Volkswagen Group To Invest $100B (N41 Quadrillion) On Future Tech In Next 5 Years

The Volkswagen Group delivered an update on its strategy for the next decade on Thursday, and a significant component of the plans is an investment of roughly $100.5 billion (N41 Quadrillion) in future technology.

Electric car development will cost a total of 52 billion euros (N24 Trillion). Due to increased demand for EVs, the amount is 50% greater than previously expected. VW Group presently anticipates that EVs will account for 25% of company sales by 2026, up from roughly 5% now. That’s a lot of EVs, especially considering VW Group’s goal of delivering nine million vehicles by 2021. By 2025, the manufacturer hopes to be the largest EV firm in the world.

Some EV investment will be redirected away from hybrid car research, which VW Group had planned to provide as an intermediate technology.

Another significant amount of the investment, estimated at roughly 30 billion euros, would go toward software development, which includes software as a service and self-driving automobiles. According to VW Group, software-based services will account for one-third of worldwide mobility-related profits by 2030. VW Group is not alone in this viewpoint. Stellantis announced last week that it expects software-based services to produce 20 billion euros by 2030.

VW Group also confirmed a California camper version of the future ID. Buzz electric van at the strategy update announcement. The company also mentioned an Audi vehicle codenamed the E6. There was no mention of time for either model.

Finally, the manufacturer stated that a reorganization of some leaders is planned for 2022. Herbert Diess is expected to retain his position as CEO, but he will also take over the Cariad software development arm, which is presently led by Audi CEO Markus Duesmann.

Ralf Brandstaetter, CEO of the Volkswagen brand, will join the VW Group board of directors and be in charge of the automaker’s Chinese operations.