Volkswagen to invest €73bn in digitalisation and electric cars
Car giant Volkswagen will invest €73bn into developing hybrid and electric cars over the next five years, it was announced today.
Investment in the new technologies, as well as into digitalisation, will now account for nearly half of the €150bn of spending the firm has scheduled.
Almost half of the money – €35bn – will be spent on new battery electric vehicles, with €11bn going into hybrid powertrains.
In order to further Volkswagen’s focus on developing new software, an extra €27bn will be put into digitalisation.
Chief executive Herbert Diess said it would be “crucial” for the firm to be a market leader for car software “in order to meet people’s needs for individual, sustainable and fully connected mobility in the future”.
Volkswagen was the first automaker to commit to the Paris Agreement and aims to become climate neutral by 2050.
Over the next ten years, the group intends to launch approximately 70 all-electric models by 2030, as well as 60 hybrids.
However, the car giant’s reputation has taken a battering in recent years after it was embroiled in an emissions cheating scandal.
Known as “Dieselgate”, the scandal began when it was revealed that the car maker had programmed its models to only engage their full emissions controls systems during testing.
Some 11m models were estimated to be affected around the world.
Bernd Osterloh, chairman of Volkswagen’s general works council, said: “The investments demonstrate that our Group walks the talk when it comes to transformation, electric mobility and digitalization.
“We will go fully on the offensive in the coming years.”