VW CEO Now Weary Of Higher Than Expected Electric Car Costs

While VW originally set aside roughly 20 billion euros ($23 billion) for their shift to battery power, it would seem that in reality, building electrified versions of each of their models will cost more than they originally thought.

In order to get there, the German automaker will need to further reduce their expenses and become even more efficient moving forward. While acknowledging this issue, CEO Herbert Diess failed to provide a new price figure, reports Autonews.

“The burden for our company, such as the cost of bringing to market electric cars, will be higher than expected,” said Diess in a joint interview with labor boss Bernd Osterloh in VW’s internal newsletter. “This is particularly so since some of our competitors have been making more progress.”

The VW Group is looking to launch as many as 80 new electric vehicles across all of its brands (VW, Audi, Porsche, Skoda, Seat) by the year 2025, while also offering an electrified version for each of its models by 2030.

Since 2016, the group has increased profitability for its namesake brand, which is responsible for over a third of revenues – sales up to 4.1% last year, from 1.8%.

“We need higher profits to finance our future,” added Diess. “Four percent is a minimum, 5 percent to 6 percent allow for some future investments and with 7 percent to 8 percent we’re crisis-ready.”

VW is aiming for an operating profit goal of 8% by 2025 for the entire group, and at least 6% for the VW brand over the same 7 year period.