While Volkswagen is developing a comprehensive range of electric models to launch after 2020, the company says it will remain committed to petrol and diesel engines in the coming decades.
During discussions with Autocar at the Paris Auto Show, the German company’s chief executive Matthias Muller said that for the next 20 years, traditional powertrains will remain important.
“The future is electric. Nevertheless, classic powertrains will continue to play a key role for the next two decades at least.
“Regardless of all the new opportunities and possibilities the mobility world of tomorrow opens up for us, we must not neglect our existing technologies and core competences,” Muller confirmed.
Muller believes that the company’s ongoing diesel emissions scandal will mark a pivotal moment in its history, hence its ambitious plans to launch 30 electric models in the coming decade.
Evidently though, it is aware of the ongoing demand for petrol and diesel cars and isn’t willing to rapidly pull them from its range in the hope that customers will instantly begin opting for all-electric vehicles. After all, the take-up of electric vehicles has only been growing slowly over the past few years and is still decades away from dominating the industry.
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