An article in the Financial Times (November 20, 2015) titled “Volkswagen (VW) choked by cost and complexity”, claims the company has 117 different steering wheels for the Volkswagen Golf. Plans are afoot to decrease that to 43, with efficiency programs expected to decrease costs by 5 billion euros a year by 2017.  Similarly the company offers 541 versions of front seats -a number to be reduced to 259. Will reducing design flexibility for its engineers maintain sales for VW while decreasing costs? Will such efficiencies and consequent price reductions help restore faith in the brand? Will VW be able to compete with Toyota if it reduces product variations?