Monday, September 17, 2018
Volkswagen's Option To Abandon
Volkswagen recently announced that it would discontinue production
of the iconic Beetle, which was first manufactured in the 1930s. The
Beetle was produced until 1978, when Volkswagen first dropped the car
from production in Germany. The car was reintroduced in 1997. With sales
of only 60,000 cars per year, evidently the NPV of continuing to
produce Beetles was negative. Remember, the option to abandon exists
with any project, although as the previous reintroduction of the Beetle
shows, the abandonment need not always be permanent.