Volkswagen has a difficult road ahead in meeting its self-imposed goal of being the world’s top seller of electric vehicles by 2025, according to its CEO, who admitted that competitor Tesla was stronger than expected.
At the FT Future of the Car 2022 conference, Herbert Diess remarked, “It will be a tight competition, but we won’t give up.” “We didn’t anticipate our primary American adversary to be so quick and well-prepared,” he continued.
Last year, Diess was chastised for repeatedly comparing Volkswagen to Tesla and singling out the latter’s agility and speed to put pressure on Volkswagen’s established structures.
Tesla established its first European gigafactory in Berlin this year, taking on Volkswagen, BMW (BMWG.DE), and Mercedes-Benz (MBGn.DE) on their own ground, while Diess predicted that Tesla’s ramp-up would be difficult.
Diess believes Volkswagen can still beat Tesla and become the world’s No. 1 by 2025, citing the company’s larger product portfolio, which includes luxury and premium automobiles as well as volume brands.
When it comes to the United States, where Volkswagen wants to more than double its market share to 10%, Diess stated that an extra factory, as well as local battery manufacture, would be required, but he rejected the move as a result of being over-exposed to China.
