Models deleted?
The Volkswagen Group will reveal revised future plans next month. Some of that is coming out now. More attention is being paid to electric driving and the model range will probably be changed.
Volkswagen will invest more in electric cars and software over the next five years. This has been announced by the supervisory board of the car group without giving details. They will not come until the announcement of the financial results in mid-March. The Supervisory Board wants “a clear roadmap for software and platforms” to be able to do more with digitization and electric mobility.
Furthermore, Volkswagen must improve profitability. This should be done by focusing more on ‘the most attractive areas in terms of profit’. This almost certainly means that Volkswagen will focus more on models with a high margin. We already see this happening at various brands, such as Mercedes-Benz. You should therefore be careful to expect that the supply in the lower segments will thin out somewhat. Although the Golf is still allowed to continue, it may be done for the Polo after this generation and possibly also cars such as the Skoda Fabia and Seat Ibiza.
Planning talks at Volkswagen are normally held in November, but there were problems at software branch Cariad. That daughter, who has to develop its own software for cars, had to deal with expensive delays. CEO Oliver Blume therefore decided to put things in order first. He wants to revise the strategic plans of his predecessor Herbert Diess and set more binding goals.
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– Thanks for information from Autoweek.nl