Will Volkswagen dethrone Tesla by 2025?

KUALA LUMPUR: Tesla is the world's largest electric car manufacturer, while Volkswagen holds the second position globally. Although the companies' CEOs Elon Musk and Herbert Diess often pat each other's backs for their contribution to the EV segment, they are tightly locked in a race to become Number 1.

Back in 2021, the German auto giant revealed its plans to become the world's largest EV manufacturer by 2025. And, recently we got an update on this during the Financial Times' Future of the Car summit. 

Speaking at the summit, Diess highlighted that the company is facing a tough road ahead to reach its self-imposed target while admitting that Tesla was stronger than expected.

The company aims to get 7-8% of the group's sales from EVs this year, with a target of 25% by mid of the decade and 50-60% by 2030. However, as per Diess, the transition to EVs can't be rushed as the problem is not the customer demand but rather creating infrastructure to support their production and operation.

The transition requires a significant amount of money and time and the right facilities to be built or modified, the availability of battery production capacity, and the development of a strong, long-term supply chain, he added.

The conglomerate has recently invested in 6 battery manufacturing plants in the Old Continent, each costing around €2-3 billion. One of these facilities will be established in Spain for the supply of batteries to production lines manufacturing Volkswagen, Skoda and Cupra electric cars from 2025. Tesla, on the contrary, also commenced its first European gigafactory this year to challenge its rivals.

Let's have a look at their sales figures achieved in the first quarter of this year. Tesla sold a total of 3,10,048 units with a growth rate of almost 70%, while Volkswagen registered 99,100 units with a 65% jump. 

As per the numbers, VW is one-third of its arch-rival, so do you think it can get the electric car crown by 2025? Let us know your opinion in the comments.

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