Volkswagen boss Bernd Pischetsrieder came close to his own ‘Ratner moment’ this week when he dismissed cars made by Audi, the most profitable part of the VAG Group, as a "complete waste of money".

Unlike Gerald Ratner, who was forced to quit after dismissing one of his company's products as "crap", Pischetsrieder also attacked rivals, saying Mercedes-Benz and BMW cars were also a waste. "You can get the same transportation performance fuelled with the same speed from a much cheaper car," he told financial analysts in London. (FT.com)