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| VW will convert two existing German plants into assembly lines for all-electric vehicles from 2022 (AFP Photo/Tobias SCHWARZ) |
Wolfsburg (Germany) (AFP) - German auto giant Volkswagen said Friday it will invest 44 billion euros by 2023 in the smarter, greener cars of the future as it ramps up efforts to shake off the "dieselgate" emissions cheating scandal.
Over the
coming five years, VW said it aims to spend "almost 44 billion euros"
($50 billion) on electric, self-driving and connected cars as well as mobility
services like car sharing.
The figure
represents roughly a third of the group's planned expenditure between now and
2023, and the bulk of it will go on developing e-cars, VW said following a
supervisory board meeting on future strategy.
Volkswagen's
"electric offensive" underscores just how serious the automaker is
about closing the gap with Asian competitors and US tech giant Tesla who have
had a head start in the e-car race.
"We
want to make Volkswagen the global number one in e-mobility," CEO Herbert
Diess told reporters.
"The
time has come to take further technology and product decisions to achieve that
goal."
The group,
whose brands range from luxury Porsche and Audi to the budget-conscious Skoda
and Seat, has set itself the ambitious target of offering more than 50 electric
models by 2025, up from six today.
It has high
hopes in particular for the "affordable", zero-emission Volkswagen ID
compact which will have a battery range of 550 kilometres (340 miles) and cost
roughly the same as a VW Golf -- in a direct challenge to Tesla's mass-market
Model 3.
As part of
the new strategy, VW intends to reshuffle some production sites in a bid to
boost efficiency and achieve savings by bundling production of different models
across brands.
"We
are making our plants fit for the future," VW board member Oliver Blume
said.
Teaming
up with Ford
Two
existing German plants will be converted into assembly lines for all-electric
vehicles from 2022.
The plant
in Emden will specialise in building small electric cars and sedans for several
of the group's brands, while the Hanover factory will make the ID Buzz, the
clean-energy version of VW's iconic camper van.
 |
VW hopes its
clean car drive will help dispel the clouds from 'dieselgate'
(AFP
Photo/VLADIMIR SIMICEK)
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In a nod to
concerns about job losses, Diess acknowledged that electric motors, which
require fewer parts than combustion engines, are "much less complex"
to build.
But VW has
promised to guarantee jobs at both sites until 2028, focussing instead on
phasing out positions by not replacing those who retire.
VW also
announced plans to open a new factory at a yet to be determined location in
eastern Europe.
Diess
additionally confirmed that VW was "currently in talks" on teaming up
with US competitor Ford in building light commercial vehicles, which would
involve sharing factories.
But he stayed
coy on speculation that the cooperation could extend into electric and
autonomous car manufacturing.
Diess said
partnerships were becoming necessary to achieve cost savings at a time when the
industry is undergoing an expensive transformation.
Looking
further ahead, VW said it was still "exploring the potential" of
manufacturing its own batteries for electric cars as concern grows in Europe
about the Asian dominance in battery cell production.
Diesel
bans
Volkswagen's
pivot towards e-cars has in part been spurred by efforts to shake off its
ongoing "dieselgate" scandal.
The group
was forced to admit in 2015 that it had installed cheating software in 11
million diesel vehicles designed to dupe pollution tests.
Suspicions
of trickery later spread to other carmakers too, badly hurting the industry's
reputation.
The saga
also fuelled a backlash against diesel, with a string of German cities now
facing driving bans for the oldest, most polluting diesel cars.
Faced with
increasingly angry drivers, the German government has come under pressure to
avoid the bans but its efforts to get carmakers to commit to cleaning up
engines have had limited success.
The
"dieselgate" fallout has so far cost VW more than 28 billion euros in
fines, buybacks and compensation and the company remains mired in legal woes
around the world.
Nevertheless
customers have remained loyal, helping Volkswagen to record sales last year.
The group
said last month it was on track to beat last year's revenues of 231 billion
euros.
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