Volkswagen is aiming to dominate the market for green cars as it looks launch a new generation of hybrid and electric cars, the company announced.
The firm’s chief executive said yesterday (July 19) that he expects that low carbon cars will account for three per cent of the carmaker’s sales by 2018. Martin Winterkorn made the announcement as he showed reporters around the firm’s research laboratory in Palo Alto, California.
“Our goal is clear and ambitious,” he told The Telegraph, “Volkswagen will be the automaker to mass produce the electric car for everyone.”
The carmaker, Europe’s biggest producer of cars, will launch an all-electric vehicle in the US by 2013 under the new plans. The electric car is likely to be based on the current prototype E-Up! and will be a small city car. The carmaker is also trialling a fleet of electric Golfs and will likewise consider launching a full production model. Additionally a petrol-electric hybrid version of the carmaker’s Touareg sports utility vehicle will go on sale later this year, followed by a Jetta hybrid in 2011. By 2012, Passat and Golf hybrids will also be available.
Volkswagen spends around 5 billion euros (£4.25bn) a year on research and development of such new cars and technologies.
Competition to dominate the market for electric cars will be tough however as just this morning, Honda revealed its plans for electric and hybrid cars (see story). Meanwhile Nissan is ahead of both, with a full electric vehicle, the Leaf set to retail in the US from this year. Toyota too is steaming ahead with plans to introduce plug-in hybrids and full electric cars after the Japanese carmaker took a stake in the electric carmaker, Tesla in May.
