Jun 2, 2024
Germany’s Scholz Lauds VW’s Move Into Cheap EVs As ‘Very Good’
Bloomberg News
,![A Volkswagen ID.4 electric vehicle (EV) during the 2024 New York International Auto Show (NYIAS) in New York, US, on Thursday, March 28, 2024. The event, which first opened in November 1900, is North America's oldest and largest attended auto show. Photographer: Bing Guan/Bloomberg, Bloomberg A Volkswagen ID.4 electric vehicle (EV) during the 2024 New York International Auto Show (NYIAS) in New York, US, on Thursday, March 28, 2024. The event, which first opened in November 1900, is North America's oldest and largest attended auto show. Photographer: Bing Guan/Bloomberg](/polopoly_fs/1.2080099.1717399404!/fileimage/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_620/a-volkswagen-id-4-electric-vehicle-ev-during-the-2024-new-york-international-auto-show-nyias-in-new-york-us-on-thursday-march-28-2024-the-event-which-first-opened-in-november-1900-is-north-america-s-oldest-and-largest-attended-auto-show-photographer-bing-guan-bloomberg.jpg)
(Bloomberg) -- German Chancellor Olaf Scholz praised the move by Volkswagen AG to develop electric cars to be priced in Europe from €20,000 ($21,696) as “very good.”
“We are the country with the most powerful car industry in the world, and we want to remain a global player,” Scholz said at the East German Economic Forum in Bad Saarow near Berlin on Sunday.
“When I look at patent developments in the German automotive industry, including in the area of e-mobility, I am confident that we will succeed,” Scholz added.
Volkswagen last week announced it will develop affordable compact EVs, to be unveiled in 2027, amid a push by Chinese competitors to enter the region with cheaper models.
Read more: VW to Build €20,000 EVs On Its Own, Forgoing Partnerships
The Wolfsburg-based carmaker brushed aside offers to partner in the development of the new cars with a plan to go it alone.
Europe’s carmakers are under pressure to update their lineups as slow economic growth and waning subsidies hurt demand for EVs. Germany trails in its goal to reach 15 million electric cars by 2030, with only 1.4 million registered at the start of this year.
Read more: Volkswagen CEO Faces Investor Calls to Sharpen EV Strategy
The majority of the EVs currently sold are company cars, yet “there is also the desire of others to buy new cars, which is not possible in all price categories,” Scholz said.
Germany’s auto industry already has “first-class world-class products,” he added, “and new ones will be added this year and next.”
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