Volkswagen AG's comprehensive electric vehicle plan no longer exists.
VW's namesake brand, which has made its ID family of electric vehicles a staple of its future, I confess Last week you'll need more hybrid cars as electric car sales slow.
This represents the latest tweak VW has made to its electrification strategy After the company missed the launch of several models and fell behind in China, where local brands now dominate. The manufacturer has it too on the shelf Efforts to seek outside investors for its battery unit canceled It plans to establish a €2 billion ($2.2 billion) electric vehicle factory in Germany.
In fact, the automaker is selling so many cars still powered by combustion engines that it is on track to exceed the emissions limit next year, prompting CEO Oliver Blume to ask European regulators to do so. Leniency. It's a sharp shift from just three years ago, when VW was pushing hard for electric cars in the European Union The cracks opened Between the company and some of its peers in the region.
Volkswagen had no choice but to rely on its electrification messages after betting big on “clean” diesel engines. But that bet went awry when the company was discovered cheating on emissions tests, forcing it to shift heavily to battery-powered vehicles. By 2019, then-CEO Herbert Diess announced the launch of up to 75 fully electric models over the next decade.
His “electric car or bust” strategy — Diess argued that automakers needed to change quickly if they wanted to survive — angered executives from Turin to Tokyo, who wanted more time and flexibility to make the switch from combustion cars. The CEO even praised what he saw as the advantage of moving early.
Electric mobility “has won the race,” Diess said when presenting Volkswagen's battery strategy in 2021. Many in the industry questioned our approach. Today they are following suit and so are we Reap the rewards“.
While these spoils were not as plentiful as VW had hoped, the company did not switch away from electric cars entirely.
Blume has partnerships with companies including Xpeng Inc. And get ready A new brand of electric vehicles In China, it is offering models equipped with gadgets such as an in-car avatar to win back the younger consumers that BYD and Tesla Inc have lost. VW has also been in discussions with European counterparts including Renault SA about developing cheaper electric cars to win over audiences. Car buyers in the market.
Volkswagen isn't alone in having to recalibrate as a result of the electric vehicle slowdown. Countries such as Germany and Sweden have halted or reduced government subsidies for electric cars, which still tend to be more expensive than their combustion-powered counterparts, hurting the broader sector. Gaps in public charging networks also continue to turn away potential buyers.
Stellantis NV said Tuesday it would sell the cars Jointly developed With a Chinese partner in Europe from September as it tries to reduce the cost of its electric offerings. Mercedes-Benz Group AG has stopped developing the underpinnings for new electric luxury sedans to save money and plans to sell gasoline-powered cars. Longer than expected. BMW AG, which had More success Selling more electric cars than its German rivals, it still warned this week that an EU plan to ban sales of new combustion-engined cars by 2035 would harm the industry. European regulators are scheduled to review the policy in 2026.
The slowdown has dealt a serious blow even to Tesla, which has lost $235 billion in market value this year, more than three times Volkswagen's current valuation. However, CEO Elon Musk criticized the automakers for backing down.
“The global adoption rate of electric vehicles is under pressure, and many other automakers are pulling back from electric vehicles and pursuing hybrids instead,” Musk said last month when discussing Tesla's first-quarter earnings. “We believe this is not the right strategy, and that electric vehicles will eventually dominate the market.”
