They are a little confused right now, why they can't give some money to the politicians and be done with the problem. I think they don't know what to do.

And they actually planned accordingly by milking combustion engines for as long as possible while developing alternatives.

That's no reason not to pay for reports about their severe struggle, because public money to help them, also maximises their profit.

Those poor German car makers produce 7 of the 10 most sold EVs in Germany. 6 of those are from parts of the VW group that in 2023 climbed to the 3rd spot in global EV market share, while crying at home how they are surely dying off soon.