Volkswagen is currently facing challenges in reaching its targets to become the world’s largest EV seller by 2025. It was stated by the CEO Hebert Diess. Said that they didn’t expect the main competitor in the US (Tesla) to be so fast and well prepared. Said, “It will be a tight race but we won’t give up on it.”
Diess was criticized largely last year for setting Volkswagen against Tesla. For singling out the company’s speed and agility to add pressure on the well-known automaker’s established structures. By this year Tesla opened its factory in Germany and is working its way towards leading in the European countries. It is challenging Volkswagen and other German automakers like BMW and Mercedes-Benz. Diess said that Tesla’s ramp-up in production would be challenging.
Despite all the challenges, Diess states that by 2025 Volkswagen would be able to overtake Tesla and become the world’s number one. Pointed out at its bigger product offering in premium and luxury segment, also volume brands. In the US market, the automaker aims to double its market share to 10%. It means the automaker would need another plant and local battery production.
Musk’s statements
Meanwhile, according to what Musk said, VW is a company that is making the most progress in the auto market. When asked about which startup is making good progress in the EV market in the US, he failed to identify any company. However, said that some are very strong companies that are emerging from the Chinese market.
During the interview, he said, “Well, I think the company the most progress besides Tesla is actually VW, which is not a startup but could be viewed in some ways as a startup from an electric vehicle standpoint. So, VW is doing the most on the electric vehicle front. I think there will be some very strong companies coming out of China. There are just a lot of super talented, hard-working people in China, who strongly believe in manufacturing. They won’t just be burning the midnight oil, they’ll be burning the 3 am oil. They won’t even leave the factory type-of-thing, whereas, in America, people are trying to avoid going to work at all.”
The interview was with Financial Times. It appears that Tesla is not getting ahead with challenges from its competitors. Especially despite automakers like Lucid achieving better ranges than Tesla vehicles. Many investors are betting on startups in the US.
