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VW Deciding This Quarter on Making More EVs in U.S., CEO Says

VW Deciding This Quarter on Making More EVs in U.S., CEO Says

Volkswagen AG will decide this quarter on building more electric models in the U.S., betting the Biden administration’s support for battery-powered vehicles will help the German carmaker return to the position it held in the market half a century ago.

“We have a historic opportunity to grow our market share in the U.S.,” Chief Executive Officer Herbert Diess said in an interview with Bloomberg Television. While VW is a dominant player in China and Europe, it has missed out on opportunities in the U.S., where it was much stronger in the 1960s and 70s, he said.

VW Deciding This Quarter on Making More EVs in U.S., CEO Says

Diess, 62, said the U.S. is becoming an electrified auto market under President Joe Biden, who has proposed spending $174 billion on charging stations, rebates for consumers and other measures. While VW has slated the ID.4 sport utility vehicle for production in Chattanooga, Tennessee, beginning next year, it hasn’t identified other EV models that will be assembled in the country.

VW is reviving its hippie-era microbus as an electric model called the ID.Buzz, with production starting next year for Europe. The company has said it will also sell the vehicle in the U.S. and China.

“Many more” products will be coming to the U.S. as VW reworks its strategy for the market, Diess said. “We will do the utmost to make sure that we get back to the position we want to be as a volume manufacturer,” he said.

©2021 Bloomberg L.P.