All part of Roadmap E to establish VW’s EV dominance.
German automotive conglomerate Volkswagen Group is putting its money where its mouth is when it comes to electric mobility, with CEO Matthias Müller announcing that the company would establish no less than 16 locations for the manufacturing of EVs, with all expected to be online by 2022. This announcement was made by Müller at the company’s annual media conference recently.
This move is part of the Group’s ongoing ‘Roadmap E’ initiative, that intends to realign the company with progressive, environmentally-friendly demands and the continued tightening of international emissions regulations. Roadmap E’s tight schedule means that ahead of namesake marque Volkswagen’s introduction of its new battery-electric I.D. family of vehicles, the Volkswagen Group has already awarded €20-billion ($31.44-billion) in battery supply contracts to partners in Europe and China.
Partners in North America are being identified, and an announcement on a decision will be made in due course.
“Over the last few months, we have pulled out all the tops to implement Roadmap E with the necessary speed & determination. 2017 was an excellent year for the Volkswagen Group and its brands. We’re back on the offensive, and we intend to remain there. With Roadmap E, we have sent a powerful message of our resolve. Things are really moving, and we have plans for much more. A change of course for the Volkswagen supertanker — full speed ahead to the future!” — Matthias Müller, CEO, Volkswagen Group
By 2025, the Group intends to have built 3-million EVs per annum, as well as have a total of 80 electric vehicles available across all of the VW Group brands. 2018 alone will see the introduction of nine new vehicles (3 EVs and 6 ‘electrified cars), that will join the existing 8 electrified cars that are already available.
Under Roadmap E, the Volkswagen Group reckons that there’ll be a new electric/electrified vehicle introduced “virtually every month” by 2019. CEO Müller says that that offensive is how the Group intends to dominate the EV space within a short timeframe.
However, these offensives will cost the company dearly. Commentary at the fringes of the annual media conference said that the Group predicts profit levels won’t be breaking records anymore, as it did last year with €230.7-billion recorded in sales revenue (or $362.71-billion), and €13.8-billion ($21.7-billion) recorded operating profit after ‘special items’ (which refers to Dieselgate payouts and recall costs).
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