All the electric news from Volkswagen
End of a turbulent year for Blume, who is reviewing expenditure items, investments and projects inherited from Diess (which will end up in Infineon). Here are Volkswagen's moves for electric mobility
Oliver Blume , who arrived at the top of Volkswagen after the defenestration of Herbert Diess (who did not remain unemployed for long, having been a candidate to assume the presidency of the supervisory board of Infineon, a German multinational active in semiconductors and one of the main suppliers in the world of chips and microelectronic devices for the automotive industry), starts from the electric.
After all, Porsche's number 1 must reassure investors, given that several of his past statements do not place him among the avid fans of EV mobility and for some, the changeover would have marked a sudden stop for the Group which instead with Diess had raced with conviction to produce large quantities of battery-powered cars (also, needless to deny it, to make the world forget the dieselgate scandal).
THE NARROW (BUT ELECTRIC) STREET OF BLUME
In reality, the road to Blume remains narrow: the investments for the ecological transition and the passage from endothermic engines to electric cars will have to be confirmed, however the plans must be completely rewritten, both because some projects in the meantime have aged prematurely, and because on the software side the the Wolfsburg brand must get out of the impasse that has repeatedly led it to mess with autonomous driving, both because continuing on the same path as Diess would mean taking into account thousands of redundancies and, therefore, antagonizing the trade unions (which led to Diess' dismissal ).
REORGANIZATION STARTED
On the Design front, the reorganization involves the appointment of Michael Mauer as Head of Group Design, replacing Klaus Zyciora . Michael Neumayer will replace Frank Welsch as head of the Quality Management division, while retaining his role as Head of Quality at Audi.
The tripartite division decided by Blume to reorganize the organizational chart and optimize expenses envisages that production and procurement refer to Volkswagen, sales and quality to Audi and design and development to Porsche.
THE CARIAD REBOOT
On the software front, meeting with investors, Blume admitted that the internal software house represented “one of the most pressing problems to be addressed in recent months” and added: “We are examining what key competencies we have internally and reviewing where partnerships are significant. We have redefined the interfaces with our brands and are optimizing processes and tools”.
SOMETHING IS MOVING EAST…
Volkswagen, irritated by the Western stalemate, has decided to bet on the Eastern software houses by putting a few billions into the startup Horizon Robotics , as reported by the German economic publications Handelsblatt and Manager Magazin .
The House of Wolfsburg, moreover, makes about 40% of sales and half of the profits in China. The decision to carry out research and development for vehicle technology in the country is not surprising, given that the Asian district is considered a more advanced market in terms of digital innovation than Europe and the United States also due to the huge investments government initiatives aimed at factories that do R&D and universities that incubate startups.
The company led by Oliver Blume also manages numerous joint ventures in the Asian country, holding a 75% stake in its venture with JAC, 50% with SAIC and 40% with FAW.
THE SPANISH PLANS
In the coming months, the foundation stone of the factory in Sagunto, Spain will be laid. In fact, although Volkswagen is also looking to Eastern Europe for its gigafactories, it will continue to focus on the Iberian peninsula, driven by the strong incentives put in place by the Spanish government with funds from the local PNRR.
Seat has started the conversion of the El Prat de Llobregat plant with the aim of making it the main hub for electric mobility: five projects will be developed in Barcelona for the production of components intended for the small family on tap according to the plans of the parent company Volkswagen within the framework of the 10 billion euro business plan “Future: Fast Forward”. Among the electric cars in development, the Cupra Urban Rebel is expected, but not confirmed.
VW ASKS FOR SUBSIDIES FROM THE EU AGAINST BIDEN'S IRA
While the company continues to clamor for subsidies from the German and EU governments to counter Joe Biden 's Inflation Reduction Act and China's unrestrained competition (here is the long post that Thomas Schäfer , number 1 of the main vehicle manufacturer of the Old Continent, he entrusted a few days ago to the Internet, precisely to LinkedIn), Blume is therefore reviewing the assigned projects, trying to remain within the limits of the unchanged capital.
CAPITAL MARKETS DAY 2023
In short, the end of 2022 is quite turbulent in Wolfsburg. Blume is making his revolution in an attempt to correct the course traced by his predecessor, an operation that involves almost every aspect of the company and every division.
The bowls will hardly stop before the next "Capital markets day", i.e. the new meeting with the financial community, announced for the second quarter of the year. On that date, the plans for the new number 1 will be announced in their entirety and it will be possible to understand what remains of the work of Herbert Diess.
INVESTMENTS FOR MEB+
We know, for example, that the modular architecture developed for the electric range of the German group and which made its debut three years ago with the Volkswagen ID.3 is preparing for a profound evolution: Meb will become Meb+.
The main innovations will concern greater storage capacity, increased autonomy and of course faster charging times.
However, it remains to be seen whether the new platform will address the issue of compatibility of automated driving systems, given that at the moment VW still seems half done. In short, it is easy to decide to postpone everything to a future platform.
OBJECTIVE: DO NOT LOSE THE CHALLENGE WITH TESLA
Meb+ will in fact be compatible with the new generation of Volkswagen unit cell batteries which, allowing a declared range of up to 700 kilometres, will allow German electric cars to make the leap into the new generation, remaining competitive above all against Tesla, which by now produces electric cars right in Germany, in the new gigafactory on the outskirts of Berlin. Furthermore, the Meb+ will also significantly improve charge times, with charge speeds of 175–200 kW possible in the future.
At the moment it is only known that the model range based on the MEB will include ten new electric Volkswagen models by 2026, among which an entry-level model stands out for around 25,000 euros and new cars are also planned in the performance and premium segments.
The introduction of the Meb+ platform does not seem to have an impact on the arrival times of the new Ssp platform, already announced by the Volkswagen Group. In a meeting with shareholders, Blume confirmed the adoption of the Scalable Systems Platform for all brands by the end of the decade.
GOLF AND TIGUAN GET ELECTRIC
Then of course there is the Golf chapter which, as expected, will enjoy a new battery-powered future. The German newspaper Handelsblatt had announced it unofficially and the delegate of the Volkswagen group, Oliver Blume, confirmed it.
"The Volkswagen brand is currently evaluating how to bring icons such as the Golf or the Tiguan into the electric future", said the manager during the shareholders' meeting in which, moreover, the distribution of an extraordinary maxi dividend of almost 9.6 was approved. billion euros thanks to the proceeds from the stock market listing of Porsche.
WHAT ABOUT THE AGREEMENT WITH FOXCONN?
At the end of November, the Energia Oltre agency had reported on a possible joint venture between Volkswagen and Foxconn with reference to the desire to dust off the Scout. The news according to which the Germans would be interested in showing off a vehicle that falls within the category not only of battery-powered box bodies but also of the so-called "rugged SUVs (RUV)" was anticipated at the beginning of the summer by the Wall Street Journal according to which VW should invest up to 1 billion dollars, of which 100 million to create an ad hoc company, complete with its own independent management structure, with the target of 250,000 sales per year starting from 2026 in a dedicated production structure and on the basis of a platform specially developed for pickups and RUVs.
During the shareholders' meeting Blume mentioned the Scout relaunch project, but did not confirm the rumors about a possible production agreement with Foxconn, as announced by Automotive News , according to which the operation would be the result of a joint venture with the Taiwan giant known above all for the production of iPhones and these days at the center of the news for the demonstrations in China against the "zero Covid" policy decided by the regime.
Other unconfirmed rumors, it is fair to report it for the record, had instead indicated as a possible partner Magna Steyr Fahrzeugtechnik AG & Co KG, an automotive industry based in Oberwaltersdorf in Austria. But the Asian giant is undoubtedly more functional in the production of increasingly smart cars hungry for technology and, above all, semiconductors.
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/smartcity/tutte-le-novita-elettriche-di-casa-volkswagen/ on Mon, 19 Dec 2022 12:04:58 +0000.