Volkswagen is looking forward to investing almost equally in new BEVs and gasoline-powered vehicles in order to have a balanced product portfolio in India over the long term.

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Volkswagen is considering launching a new electric vehicle in the second half of this decade.

Electric vehicles (EV) have gained prominence in India earlier than expected and almost every automaker is planning to introduce some form of battery electric vehicle (BEV) into its product range. German brands are among the flag bearers of the EV Advent in India. We have seen both Mercedes-Benz and Audi have been quite active in the luxury electric vehicle space lately and now even Volkswagen is considering investing in a mass market BEV for our market. In fact, the German brand is looking forward to investing almost equally in new BEVs and gasoline-powered vehicles in order to have a balanced product portfolio in India over the long term.

Also read: Exclusive: Volkswagen is offering over 10,000 pre-orders for Taigun

In an interview with Siddharth Vinayak Patankar, Editor-in-Chief of carandbike on the lastest Freewheeling with SVP webisode, Klaus Zellmer, Member of the Board of Management for Sales, Marketing and After Sales-Volkswagen said: “We are transforming the Volkswagen brand into an electrification of the line-up. We come for everything at once, we cannot build the platform for electrification and at the same time expand our complexity of the ICE (Internal Combustion Engine) variants. We have to reduce that in order to be able to invest in a battery without increasing costs in an electric vehicle (BEV). Then in the second half of this decade we will also offer something in India. “

Also read: Volkswagen could topple Tesla as the world’s leading supplier of electric vehicles by 2025

Volkswagen is expected to present a new model based on the ID Life concept.

The MQB-A0 platform is the basis of the India 2.0 strategy of Skoda Auto and Volkswagen, and we already know that after Skoda Kushaq and Volkswagen Taigun, compact sedan derivatives of both brands are expected to emerge on the same platform. Now we normally expect every brand in our market to add newer models in the SUV area on the platform, but the German has indicated that instead of investing in BEVs for India instead of different cylinders (body structure) from ICE models, as it is important is getting the right product at a reasonable price in a critical market like ours. “India is on the right track with the government’s FAME program and it will accelerate. I think the turning point of BEV in India will be later than Europe. And of course we need a real BEV product for India, ”added Zellmer.

Also read: IAA Munich 2021: Volkswagen ID. Life Concept celebrates world premiere

Larger models in the ID range can come onto the market later.

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Zellmer also indicated that a new model based on the Volkswagen ID Life concept recently considered at the Munich International Motor Show could give way to India, followed by the larger models in the ID range. The company is aiming for zero emissions by 2050 and expects 70 percent of its total volume to come from electric vehicles by 2030.

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