German car makers are already lining up to switch their manufacturing capability to making weapons - just as they did under the Third Reich.
You can hardly blame them taking the easy way out as they sell less cars due to tariffs and energy costs and Chinese competition and failed investments in the bright EV future - a future that seems to be dominated by Chinese car manufacturing if such a future will ever exist at all.
https://engineerine.com/volkswagen-manufacturing-military-gear/
Volkswagen’s potential military role carries deep historical context. The company was founded in the 1930s under Nazi Germany and originally built the Kübelwagen, a military vehicle used extensively during World War II. Post-war, the company shifted to a strictly civilian focus, producing the world-famous Volkswagen Beetle and distancing itself from its wartime origins.
But wait - there's more justification for the switchback today:
However, many analysts believe that today’s military needs are fundamentally different. Unlike the ideologically-driven mobilization of the past, this modern context is about democratic defense, logistical resilience, and technological superiority. Volkswagen’s leadership has been keen to emphasize that any involvement in military production would reflect democratic values and support NATO objectives.
Yeah right.
Amazing how 'analysts' can always dream up new justifications for old behaviour.
Volkswagen probably said much the same under the Third Reich in WW2.
Next it will be that all Russians are 'untermenschen' and need to be 'ruthlessly eliminated' (as clearly stated in Hitler's Generalplan Ost).
But naturally today this elimination will be in the name defending democracy. Bonus!