Frankfurt: German auto giant Volkswagen said on Thursday it would increase its investment in electric vehicles and digitalization to 89 billion euros ($101 billion) over the next five years.
The 12-brand group will devote 56 percent of its 159 billion euro investment to developing the cars of the future, more than 50 percent, and estimates that “one in four cars sold in 2026 will have a battery-electric motor”. .
“We are in the midst of the biggest change in Volkswagen’s history,” CEO Herbert Dias Said at a press conference after a meeting of the group’s supervisory board to agree on the investment plan.
Under pressure to downplay the sector’s role in climate change, major automakers around the world have announced targets to gradually phase out fossil fuel-powered vehicles.
In 2020, Volkswagen announced an investment of 73 billion euros in the vehicles of tomorrow for the period up to 2024.
The need to increase investment by 2025 was “primarily due to the accelerated ramp-up of e-mobility as part of the Green Deal”, the group said in a statement.
The increased investment will also go into opening six new battery factories in partnership with other companies.
Investment in electric cars rose 50 percent to 52 billion euros, while the amount allocated for hybrid “transition technology” fell 30 percent to eight billion euros.
The digitization of its vehicles and the group’s organization will cost another 30 billion euros.
Volkswagen said its flagship plant in Wolfsburg, Germany, will begin production of electric vehicles earlier than planned in 2024, on top of plans to produce a new mass-market electric vehicle in 2024.
The group also announced a reshuffle of its board of directors, with Dias taking over Cariad, the group’s software arm. VW Brand boss Ralph Brandstetter to take over the Chinese market next year.
The 12-brand group will devote 56 percent of its 159 billion euro investment to developing the cars of the future, more than 50 percent, and estimates that “one in four cars sold in 2026 will have a battery-electric motor”. .
“We are in the midst of the biggest change in Volkswagen’s history,” CEO Herbert Dias Said at a press conference after a meeting of the group’s supervisory board to agree on the investment plan.
Under pressure to downplay the sector’s role in climate change, major automakers around the world have announced targets to gradually phase out fossil fuel-powered vehicles.
In 2020, Volkswagen announced an investment of 73 billion euros in the vehicles of tomorrow for the period up to 2024.
The need to increase investment by 2025 was “primarily due to the accelerated ramp-up of e-mobility as part of the Green Deal”, the group said in a statement.
The increased investment will also go into opening six new battery factories in partnership with other companies.
Investment in electric cars rose 50 percent to 52 billion euros, while the amount allocated for hybrid “transition technology” fell 30 percent to eight billion euros.
The digitization of its vehicles and the group’s organization will cost another 30 billion euros.
Volkswagen said its flagship plant in Wolfsburg, Germany, will begin production of electric vehicles earlier than planned in 2024, on top of plans to produce a new mass-market electric vehicle in 2024.
The group also announced a reshuffle of its board of directors, with Dias taking over Cariad, the group’s software arm. VW Brand boss Ralph Brandstetter to take over the Chinese market next year.
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