He didn’t waste a single second. As he began his duties as CEO of the Volkswagen Group, Oliver Blume, former CEO of Porsche, presented his priority: to strengthen the efforts of this global automotive giant to transition to electric vehicles.

In fact, the German company had not waited for his arrival to move forward in this area. Thus, as our colleagues point out by Electrek, Volkswagen ranks first in investments in electric vehicles and batteries. And while demand explodes on the market, there is no question of relaxing its efforts.

Tesla vs. Volkswagen: the battle for electric vehicles is on

Internally, Oliver Blume explained: “ I’m a fan of e-mobility and I’m sticking to this path…we’ll maintain the current pace and, if possible, increase it. To walk the talk, the new CEO presented a specific ten-point plan to Volkswagen executives. Objective: continue to accelerate in this area by focusing on the main markets: Europe, China, North America. The idea is also to reduce costs to increase group profits.

In this sector, the battle promises to be very tough between Volkswagen and Tesla. Elon Musk’s company continues to increase its production rates thanks to its gigafactory. Selling prices are also increasingly attractive, although still very high for most buyers.

These two giants will also have to keep an eye on their Chinese rivals who display very high ambitions. The Middle Empire already benefits from the critical size of its market, which gives it an undeniable competitive advantage. If the sales figures in Europe remain quite modest, they are increasing. The BYD group notably hopes to sell one million vehicles in 2025 on the old continent.

However, a major challenge remains for these Chinese groups: to become as desirable in the eyes of consumers as their German and American rivals.