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Electrifying Spain by creating a European Electric Vehicle Hub, building up a battery cell production and full, sustainable E-ecosystem: These are the goals of Volkswagen Group and SEAT for the Iberian Peninsula. Today, the Group declared its plan to apply to the Electric Vehicle PERTE program after the Spanish government announced to open the call for applications on April 1st, 2022. The ‘Future Fast Forward’ program would include a total investment of more than 7 billion euros together with external suppliers along the entire value chain of e-mobility. Furthermore, Volkswagen announced Valencia as the dedicated location for a new battery cell factory in Spain. All plans are still subject to final approvals, foremost the PERTE submission.

“This project is highly important – for Volkswagen, for Spain, and for the whole of Europe. It’s our ambition to electrify Spain and we are willing to invest more than seven billion euro together with external suppliers for the electrification of our Martorell and Pamplona plants and the localization of the battery value chain in Valencia", said Thomas Schmall, member of the Volkswagen AG Board of Management responsible for Technology and chairman of the SEAT S.A. Board of Directors.

“‘Future Fast Forward’ has the potential to transform the Spanish automotive industry and democratize electric mobility across Europe. The more than 7 billion euros Volkswagen Group and SEAT S.A. would mobilize for Future: Fast Forward would represent the largest industrial investment in Spanish history”, said Wayne Griffith, president of SEAT.

Gigafactory Valencia would be Volkswagen’s second location after Salzgitter and the first one outside of Germany. “In Valencia, we are planning to build up nothing less than next-generation cell production: A standardized factory, producing Volkswagen’s cutting-edge unified cell and supplied with renewable energy, enabling a sustainable battery production. It will create a strong pulling effect in the whole battery value chain in Spain and beyond”, said Schmall.

The selection process was tough and Valencia emerged as the strongest location based on more than 100 criteria such as qualified workforce, public support, good logistic connections and green energy. Volkswagen aims for a production capacity of 40 GWh annually and plans to employ more than 3,000 people in Valencia. The timeline is tight: To be ready to start production in 2026, construction of the plant should begin by the end of the year. The first milestone must be the positive outcome of the PERTE submission and finalized permits.

Thomas Schmall: “Transforming an entire industry is a huge challenge. To be competitive in the new electric world, we now have to raise productivity in our Spanish car production. And we need to qualify many of our people for new tasks, including battery development and production. This calls for a lot of flexibility by everyone and a possible change of jobs. But the important news is: The overall effect on employment will be positive – despite the faster assembly times in the electric car manufacturing. If we do it right and get the right support by the Spanish government, we will be able to create additional jobs in this transition for Spain.”

In total, Volkswagen plans to build six Gigafactories in Europe with an annual capacity of 240 GWh together with partners. The group’s demand for premium cells will be met by Northvolt in Skellefteå, Sweden. To speed up the roll-out of all further cell factories coming up for Europe, Volkswagen has founded a European corporation for cell development and manufacturing and keeps the option open to integrate partners or investors. Its center of gravity – and a blueprint for all following plants – will be the Salzgitter plant in Germany starting production in 2025.

Article source: www.volkswagen-newsroom.com

Volkswagen made good progress in its transformation into a tech company in the first year of its ACCELERATE strategy. Important milestones were achieved in 2021 with respect to the key elements of e-mobility, digitalization and new business models. At the same time, the company gave a sustained boost to efficiency in a challenging competitive environment: There was an appreciable increase in sales revenue, return and operating profit in the last fiscal year despite significantly lower unit sales.

“2021 was an extraordinary year. In an extremely demanding environment, we not only stayed on course in operating terms, but also gave our efficiency a sustained boost. Today, we are much more profitable, more crisis-resistant and more effective that we were just a year ago. At the same time, we have once more stepped up the pace of our transformation into a tech company with the ACCELERATE strategy”, Ralf Brandstätter, CEO of Volkswagen Passenger Cars, said. “In 2022, we will continue to forge ahead with our transformation and with strengthening our resilience. However, it is not possible at the present time to predict the course of the war in Ukraine and, more particularly, the impact on supply chains and the global economy as a whole. But we laid a robust basis in 2021 to master this crisis, too.”

Optimized cost structure, strict expenditure discipline, good product mix

At 4.9 million units, vehicle deliveries in a difficult competitive environment in 2021 were 8 percent lower than the previous year (2020: 5.3 million). Nevertheless, sales revenue grew 7 percent to EUR 76.1 billion (2020: EUR 71.1 billion). Operating profit before special items also grew significantly, increasing by EUR 2 billion to EUR 2.5 billion (2020: EUR 0.5 billion). The operating return on sales before special items in 2021 was 3.3 percent (2020: 0.6%), within the target corridor of 3 to 4 percent.

As a result of a restrictive expenditure policy, the overhead target was more than met in 2021. Fixed costs were over EUR 1 billion below the figure for the pre-crisis year of 2019. At the same time, Volkswagen continued to invest in the big topics of the future: Approximately every second euro invested or spent on research and development was earmarked for e-mobility. The company will be investing EUR 18 billion in e-mobility, hybridization and digitalization up to 2026.

North and South America regions return to sustained profitability

“We have consistently pursued the transformation of Volkswagen through focused investments in future projects, optimized overhead structures, and achieved a clear improvement in earnings quality through attractive products and a good product mix. Together with the turnaround in the regions we further strengthened the resilience of Volkswagen in 2021”, Volkswagen CFO Alexander Seitz commented.

In 2021, sales revenue and result in the two regions of North and South America were significantly above the level of the previous year, and the regions returned to profitability for the first time in several years. “In North and South America, we have consistently aligned the product portfolio to local market requirements, lowered fixed costs and adjusted local production. The regions have now achieved sustained profitability and have a strong plan for the future to further improve their competitiveness in the coming years”, Ralf Brandstätter said.

Important milestones in e-mobility and digitalization

With the ACCELERATE strategy launched last year, Volkswagen is not only strengthening its competitiveness, but also accelerating the ramp up for e-mobility and digitalization.

In the 2021 fiscal year, the company delivered more electric vehicles worldwide than ever before: In total, more than 369,000 electric vehicles (+73 %) – of which some 106,000 were PHEVs (+33 %) and 263,000 were all-electric vehicles (+97 %) – were delivered to customers. Volkswagen therefore doubled BEV deliveries compared with the previous year. Three new electric models were launched in 2021: The ID.4 and the ID.5 – both featuring a top-of-the-range GTX model – and the ID.6 in China. 2022 already saw the debut of the ID. Buzz a few weeks ago. Advance sales start in May, delivery of the first models is scheduled for the fall.

Production capacities are being systematically expanded in response to fast-growing demand. Following the conversion of the Zwickau plant into a dedicated electric vehicle production facility, three further plants – in Emden, Hanover and Chattanooga (USA) – begin building electric vehicles in 2022.

The company also reached important milestones in digitalization: In 2021, Volkswagen became the first volume car manufacturer to offer over-the-air (OTA) updates. More than 100,000 software updates have already been installed in customers’ vehicles in Europe. OTA will also be launched in the major markets of the USA and China before the end of this year. The company is thus laying the international groundwork for new business models such as on-demand functions – additional services that customers can book.

Volkswagen is improving the customer experience with the new ID. 3.1 software for all vehicles in the ID. family. The new software generation will debut in the ID.5 and the ID. Buzz and will be made available successively to all ID. customers. It shortens charging times, enhances comfort and optimizes operation.

Wolfsburg becomes development trailblazer – and gathers even more speed

Under ACCELERATE, Volkswagen is also driving ahead with the transformation of the main plant in Wolfsburg. The plant will begin building the first all-electric model, the ID.3, in 2023. Production of a second electric model, the Trinity, will commence in 2026. This model has a much shorter charging time and a range of over 700 kilometers. It is equipped with the Group’s state-of-the-art software and is technically ready for automatically driving, Level 4. The foundation is the Group’s new SSP platform that will be developed by Volkswagen in Wolfsburg.

Volkswagen plans to invest some EUR 2 billion in a dedicated production facility built close to the main plant. Moreover, an additional EUR 800 million is to be spent on a new development center at the site. Called Campus Sandkamp, this is where the new SSP electric platform and Trinity will be developed with a view to significantly accelerating development and production and setting new benchmarks. Going forward, the goal is to cut development time by 25 percent, with vehicle projects being completed in 40 months rather than 54 months as in the past.

Outlook for 2022: Higher sales revenue, earnings and electric vehicle deliveries

Volkswagen plans to significantly increase deliveries of all-electric vehicles in the current fiscal year. This will be helped by the improved availability of semiconductors expected for the second half of 2022 at the latest. Furthermore, Volkswagen expects to see an increase in the operating profit, sales revenue and the return on sales. “We confirm our goal of a 6 percent return on sales in 2023. We will set the next milestones for achieving that goal in 2022”, Volkswagen CFO Alexander Seitz said.

However, this guidance is subject to the further development of the war in Ukraine and in particular the impact on the Group’s supply chains and the global economy as a whole. At the time of preparing this outlook, there is a risk that the latest developments in the war in Ukraine will have a negative impact on the business of Volkswagen Passenger Cars.

Article source: www.volkswagen-newsroom.com

Compact on the outside, spacious on the inside: ID. Buzz and ID. Buzz Cargo – whether you choose the bus or cargo version, both models utilise the space extraordinarily well thanks to the space-saving MEB concept. The five-seater ID. Buzz provides space for 1,121 litres of luggage even with all passengers on board. The maximum storage volume of the ID. Buzz Cargo, equipped with a partition behind the first row of seats, also amounts to more than 3.9 m3.

Two-tone, with plenty attention to detail. The ID. Buzz will be available in seven single colour options and four two-tone colour schemes. This combination of white and fresh colours is carried through to the interior, which incorporates style elements from the T1 generation and transfers them to the current era of electric mobility. The colours correspond to the exterior paintwork and are optionally reflected in the seat cushions, dash panel and door trim. Background lighting (optionally available with up to 30 colours) provides atmospheric accents. The attention to detail in the new model is also evident in a number of individual ID. Buzz motifs that decorate the interior in various places. Most of them are only discovered at second glance – even functional and intelligent features such as a bottle opener and an ice scraper can be found here.

Sustainable in all dimensions. The addition of the new ID. Buzz to the ID. family is another key step towards fully electrified mobility. This development is driven not only by stricter emission values but also by an increasing awareness of the environment and sustainability. Volkswagen is therefore committed to a holistic concept and transparency along the entire value chain. By 2030, it is aiming to cut carbon emissions in Europe per vehicle by 40 per cent and, following its Way to Zero, the company plans to be climate neutral by 2050 at the latest. At the heart of the Way to Zero is the expedited ramp-up of the electric mobility campaign under the new brand strategy ACCELERATE. By 2030, the brand aims to increase the share of all-electric models in total vehicle sales to at least 70 per cent in Europe and to at least 50 percent in North America and China.

The ID. Buzz and ID. Buzz Cargo additionally also fully reflect Volkswagen’s understanding of holistic sustainability. With the consistent use of appropriate materials, for example. Here, Volkswagen has implemented a package of technologies and processes to ensure that the two models are among the most sustainable product lines worldwide. Leather and other materials of animal origin do not feature at all and are replaced with substitute materials with similar properties and feel. The steering wheel rim is made of polyurethane but it has the same high-quality look as leather and a similar feel. The seat covers, floor coverings and headliner in the ID. Buzz are made using recyclates – materials made from recycled products. One fabric will be made of SEAQUAL® yarn, for example. Its threads consist of approx. 10 per cent marine plastic and approx. 90 per cent PES (recycled PET bottles). This allows a saving of 32% carbon emissions compared to similar products. The ArtVelours ECO upholstery used by the Group in the ID. Buzz for the first time also comprises 71% recyclates.

Article source: www.volkswagen-newsroom.com

The Volkswagen Group has received the news about the war in Ukraine with great dismay and shock. Volkswagen continues to hope for a cessation of hostilities and a return to diplomacy. We are convinced that a sustainable solution to the conflict can only be found on the basis of international law.

Against the background of the Russian attack on Ukraine and the resulting consequences, the Group Board of Management of Volkswagen AG has decided to stop the production of vehicles in Russia until further notice. This decision applies to the Russian production sites in Kaluga and Nizhny Novgorod.

Vehicle exports to Russia will also be stopped with immediate effect.

With the extensive interruption of business activities in Russia, the Executive Board is reviewing the consequences from the overall situation, during this period of great uncertainty and upheaval.

Article source: www.volkswagen-newsroom.com