VW targets electric-car lead by 2025 in platform push

Volkswagen Group plans to widen cost-cutting efforts by standardizing key technologies as the German automaker seeks to accelerate a seismic shift toward electric cars to combat Tesla and keep traditional rivals such as Daimler at bay.

VW targets 1 million electric-vehicle sales this year and aims to become the global EV market leader by 2025 at the latest, the company said. By 2030, the share of fully electric vehicles in Europe is set to rise to as much as 60 percent of group deliveries.

“By pooling the strengths of our brands, we will be able to scale up our future technologies even faster,” CEO Herbert Diess said in the statement on Tuesday.

VW is overhauling its sprawling operations to free up funds for new technologies as it plans to build the industry’s largest fleet of electric vehicles. The company has unveiled Europe’s boldest battery-production push and struck a deal with unions to cut more jobs in Germany.

VW said it seeks to use a platform approach to raise the efficiencies when deploying technologies including software, batteries and charging infrastructure. It reiterated a plan to lower fix costs by 5 percent, or 2 billion euros ($2.4 billion), by 2023 and material expenses by 7 percent.

VW last month said it expects its operating margin to improve to between 5 percent and 6.5 percent this year. It kept its dividend proposal unchanged even as analysts braced for a cut, and said it expects rising vehicle deliveries to push revenue up significantly.

VW’s revamp efforts were jolted last year by the health crisis, which shuttered factories and showrooms. While many European countries still wrestle with rising infections and slow vaccinating, the industry is also suffering from a shortage of semiconductors that has disrupted production.