The CEO of Volkswagen said that by 2025, the German carmaker will surpass Tesla and become the world's largest seller of electric vehicles. At the world economic forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Tuesday, Volkswagen CEO Herbert diess said in an interview with CNBC that alleviating supply chain problems could help create some momentum for Europe's largest carmaker in the coming months.
When asked why investors value Tesla higher than other traditional carmakers such as Volkswagen, diess said that the market is always about the future:
Tesla is currently in a leading position in the field of electric vehicles, and may already be the most digital automotive company. They have some advantages.
In terms of sales volume, our goal is still to keep catching up and possibly surpass them by 2025.
Diess said that Tesla demonstrated good performance and high return with its reliable business model. However, he reiterated his confidence that Volkswagen could quickly narrow the gap in electric vehicle sales:
I think the current upgrade may be more challenging for Tesla. They are opening a new factory and we are trying to keep up with them.
We believe that in the second half of this year, we will bring some strong momentum.
Arno antlitz, VW's chief financial officer, is also very confident. At the beginning of this month, he said he still believed that Volkswagen's electric vehicle business would accelerate its development. "From our current level, we expect the sales volume and share of electric vehicles to continue to grow in each quarter of 2022."
In more than two years of the epidemic, the automotive industry is still struggling to meet the challenges of obtaining key parts and manufacturing enough vehicles to meet demand.
The shortage of key supplies, especially in battery production, is expected to be a continuous constraint on the growth of electric vehicle sales in the coming years.
Nevertheless, diess said, we still see some positive signs. He expects the chip supply market to ease from the middle of this year.
"What I want to say is that we will see this situation ease in the middle of the year and we should see an improvement in the situation. I don't think it will get worse," diess said
When asked whether this meant that he expected the chip crisis to end in the second half of this year, diess replied: "I won't say it's over, but we see a great improvement in the situation. I think the supply chain is returning to normal."