The Volkswagen Group's division of light commercial vehicles (VWN) intends to create additional purely electric vehicles following the Volkswagen ID Buzz electric van launch. Still, it will also continue to provide hybrid cars with combustion engines for the time being.
By 2030, about half of all vehicles sold in Europe should be electric. "We need to rethink our range," Carsten Intra, the brand's CEO, stated Monday during the presentation of the brand's annual balance statement for 2021. Along with the Volkswagen ID Buzz and the Volkswagen e-Crafter electric delivery van, the Amarok pick-up, which was continued in collaboration with Ford, might also be considered. Additional specifics, however, have not been decided. After 2025, it claimed, the Volkswagen ID California electric camper will be available.
Simultaneously, management highlighted that plug-in hybrids and combustion engines, which climate protectionists sometimes decry as fake, will continue to be included in the program for the foreseeable future: "Additionally to city travel, some clients require their automobile for lengthy distances. Additionally, there will be uses where the combustion engine is suitable from an environmental standpoint."
Due to supply issues with microchips, the leading brand of Volkswagen passenger vehicles was forced to place an order freeze on a large number of hybrids. "We, too, had to cease," VWN sales director Lars Krause explained, citing recent delivery periods of roughly twelve months. "First and foremost, we want to ensure that the consumer understands when he or she will receive their vehicle."
CFO Michael Obrowski noted that rising raw material costs, exacerbated by the Ukraine crisis, might potentially boost the price of cars: "If raw material costs continue to climb at this rate, there will certainly be price hikes for automobiles." As with many other firms, VWN will remain reliant on gas imports for an extended period. The facilities' energy supply will progressively be transformed into more environmentally friendly power. However, this takes time.
Recently, the VW commercial vehicle business has also been impacted by missing components from suppliers in western Ukraine. As a result, production at the company's three primary locations in Poland, Hanover, Pozna, and Wrzenia, has been delayed. Since then, the situation has stabilized. The corporation stated that manufacturing has resumed. You are scheduled to work for at least three weeks.
VW's primary line of business will be autonomous driving services. The firm is collaborating with Ford and Argo AI of the United States to do this. Additional collaborations are potential, including prospective technological platforms for Uber and Lyft, the brand's CEO added.
VWN is now conducting trials in Munich and influential US cities like Miami. In a future edition, the Volkswagen ID Buzz will be somewhat autonomous. It is intended to be utilized by the Moia shuttle service in Hamburg beginning in 2025. The enhanced services will be available in more than 50 locations across several nations by the end of the year.
VWN improved in several areas in 2021 following the slump from 2020. Operating profit enabled the Volkswagen Group to reverse a 454 million euro deficit into a 73 million euro profit. Sales grew by nearly 6% to 9.9 billion euros. However, deliveries decreased by little more than 3% to 359,500 automobiles.
