VW Promises North American MEB Production by 2021

The Volkswagen Brand today released the details of its plan for the next 14 years. The plan centers around electric vehicles, cost savings, and US market penetration.

Like the VW Group’s Together 2025, the brand has named its plan Transform 2025+. It contains many promises about electrification, and a new tagline: “Volkswagen: Moving People Forward.”

The move is partly a response to the emissions crisis that rocked the company. As senior management figures, such as VW North America’s CEO Hinrich Woebcken say though, the decisions made now could end up being a blessing.

With increasing emissions standards in the European Union and around the world, the manufacture of electric cars may be more than a PR move. Morgan Stanley recently announced that it predicts that electric cars will make up a 15% bigger part of the global market than it had previously predicted.

Despite concerns about the fate of fuel-saving vehicles in the US following the election of Donald Trump, Volkswagen seems to think that electric vehicles will continue to be a big seller in the market, and indeed in the wider North American market.

As a result, the brand has pledged increase investments in electric infrastructure and start local production of MEB vehicles in 2021.

Before then, though, and somewhat counter-intuitively, the plan is to continue to introduce large SUVs and big cars.

Moreover, Volkswagen wants to design its cars more like cell-phones, by developing its own digital platform and offering services. VW expects to have 80 million active users by 2025, the combined revenue from whom the brand expects to be around 1 billion Euros per year.

Finally, the brand hopes to position itself at the top end of the volume segment. Meaning it doesn’t want to make economy cars, but rather premium cars for the masses. All while still making more profit.

Read the full Transform 2025+ here.

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