Volkswagen to accelerate into electric cars, self-driving vehicles and AI

16 Jun 2016

Volkswagen is planning 30 new electric vehicles and expects 25pc of its revenues by 2025 to come from battery-powered vehicles

By 2025, Volkswagen estimates that 25pc of all of its annual revenues will come from electric vehicles, and it plans to launch 30 purely battery-powered vehicles over the next 10 years.

Volkswagen today (16 June) revealed its new strategy in the wake of the emissions scandal, where it was revealed that diesel cars had been rigged to cheat emissions tests.

The German car manufacturer’s CEO Matthias Müller said that Volkswagen will introduce more than 30 different electric-powered vehicles by 2025 and is targeting sales of 2m to 3m of the vehicles every year.

Volkswagen sells 10m cars every year and operates more than 100 factories. The company employs more than 600,000 people.

However, Volkswagen has been falling behind the competition, losing out in particular to Toyota and GM.

Müller today launched Together – Strategy 2025, a new strategy aimed at putting the emissions scandal behind it and ultimately transforming the overall automotive industry.

Self-driving cars

As well as moving into electric vehicles and drive-trains, Müller revealed that Volkswagen intends to invest in the future of autonomous driving and artificial intelligence.

“The aim is to license a competitive self-driving system (SDS) developed in-house by the end of the decade,” Volkswagen said.

As well as transforming the core business, Volkswagen said it intends to promote an entrepreneurial mindset and approach in the group.

This will involve realigning the components business, which currently employs 67,000 people at 26 locations worldwide.

As well as looking at new business models for companies in the group, including Scania, MAN and its commercial vehicles brand, Volkswagen is also looking at new financial models for ownership, which will be driven by its financial service division.

“Developing, building and selling vehicles, including the related financial services, will remain essential for the Volkswagen Group going forward,” Müller said.

“However, the transformation we have initiated today will permanently change the face of our core business, ensuring that we remain a leading player over both the medium and the long term. As is traditional in the Volkswagen Group, we will take a responsible, collaborative approach. Such far-reaching change as we have set out to achieve is only possible together.”

Volkswagen image via Shutterstock

John Kennedy is a journalist who served as editor of Silicon Republic for 17 years

editorial@siliconrepublic.com