Why would we do that (compare them to cons or grens)? Cons are generally accepted to not be in the best spot (though I do havw my own feelings on the topic), and grens are kept relatively weak to compensate for osts stronger team weapons. Of course volks are stronger or more efficient than them. Cons and grens units generally occupy a different role in their faction than volks do, and make up a lower amount of the factions "power budget."
Compare volks to the other WFA mainlines which occupy a more similar role and have a more comparable power budget, and volks dont really overperform.
There should be be one benchmark and that used to be grenadiers (and they should become once more).
Riflemen and Tommies where designed to be OP because of the limitation to support weapons (reverse Ostheer design), so VG should not be modeled after them.
Imo the insistence of keeping VGs and Penal so strong has cost the number of balance issues we have seen so far and has forced all the faction redesigns (and probably more to come).
Imo These changes should have been remove and the units should have been balanced around grenadiers.
VG would be in far better place if the ST44 where replaced by MP40 and their incendiary grenades swapped for a fragmentation one.