Status: 07/13/2021 2:56 p.m.
The Volkswagen Group has announced the guard rails of its strategy for the coming years: The car manufacturer wants to invest massively in electromobility and become the global market leader there.
Volkswagen will focus on e-mobility in the coming years: electric cars and the production of batteries for vehicles with electric drives are at the heart of the Wolfsburg-based car company’s corporate strategy. VW wants to have converted half of its entire range of models to battery cars by 2030. CEO Herbert Diess announced this goal today when he presented the new corporate strategy.
The car company wants to become the global market leader in e-mobility and above all to catch up with the US competitor Tesla. VW is also planning to reduce the real CO2 footprint per car over the entire life cycle of a vehicle by 30 percent compared to the level of 2018 in the current decade. The specifications are “in line with the Paris Agreement,” said the group with a view to international climate targets.
Use platform advantages
However, the automaker does not want to disregard profitability. With four standardized platforms, the Volkswagen Group intends to make greater use of its economies of scale across all brands. According to VW boss Diess, the principle of the same parts for use in the highest possible numbers will soon no longer be limited to the familiar vehicle kits. It is increasingly also extending to digitization, electrification and services. In this way, “previously unattainable synergies” should be used, he explained in Wolfsburg.
Four overarching platforms are to be set up for this purpose: These include the basic technical architecture of battery vehicles, in-house software in the cars, but also internal battery cell production and new “mobility services”. The individual subsidiaries of the group should later make use of these elements and be able to build specific variants on them. The basic vehicle system “Scalable Systems Platform” (SSP) is to be used in production for pure electric vehicles from 2026 onwards. According to the plans, over 40 million cars are to be built on this basis.
The expanded platform strategy should bring VW more income. In 2025, eight to nine percent of sales are expected to remain as profit before interest and taxes. So far, the Wolfsburg had targeted seven to eight percent.
Battery factory with Chinese partner
In order to be able to drive the electric offensive with the VW models, Volkswagen wants to push its own battery cell production in Salzgitter. The Wolfsburg-based company is teaming up with a large supplier from China. The Chinese cell manufacturer Gotion High-Tech is to participate as a “technology partner”. Both sides had concluded a corresponding agreement at the beginning of this week, it was said in Wolfsburg. The planned start of production is in 2025.
With its own battery cell production, VW wants to become more independent of external suppliers. A total of five more cell factories will be built in the coming years. In Sweden, for example, our partner Northvolt is there. When selecting further locations, the group decided on Spain – the home of its Seat brand.