Volkswagen Says EVs 'Key Part' of Its Future (If History Doesn't Repeat Itself)

Aaron Cole
by Aaron Cole

A Volkswagen of America spokesman said Tuesday that electric, plug-in hybrid and hybrid cars would be a “key part” of the automaker’s research and development strategy after CEO Matthias Müller told 20,000 workers in Wolfsburg that it would postpone or cancel other projects that weren’t critical to sales.

“Electrification, whether full EV, PHEV, or HEV, is a key part of our strategy long term in order to meet worldwide (greenhouse gas) targets,” a Volkswagen spokesman told TTAC on Tuesday.

In 2014, Volkswagen spent $13.5 billion on research and development — more than any other company in all sectors. However, that budget could be severely restricted as the automaker prepares to pay billions for software that cheated emissions tests.

Volkswagen could be looking for ways to not repeat history, when a 1960s lawsuit from Tatra crippled development well into the 1980s.

A lawsuit by Tatra over claims that Volkswagen copied its 1936 T97 for the German automaker’s Beetle that was made two years later, which was eventually settled for 3 million German Marks in 1961, could be a roadmap for Volkswagen today. (Most sources say VW settled the suit in 1961 for 3 million Marks, however one Wikipedia entry says it was settled in 1965 for 1 million Marks.)

The blow to Volkswagen’s research budget was measurable, according to Vintage Volkswagen Club of America Historian Heinz Schneider.

Volkswagen built the Beetle well into the 1970s, well after sales lagged, “because they didn’t know anything else to build,” Schneider said. “The Tatra lawsuit didn’t leave them much to spend on research.”

Volkswagen’s first water-cooled car was the rebadged NSU K70, a car that largely failed, according to Schneider. Volkswagen purchased NSU in 1969 and sold the rebadged water-cooled car for five years. Volkswagen fitted its Passat with a water-cooled Audi engine in 1972, but Volkswagen continued to produce air-cooled cars well into the 1980s, which didn’t do the automaker any favors.

Volkswagen sales sank during the 1970s and 1980s until its Golf gained traction with more buyers, Schneider said.

“It was the Golf that really saved them,” he said.

Schneider, who said he’s written more than 1,000 stories on Volkswagen’s history, said it would be difficult for the automaker to overcome its most-recent scandal.

“They could probably be wiped out,” he said. “I don’t know if they’re going to survive this.”

(H/T to Murilee Martin who’s written extensively about VW’s malaise-era cars.)

Aaron Cole
Aaron Cole

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  • SCE to AUX SCE to AUX on Oct 06, 2015

    VW could start by offering the e-Golf in all 50 states. Reviews of that vehicle are very good. Even so, it's only sold 2555 copies in the US through September, which is about the same quantity as Tesla sells in 3 weeks.

    • See 2 previous
    • Mfennell Mfennell on Oct 07, 2015

      I leased an e-golf SEL this past Saturday. It's surprisingly nice and extremely normal. No video game gauge cluster. Even the battery level gauge is analog! Quick to 40, slow after that. Cruises easily at 75mph. Handles pretty well (it gets the independent rear suspension). Infotainment system sucks. Uses a heat pump for heat which I found gives heat instantly and is pretty efficient. It has 5 levels of regen from None to Drive-with-1-pedal. In the highest level it triggers the brake lights when you're slowing down quickly (maybe in the 2nd strongest level too - haven't noticed). It looks like I could just about hit 100 miles with my normal driving distribution of 25% at 70mph and the balance on 25-50 typical suburban roads. My typical day is 25-40 miles though, so it works perfectly for me.

  • Vega Vega on Oct 07, 2015

    That historian is clueless. Does he really believe a one-time DM 3m fine in 1961 had any impact on VW R&D spending way into the 70s? Just for reference, in 1961 alone VW had over 4bn DM in sales and a profit of 72m DM. Ridiculous. Some historian.

    • See 1 previous
    • Thornmark Thornmark on Oct 07, 2015

      @Truckducken One of the previous articles stated that Mazda was the worst offender. Any followup on that?

  • MaintenanceCosts It's not a Benz or a Jag / it's a 5-0 with a rag /And I don't wanna brag / but I could never be stag
  • 3-On-The-Tree Son has a 2016 Mustang GT 5.0 and I have a 2009 C6 Corvette LS3 6spd. And on paper they are pretty close.
  • 3-On-The-Tree Same as the Land Cruiser, emissions. I have a 1985 FJ60 Land Cruiser and it’s a beast off-roading.
  • CanadaCraig I would like for this anniversary special to be a bare-bones Plain-Jane model offered in Dynasty Green and Vintage Burgundy.
  • ToolGuy Ford is good at drifting all right... đŸ˜‰
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