14 Alternative Vehicles Next Year, With Up To 40 Possible.
Volkswagen surprised investors with its sudden embrace of all things electric at the Frankfurt Car Show.
As well as the expected unveiling of the battery powered e-Up and e-Golf, VW launched into a change of direction at an eve of show reception, saying it will produce 14 vehicles with alternative drive-trains by next year, with as many as 40 electric or hybrid vehicles on the drawing board.
Until now, VW had been in the agnostic group for electric cars and hybrids.
“Winterkorn and VW for the first time sounded positive, even bullish about the future of the hybrid and signalled serious investment and a push for these vehicles,” said Stefano Aversa of Alix Partners.
“VW has been the most contrarian to the electric trend, saying there’s still much to get from diesel. It’s now been converted,” Aversa said.
Deutsche Bank liked what it called the cautious tone of VW’s presentation, which it said was also an internal message to its staff to avoid hubris and overspend.
An earlier VW presentation from Chief Financial Officer Hans Dieter Poetsch lauded the progress towards ever more production based on the latest modular system, but a report about a water-leakage problem in the new Golf was a reminder that this system is not without drawbacks.
The German weekly Auto Bild said VW was concerned about a water leakage problem in the new Golf, and said about 300,000 VW group cars could be affected. The new system has far been used to produce Golfs Audi A3s, Seat Leons and the Skoda Octavia. VW had no comment on the report.
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