Volkswagen pinned its future on electric vehicles, announcing plans to put 30 new EVs on the road shortly after its $18.2 billion emissions scandal. Now, the automaker has revealed that it plans to spend $193 billion in different areas of its electrification efforts over the next five years. According The New York TimesVolkswagen CEO Oliver Blume told a news event that two-thirds of that budget will go toward battery manufacturing, software development and the sourcing of critical raw materials for its vehicles.
Blume’s revelation comes after the automaker’s announcements that its PowerCo subsidiary will build its first North American battery cell factory in Canada and that it will build electric trucks and SUVs in South Carolina. The company is already producing its ID.4 electric vehicles in the US after redoing its Chattanooga, Tennessee factory in 2022. But Volkswagen’s electrification efforts still lag those of its main competitors, and it also has with the objective of establishing a stronger position in North America. be more competitive in China. The company sees these regions as its two most important markets, which it will have to conquer if it wants to achieve its goals. Volkswagen previously said it wants electric vehicles to account for about 55 percent of its US sales by 2030.
For now, the automaker will continue to make gas-powered vehicles as it works to expand its EV offering with more models, including affordable ones that cost around $26,000. However, Arno Antlitz, Volkswagen’s CFO and COO, spoke about the way forward for the company: “We need to transform into a technology and mobility services group. We need to focus on our platforms, such as our hardware for electric vehicles at battery, a unified software stack, batteries, mobility, autonomous driving”.
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