Volkswagen CEO demands 'revolution' to tackle Tesla

Volkswagen CEO Herbert Diess told employees astatine the German carmaker connected Thursday to hole for the "revolution" needed to instrumentality connected electrical car pioneer Tesla and Chinese manufacturers.

"In the caller automotive world, we are faced with contention the likes of which Volkswagen has ne'er seen before," Diess said successful a code astatine the carmaker's flagship works successful Wolfsburg.

The German group—whose 12 brands see Audi, Porsche and Skoda—is pumping 35 cardinal euros ($40 billion) into the displacement to electric vehicles and aims to go the world's largest electrical carmaker by 2025.

With VW readying to halt producing cars with internal combustion engines successful Europe for its eponymous flagship marque arsenic soon arsenic 2033, its facilities volition request to beryllium retooled soon.

Diess said helium was "worried" astir the Wolfsburg factory, whose aboriginal has been the taxable of a fierce statement wrong the group, highlighting the "impressive productivity" of the caller Tesla installation extracurricular of Berlin wherever accumulation is expected to statesman successful the adjacent fewer months.

Tesla plans to nutrient a conveyance successful 10 hours astatine its German plant, Diess said, portion Volkswagen's main electrical car mill successful Zwickau requires "more than 30 hours".

Diess, who caused consternation wrong the institution past period erstwhile helium evoked the imaginable nonaccomplishment of 30,000 jobs successful Wolfsburg, said: "Today is the close infinitesimal for the VW revolution."

At the assembly, works assembly chairwoman Daniela Cavallo said determination was "not 1 idiosyncratic excessively many" astatine the Wolfsburg factory.

"You regularly supply america with beauteous photos from your travels, but not with semiconductors," Cavallo said, referring to caller accumulation stoppages caused by shortages of the important component.

The CEO's planned "revolution for Wolfsburg" is the group's "Trinity" project: a caller battery-powered enactment to beryllium manufactured from 2026 that volition entail a large restructuring astatine the cardinal plant, which has yet to commencement producing an electrical model.

"I privation your children and grandchildren to person a unafraid occupation present successful Wolfsburg successful 2030," Diess told employees, calling connected them to marque Volkswagen "ready for the future".

Works assembly chairwoman Cavallo meantime said the accumulation of different electrical exemplary astatine the Wolfsburg works "significantly earlier Trinity and 2026 is essential".

Volkswagen's executive board volition contiguous their "Vision 2030" for the Wolfsburg works astatine a gathering of the supervisory committee connected December 9.

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© 2021 AFP