Volkswagen's 2025 Plan: Be More Open-Minded, Cut the Fat, and Build 30 Electric Models

Steph Willems
by Steph Willems

Volkswagen Group wants to give its operation a top-to-bottom shakeup, which means ditching the bureaucratic, centralized ways of the past and positioning itself as a lean, nimble player in a rapidly evolving marketplace.

Oh, and there will be tons of electric vehicles. Piles and piles of them.

In its announcement of the TOGETHER – Strategy 2025 plan, the automaker came off sounding more like a tech startup, touting a newfound “entrepreneurial mindset and approach” that will bring the company out of the long shadow of the emissions scandal.

Efficiency is top of mind in the plan, with streamlining across the board — including on the assembly line, where modular platforms will be massaged for every last bit of usefulness. The early details we reported on yesterday, including a portfolio review, potential asset sale, and consolidation of component units, are also part of the plan.

Moving forward, Volkswagen wants its truck and bus division (Scania, MAN and Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles) to be a bigger moneymaker for the group. It wants those vehicles to have the biggest presence in the global market, too.

A new mobility solutions business unit, which no automaker (it seems) can be without, aims to turn a profit in the billions of dollars by 2025.

In terms of products, the company said it will position its model lineup “to focus on the most attractive and fastest-growing market segments,” meaning SUVs, crossovers, and plenty of electric vehicles. In the next 10 years, Volkswagen plans to introduce “over 30” battery electric vehicles, with projected sales of two to three million EVs by the end of the period.

In other words, the automaker plans to dominate the EV market, even though the future of the market — and its eventual size — is hard to judge.

On the corporate front, Volkswagen plans to be extra stingy with its cash. The ratio of research and development costs to sales revenue will drop to six percent, while selling and administration costs will reverse course and drop below 12 percent of revenue.

The company is crossing its fingers and hoping these moves (literally) pay off. It’s aiming for an operating return on sales of somewhere between seven and eight percent, up from six percent last year.

Steph Willems
Steph Willems

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  • NickS NickS on Jun 16, 2016

    The left side of that picture is more desirable and where I live in California I see quite a few every day.

  • Inside Looking Out Inside Looking Out on Jun 18, 2016

    Model S is immediately recognizable and is a status symbol while S class is lost in crowd car for people who feel old, so 20th century. Sometimes I see Mercedes from behind in traffic and think it is C-class or CLA and get shocked after seeing S-class badge on the trunk - it looks small and forgettable. Model S is slick and modern in comparison - simple, easily updatable to a new version, without all that useless crap S class is loaded with - it is a future. Passat? Forget about - car for losers. I highly doubt that green crown will go for VW any time in forseeable future esp after associating it with ancient Passat and old tech like Diesels.

  • Jpolicke In a communist dictatorship, there isn't much export activity that the government isn't aware of. That being the case, if the PRC wanted to, they could cut the flow of fentanyl down to a trickle. Since that isn't happening, I therefore assume Xi Jinping doesn't want it cut. China needs to feel the consequences for knowingly poisoning other countries' citizens.
  • El scotto Oh, ye nattering nabobs of negativism! Think of countries like restaurants. Our neighbors to the north and south are almost as good and the service is fantastic. They're awfully close to being as good as the US. Oh the Europeans are interesting and quaint but you really only go there a few times a year. Gents, the US is simply the hottest restaurant in town. Have to stand in line to get in? Of course. Can you hand out bribes to get in quicker? Of course. Suppliers and employees? Only the best on a constant basis.Did I mention there is a dress code? We strictly enforce it. Don't like it? Suck it.
  • 1995 SC At least you can still get one. There isn't much for Ford folks to be happy about nowadays, but the existence of the Mustang and the fact that the lessons from back in the 90s when Ford tried to kill it and replace it with the then flavor of the day seem to have been learned (the only lessons they seem to remember) are a win not only for Ford folks but for car people in general. One day my Super Coupe will pop its headgaskets (I know it will...I read it on the Internet). I hope I will still be physically up to dropping the supercharged Terminator Cobra motor into it. in all seriousness, The Mustang is a.win for car guys.
  • Lorenzo Heh. The major powers, military or economic, set up these regulators for the smaller countries - the big guys do what they want, and always have. Are the Chinese that unaware?
  • Lorenzo The original 4-Runner, by its very name, promised something different in the future. What happened?
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