At Volkswagen’s brand strategy press conference today they announced they’re accelerating its transformation into a software-driven mobility provider. They rolled out their new ACCELERATE strategy where the company will systematically prepare for the profound changes in the automotive industry in good time.
Just as Volkswagen resolutely led the way with its global electric offensive, now it is also accelerating the other big issues of the future. The integration of software into the vehicle and the digital customer experience will become core for the German automaker.
In implementing data-based business models, the company is seeking to attract new groups of customers and tap additional sources of income. Volkswagen will also make autonomous driving available to many people before the end of the decade.
Ralf Brandstätter, CEO of Volkswagen, said: “E-mobility was just the beginning. The real disruption has yet to come. With our strategy we will ACCELERATE towards the digital future. In the coming years, we will change Volkswagen as never before.”
Along with moves in software and autonomous driving, Volkswagen plans to rapidly accelerate the global e-campaign once again. By 2030 the brand will increase its market share to over 70 percent of deliveries of all-electric cars in Europe. This is double the previous planning target of 35 percent. In the United States and China, the brand is targeting an electric vehicle market share of over 50 percent in the same period.
To achieve this, Volkswagen will bring out at least one new battery electric vehicle (BEV) model every year. The all-wheel-drive ID.4 GTX1 will kick things off in the first half of 2021, followed by the sporty ID.51 in the second half of the year. The ID.6 X/Cross1, a seven-seater electric sports utility vehicle (SUV) for the Chinese market, will be launched in autumn. Plans for an electric car under the ID.32, with an entry-level price starting at €20,000 (£17,300/$23,860), are pushed up by two years to 2025.
Volkswagen will continuously optimise the Modular Electric Drive Toolkit (MEB) with improvements in acceleration, charging capacity and range. They will also play to their strengths as a platform champion in the next generation of a high-performance all-electric drive toolkit for flat vehicles – the Scalable Systems Platform. This will be deployed in 2026 for the first time in Volkswagen’s flagship project called Trinity.
This is all positive news for the electric car market and the end consumer. It means there will be a wider choice to suit all budgets and needs. Add to this, higher performance levels and more affordable models, it will make it driving electric easier than ever before.
Brandstätter continued: “We are stepping up the pace. In the coming years, we will change Volkswagen as never before. Now, with ACCELERATE we will give the brand’s digitalisation a further push.”
