Volkswagen plans to invest 180 billion euros ($193 billion) over five years in areas including battery production and the sourcing of raw materials in a bid to cut electric vehicle costs and protect its market share.
Over two-thirds of the company’s five-year investment budget is allocated to electrification and digitalization, including up to 15 billion ($16 billion) for batteries and raw materials.
With markets in turmoil over the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank, Chief Financial Officer Arno Antlitz told analysts, however, that the company could postpone some battery investments if the market did not grow as expected. “The overall target is having at all times solid financials,” Antlitz said.
On Monday, board member Thomas Schmall (in the photo) also announced that Volkswagen’s first North American battery cell factory would be in Canada, with production starting in 2027. He said the carmaker’s needs were covered in Europe by the three plants already in the works, and that it was in no rush to pick new sites.
Volkswagen (VLKAF), Europe’s top carmaker, is working to close a gap with electric vehicle (EV) pioneer Tesla (TSLA) by expanding its slice of the growing market for battery-powered cars.
The carmaker is still aiming to bring an affordable EV — costing around 25,000 euros ($26,795) at today’s prices — to market by 2025.
Antlitz said he hoped that by then the company would have struck enough raw material sourcing deals and expanded battery production to bring down EV costs, 40% of which stem from the cost of the battery.
The carmaker said it was finalizing high-performance software for its premium and luxury brands, which could in the medium term be applied across the company, in an attempt to improve operations at its software unit Cariad.
The unit set up under former CEO Herbert Diess has gone over budget and fallen behind on its goals, suffering an operating loss of 2.1 billion euros ($2.3 billion) in 2022, according to the carmaker’s annual report released on Tuesday.
In its results release Tuesday, Volkswagen met analysts’ expectations on 2022 revenues but missed the consensus estimate for earnings before interest and taxes.
The company’s latest investment decisions are targeted at fulfilling a 10-point plan developed by Volkswagen CEO Oliver Blume after he took the helm in September.