logo
episode-header-image
Apr 2022
8m 49s

Volkswagen’s U-turn

Financial Times
About this episode

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



See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Up next
Today
Canada’s push to become an energy superpower
The UK and France have pledged for the first time to co-ordinate the use of their nuclear weapons, the copper markets are reeling from US President Donald Trump’s threat to impose 50 per cent tariffs on the metal, and Canada has a plan to offset American energy levies by exportin ... Show More
11m 17s
Yesterday
BCG tries to limit Gaza work fallout
EU negotiators are closing in on a trade deal with Donald Trump that would cement higher tariffs than those granted to the UK, and Boston Consulting Group’s chief executive said the group’s involvement with a postwar plan for Gaza had been “reputationally very damaging”. Plus, Eu ... Show More
10m 31s
Jul 8
Liechtenstein's zombie-trust apocalypse
US President Donald Trump extended tariff deadlines, and Liechtenstein’s trust industry is in a crisis spurred by American sanctions against Russia. Plus, Shein filed for an initial public offering in Hong Kong, and Elon Musk is trying to save Tesla from Trump. Mentioned in this ... Show More
11m 18s
Recommended Episodes
Jan 2023
What Keir Starmer did at Davos
Sir Keir Starmer and shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves gave a pre-Davos interview to the FT before setting off to woo the global elite in Switzerland at the World Economic Forum in a remarkable turnround in Labour sentiment. Why were they going, with what message, while Prime Minis ... Show More
24m 7s
Sep 2022
Mini Maxi Budget
Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng unveils the biggest package of tax cuts in 50 years, before being questioned by Chris on his thinking. We hear what the chancellor has to say, as well as Chris’s thoughts, and those of the Financial Times’ Clear Barrett and former Bank of England Chief E ... Show More
35m 56s
May 2022
It’s definitely not a windfall tax!
We start with that huge bailout package for struggling families announced by the chancellor and the controversial taxes he raised to fund it - a £5bn windfall tax on energy companies with more to come.The FT’s economics correspondent Delphine Strauss and special guest Torsten Bel ... Show More
27m 52s
Nov 2022
Money Talks: The tech reckoning
Most of America’s biggest technology firms are having a bad time - and not just the ones who have been recently acquired by a mercurial billionaire. More than $1tn has been wiped from their market value in recent weeks. Is the sell-off just investor jitters? Or is it a symptom of ... Show More
35m 28s
Nov 2022
Money Talks: The tech reckoning
Most of America’s biggest technology firms are having a bad time - and not just the ones who have been recently acquired by a mercurial billionaire. More than $1tn has been wiped from their market value in recent weeks. Is the sell-off just investor jitters? Or is it a symptom of ... Show More
35m 28s
Nov 2022
An interest rate rise... and Rob Delaney
The Bank of England expects the UK to fall into the longest ever recession. Stephanie Flanders, Head of Bloomberg Economics, and Claer Barrett, Consumer Editor at Financial Times, talk it all through. Also, American comedian Rob Delaney speaks movingly about the loss of his young ... Show More
33m 19s
Dec 2022
Sunak versus the strikes
Rishi Sunak confronted a growing wave of industrial unrest facing the UK with tough new proposals for anti-strike laws, but will they work? We explore how the prime minister is handling the challenges of the winter ahead and whether we’re any closer to a “Sunakism”. Plus, we disc ... Show More
35m 57s
Jun 2023
Is New Zealand's Recession a Model for Global Central Banks?
A.M. Edition for June 15. Remote work trends and booming EV demand could lead global oil demand to peak before the end of this decade, according to a new IEA report. WSJ energy reporter Will Horner explains what that could mean for oil producers. Plus, finance editor Alex Frangos ... Show More
18m 16s
Aug 2023
Could a reshuffle revitalise Sunak’s government?
It’s almost time to wave goodbye to the summer, but is Rishi Sunak also poised to bid farewell to some of his ministers? The FT’s Whitehall editor Lucy Fisher is joined by columnist Stephen Bush and political editor George Parker to discuss a cabinet shake up. Plus, the FT’s US p ... Show More
35m 52s
Oct 2022
Money Talks: Wall Street's top cop
Gary Gensler has spent just a little over a year and a half as the head of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), America’s top markets regulator. In that time, he’s proposed 40 separate filings for rules, given 60 speeches, and intervened, in sometimes controversial ways, ... Show More
37 m