Volkswagen core brand sees rise in 2021 deliveries, earnings

[GDANSK] Deliveries and earnings at Volkswagen's core brand will rise year on year in 2021 as its new strategy starts to bear fruit, it said on Wednesday.

The brand will deliver more than 450,000 electric cars this year, more than double the number of previous year, it said.

This month, the world's second-largest carmaker unveiled its "Accelerate" strategy for the brand, saying it expected fully electric vehicles to account for more than 70 per cent of total European vehicle sales by 2030, compared with a previous target of 35 per cent.

The Volkswagen brand aims to invest 16 billion euros (S$25.66 billion) in electrification and digitalisation by 2025.

To help finance the investment, it aims to reduce fixed costs by 5 per cent by 2023, freeze headcount at January 2021 levels, boost productivity at its plants by 5 per cent a year and reduce raw material costs by 7 per cent.

The new strategy would generate hundreds of millions of euros in revenue in the coming years, it said.

REUTERS