Volkswagen to introduce over 30 electric-powered vehicles by 2025

Volkswagen CEO Matthias Mueller said on Thursday the company planned to introduce over 30 electric-powered vehicles by 2025, and sell 2 to 3 million of them a year. Volkswagen intends to offer more electric vehicles as it charts a recovery course following the scandal over diesel cars rigged to cheat on emissions tests.

The electric campaign is an element of a wide-ranging review of the company's strategy that also included boosting profitability, investing in new ways of getting around that did not necessarily involve owning a car, and making the company's management more open and trustworthy.

To support that ambitious plan, the company wanted to build on its in-house expertise in battery technology. According to commentators, improving battery range would emerge as a key factor in getting more people to buy electric cars.

Mueller's announcement came as he unveiled the results of a top-to-bottom review triggered by the scandal hit the company in September 2015 and dubbed ''Together - Strategy 2025.''

Under the new plan the company will focus on digital mobility, which could include things like ride-sharing or car-sharing based on smartphone apps, for instance.

The company also set a goal to boost  profitability and control costs.

According to Volkswagen, battery-powered vehicles could account for as much as 25 per cent of total sales - 3 million vehicles a year - within a decade, up from the near zero level now. It also announced cuts to research and development.

Cost-cutting is an important component of the plan, but thanks to the powerful voice that labour has at Volkswagen, major cuts to the company's huge work force are taboo.

Also the diesel deception, in which the company admitted to rigging 11 million vehicles worldwide to cheat on emissions tests, would continue to dog the company.

Volkswagen continues to talk with lawyers for its US customers about how much it must compensate them for manipulating emissions tests.

A court deadline for outlining terms of the settlement was yesterday extended to 28 June.