Scandal-hit VW sets hopes on electromobility

[FRANKFURT] Embattled auto giant Volkswagen said Thursday it plans to launch more than 30 all-electric models by 2025 as it seeks to reposition itself as a leading player in environmentally sustainable modes of transport.

VW, currently entangled in a global engine-rigging pollution scandal, said in a statement that it plans to launch "more than 30 fully electric models" by 2025, which would account for annual sales of between two and three million vehicles or 20-25 per cent of the group's global sales.

Presenting what he described as the "key building blocks in the new group strategy," chief executive Matthias Mueller said VW aimed to "transform its core automotive business or, to put it another way, make a fundamental realignment in readiness for the new age of mobility." VW would focus on "the most attractive and fastest-growing market segments," he said.

"Special emphasis will be place on e-mobility. The group is planning a broad-based initiative in this area: it intends to launch more than 30 purely battery-powered electric vehicles over the next ten years," he said.

VW estimated that such vehicles "could then account for around a quarter of the global passenger car market." VW was plunged into its deepest-ever crisis when it came to light last September that it had installed emissions-cheating software into 11 million diesel engines worldwide.

AFP