Volkswagen makes huge bet on electric vehicles
Nearly every automaker under the sun is working on electrification right now. But Volkswagen is going bigger than most.
On Tuesday, the company said it plans to invest 180 billion euros ($193 billion) into the "most attractive profit pools," with 68 percent out of that going into digitization and electrification, up from the 56 percent figure Volkswagen outlined in its previous five-year plan.
More precisely, the company plans to invest in battery production and software development, as well as growing its presence in North America.
Volkswagen says it expects every fifth vehicle sold worldwide to be an electric one by 2025. In 2022, battery electric vehicles comprised 7 percent of the company's total deliveries, with the best-selling models being Volkswagen ID.4 and ID.5, followed by Volkswagen ID.3 and Škoda Enyaq iV.
"Our strong financial base puts us in a position to continue investing in the electrification and digitalization of our company, even in a challenging economic environment," Arno Antlitz, Volkswagen Group CFO and COO, said in a statement.
As far as electrification goes, Volkswagen is doing well when compared to its European competitors, but in North America it's lagging behind. The company made a massive pivot towards electrification following the gas emissions scandal, which cost it more than $33 billion.
Volkswagen recently announced that its subsidiary PowerCo will build an electric vehicle battery plant in Canada; in March, it was revealed that Volkswagen subsidiary Scout will build a $2 billion manufacturing plant in South Carolina where it plans to build trucks and SUVs. The company also plans to expand its presence in China, where it partners with Horizon Robotics to develop driver assistance systems.