VW plans to sell electric Tesla rival for less than US$23,000 - source
Volkswagen intends to sell electric cars for less than 20,000 euros
(US$22,836) and protect German jobs by converting three factories to
make the Tesla rival, a source familiar with the plans said.
FRANKFURT: Volkswagen intends to sell electric cars for less than 20,000
euros (US$22,836) and protect German jobs by converting three factories
to make the Tesla rival, a source familiar with the plans said.
VW and other carmakers are struggling to adapt quickly enough to
stringent rules introduced after the carmaker was found to have cheated
diesel emissions tests, with its chief executive Herbert Diess warning
last month that Germany's auto industry faces extinction.
Plans for VW's electric car, known as "MEB entry" and with a production
volume of 200,000 vehicles, are due to be discussed at a supervisory
board meeting on Nov. 16, the source said, adding that it is also
looking to roll out 100,000 of the "I.D. Aero", a mid-sized sedan.
The Wolfsburg-based carmaker, which declined to comment on the plans, is
also expected to discuss far-reaching alliances with battery cell
manufacturer SK Innovation and rival Ford, the source said.
VW's strategy shift comes as cities start to ban diesel engine vehicles,
forcing carmakers to think of new ways to safeguard 600,000 German
industrial jobs, of which 436,000 are at car companies and their
suppliers.
An electric van, the ID Buzz, is due to be built at VW's plant in Hannover, where its T6 Van is made, the source said.
To free up production capacity for electric cars in Hannover, VW's
transporter vans could be produced at a Ford plant in Turkey, the source
added.
EXPLORATORY TALKS
VW and Ford are in "exploratory talks" to develop self-driving and
electric vehicles in an alliance meant to save them billions of dollars,
Reuters reported last month. German VW factories in Emden, Zwickau and
Hanover, which all build combustion-engined cars, will switch to
electric ones in under the plans being considered, the source said.
Carmakers in Germany agreed on Thursday to spend up to 3,000 euros
(US$3,430) per vehicle to add more efficient exhaust filtering systems
to cut diesel emissions, but failed to prevent bans on diesel vehicles
by Cologne and Bonn.
EU lawmakers have agreed to seek a 35 percent cut in car emissions by
2030 after a U.N. report called for dramatic steps to slow global
warming.
Diess said to cut average fleet emissions of carbon dioxide in Europe by
30 percent by 2030, VW needs to raise its share offully electric
vehicles to 30 percent of new car sales.
The shift from combustion engines to electric cars wouldalso cost 14,000
jobs at VW by 2020 as it takes less time to build an electric car than a
conventional one and because jobs will shift overseas to battery
manufacturers.
In Europe there are about 126 plants making combustionengines, employing
112,000 people. The largest such plant inEurope is VW's in Kassel.
(US$1 = 0.8758 euros)
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