleiades (n; Latin, from Greek):
"1: the seven daughters of Atlas turned into a group of stars in Greek mythology
2: a conspicuous cluster of stars in the constellation Taurus that includes six stars in the form of a very small dipper"
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pleiades

, which is 昴宿星團 in Taiwan, 昴宿星团 in China, and 昴 in Japan.

(ii) 昴 【すばる】 (n): "{astronomy} (See 二十八宿, 白虎 [pronounced byakko びゃっこ]) Chinese 'Hairy Head' constellation (one of the 28 mansions); Pleiades; Seven Sisters"
Jim Breen's online Japanese dictionary   

In Japan, 昴の異名/ 俗称 is mutsuraboshi むつらぼし 六連星.
三省堂 大辞林
http://www.weblio.jp/content/%E5%85%AD%E9%80%A3%E6%98%9F

(iii) 二十八星宿
http://baike.baidu.com/view/7896.htm
("二十八宿的名称，自西向东排列为：东方苍龙七宿(角、亢、氐、房、心、尾、箕)；北方玄武七宿(斗、牛、女、虚、危、室、壁)；西方白虎七宿(奎、娄、胃、昴、毕、觜、参)；南方朱雀七宿(井、鬼、柳、星、张、翼、轸）")
(iv)  
(A) 昴宿星团
http://zh.wikipedia.org/zh-cn/%E ... F%E6%98%9F%E5%9C%98
(B) Pleiades
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pleiades

(b) For "blocking stake," see
blocking minority (n; also blocking stake): "someone who has a blocking minority in a company owns enough of that company's shares to prevent other companies buying or controlling it"
Cambridge Business English Dictionary. Cambridge University Press.
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/ ... h/blocking-minority

(c) The artcile comments, "VW seems to have succeeded because it is run by petrolheads. Mr Piëch's passion for engineering pervades the group. He is the strategist; Mr Winterkorn the get-things-done guy."

petrolhead or petrol head (n): "(informal) a person who is excessively interested in or is devoted to travelling by car"
http://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/petrolhead