VOLKSWAGEN is accelerating its plan to phase out internal combustion engine production in Europe by 2033, two years ahead of the previous plan.
The German giant and its joint venture partner Ford will also disband autonomous driving technology company Argo AI (Artificial Intelligence) because it wants to develop partially autonomous driving assistance systems to develop operating in the near term instead of developing fully manual driving for a longer period of time, while VW is running a different strategy.
It remains unclear whether the end of internal combustion applies to VW’s 70 production facilities around the world or only to production in Europe, and if or when brands from the broader Volkswagen Group empire – including including Cupra, Ducati, Lamborghini, Porsche, Seat and Skoda – will follow.
A careful statement from Volkswagen brand CEO Thomas Schaefer said: “The VW brand division will also launch 10 new electric models by 2026, including a low-end model that VW wants to sell with under €25,000 ($38,603)). “
Bentley has committed to producing its last internal combustion engine by 2030.
Automotive News Europe (ANE) reports that Mr. Schaefer announced the entry-level EV will come in two variants; a hatchback and a crossover. The cars are expected to be tagged with ID.1 and ID.2.
According to ANE, Schaefer also said VW will bring an upgrade to the ID.3 compact hatchback next year, the first of a new generation of its all-electric vehicles, as well as a semi-version. SUV (Toyota Corolla Cross).
This model will take “a significant and remarkable step forward in quality, materials and system stability”, he said.
Meanwhile, the 2,000-employee autonomous vehicle technology venture Argo AI is expected to have some employees redeployed to Ford and VW reportedly focusing on partnerships with Bosch and Horizon. Robotics to develop self-driving systems.
“Harder than putting a man on the moon” to create a robotic taxi capable of navigation, said Doug Field, Ford’s director of product development and advanced technology, in the ANE report. in the dense urban landscape.
VW Group CEO Oliver Blume said in a statement. “Our goal is to provide our customers with the most powerful functionality at the earliest possible time and set up our growth as cost-effective as possible.”
VW plans to introduce a self-driving car aggregation service in Hamburg by 2025 and eventually offer ride-hailing and delivery services in Europe and the US.
Ford said in a statement that fully autonomous vehicles being profitable at scale is a long way off and will take more than five years to see a return on investment.
Despite different goals related to autonomous driving, the partnership between Ford and VW continues on electric vehicles in the US and Europe.
For VW, the path to electrification has been hampered by external influences that have slowed production and, in some cases, affected deliveries to customers.
I only hit my 2020 delivery target for the ID.3 because the early production run cars reached customers without some of the final features being refitted months later.
Heads that have been rolling at VW include CEO Herbert Diess, who was replaced in September by former Porsche chief Oliver Blume.
“The VW brand will shift its production focus from focusing on a single model per factory to a ‘platform mindset’, using the same basic design,” ANE reported, Schaefer said. for different models to deliver economies of scale.
Bringing vehicles from different brands into the same factory saves costs, he said: “In the past we had a lot of waste in the system that we could get rid of.”
Some industry commentators consider this a no-brainer and some express surprise that a company like VW, which has freely shared its platform, components and technology between its brand for many years, has not adopted such a plan for a long time.
VW will focus on core brands over the next few years and consolidate its product offerings to improve margins, which the company wants to reach 8% by 2025.
Mr. Schaefer said the key to achieving this with electrification is through the improvement and standardization of battery formats and chemistry, along with mass production.
“The only company that can scale in this territory at the moment is us,” he told ANE.
“The focus is on a clear standard across brands and across scale.”
