Volkswagen – the company that started discussions on combustion-powered vehicle emissions on a global scale with the Dieselgate scandal – wants to accelerate its electrification strategy. The Wolfsburg-based automaker has a new plan, under which it will start producing only electric vehicles in Europe from 2033. The information was confirmed by Volkswagen boss Thomas Schaefer who also said that this is an earlier date than the previously announced 2035 target.
Supporting the renewed push is a new production strategy that Schaefer describes as “platform thinking.” Under this new philosophy, Volkswagen will try to benefit from economies of scale by producing different vehicles sharing the same architecture and the same basic design rather than assembling one model per factory. This strategy includes not only the core VW brand but also other major brands under the Volkswagen Group umbrella. “Historically, we have had a lot of waste in the system that we could get rid of,” the Wolfsburg boss admits.
4 Photo
In the future, the VW Group will reduce the number of models from different brands aiming to achieve higher profit margins for VW, SEAT, Skoda, and its commercial vehicle divisions. That doesn’t mean the product portfolio won’t be refreshed with new products and the first to come is the facelifted version of the ID.3 with a hot dual motor version. This isn’t just a minor refresh as the update will bring “a significant and noticeable leap in terms of quality, materials and system stability,” addressing a software issue Volkswagen has had in recent months.
A new entry-level electric vehicle is also being developed in two versions – hatchback and crossover – expected to carry the ID.1 and ID.2 names. The most basic variant of the vehicle will have a starting price of around $25,000 in Europe, while the crossover version of the ID.3 will be positioned slightly above the ID.2. In total, Volkswagen will launch no less than 10 new battery-powered models by 2026. The company’s R performance division will run on electricity only by the end of the decade.
