E-mobility
VW Osnabrück with location opportunity for e-convertible
The ID.4 is the second fully electric model from Volkswagen. Photo: Robert Michael / dpa-Zentralbild / dpa
© dpa-infocom GmbH
Which Volkswagen models will be built where in the future? That is a central question in the ongoing investment round. The CEO lets some considerations through.
According to Volkswagen boss Herbert Diess, the Osnabrück site, which is often underutilized, could have good prospects for an e-convertible.
The plant, which is currently mainly producing the open version of the T-Roc, is “very competent as a niche convertible location,” said the CEO in an internal conversation to which the workforce could submit questions. “The next option, of course, has to be an electric convertible. There are considerations at Volkswagen, there are considerations at Audi. “
Diess was not more specific on this point. The completion of the investment planning at VW for the next five years is expected on December 9th. The CEO said to the employees that he was «certain that Osnabrück will apply to manufacture our electric convertible. I’m very confident about that. ” In the previous planning round, Lower Saxony’s Prime Minister and VW supervisor Stephan Weil indicated that there could be prospects for e-mobility in Osnabrück.
Sites gradually converted
First, VW is ramping up production of vehicles with purely electric drives elsewhere. In Germany this was mainly Zwickau. The plants in Emden and Hanover, for example, are now gradually being converted. In March, with a view to Osnabrück, the company announced that it would be relocating part of the assembly of the hatchback version of its Arteon limousine from Emden there in the summer – so that Emden would be relieved of the workload for conversions for the future production of electric models. The plant in Osnabrück originally came to VW after the traditional company Karmann went bankrupt.
Diess also commented on a possible opening of the new Cariad software division for cooperation partners from the supplier industry such as Continental or Bosch. The development of its own IT and control systems for networked cars is a core project of the VW boss – while large suppliers rely on being able to remain strong in business, at least with the basic structures of the vehicle software. “We are working on cooperation models with these suppliers,” said Diess. An involvement of external partners in Cariad is currently not planned, he explained. But it would be “in principle also conceivable in the future”.