In a recent interview, VW Group CEO Herbert Diess stated that his company is not afraid to challenge Tesla, despite the latter recently surging past $100 billion in market value, exceeding the German brand.
So while Tesla is still top dog as far as electric cars are concerned, VW is in the process of buying software companies and increasing investments in sustainable vehicles and battery cells, as reported by Autonews Europe.
“It’s an open race,” said Diess. “We are quite optimistic that we still can keep the pace with Tesla and also at some stage probably overtake. The company which adopts fastest and is most innovative but also which has enough scale in the new world will make the race.”
The VW brand has already begun building its first-ever mass market EV in Germany in the shape of the ID3 – a compact hatchback that’s meant to rival Tesla’s Model 3.
Meanwhile, Diess stated that he was concerned with more than just Tesla, after attending a dinner with U.S. president Donald Trump last week. While the meeting was described as “positive,” the threat of U.S. tariffs on European carmakers still exists, said the VW boss.
“It’s very difficult to read President Trump but he stated that he’s still not happy with Europe. We’re doing what we can to avoid tariffs.”
As for the company’s more immediate future, Diess knows that VW will need to sell more sustainable cars or risk heavy penalties due to Europe’s new fleet emission targets.
“2020 for the auto industry will be a very difficult year, but we’re doing the right things to be competitive.”
