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THE VOLKSWAGEN ELECTRIC VEHICLE GOAL TO BE THE NUMBER 1

Will Dubitsky

The Volkswagen Group wants to become the number 1 electric vehicle (EV) manufacturer by 2025. The Group, which in addition to the Volkswagen brand, includes Audi, Skoda, Seat, Porsche and Lamborghini, has an impressive plethora of initiatives to succeed. ​

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Those living in North America may see this goal as somewhat exaggerated since the Volkswagen brand’s North American market share was only 3.7% in Canada in 2018 and 2% in the U.S.  However, the Volkswagen Group is the second largest automotive manufacture in the world, after Toyota, with 40% of its global sales in Europe and 40% in China.
 
Three factors suggest the Volkswagen Group EV agenda should be taken seriously. 
 
One is the diesel scandal, which lead to a massive effort to improve Volkswagen’s reputation and overhaul its management.

​​The second factor is legislation initiatives in China and the European Union necessitate a rapid global transition of ALL global manufacturers to electric vehicles.   China is the largest vehicle market in the world and the European Union (EU) is the third biggest.  Together they represent 80% of the Volkswagen Group market. 
 
In effect, no global automaker can afford to ignore these two markets. That includes the U.S.-based Big 3 (GM, Ford and Fiat Chrysler) which must compete with other global manufacturers, even in North America.
 
The third factor driving VW ambitions is the success of Tesla, proving all pessimists wrong.   At the January 2020 World Economic Forum in Switzerland, Volkswagen CEO, Herbert Diess, said of Tesla, that Tesla is “paving the way.”