“o. itemList. length” “this. config. text. ariaShown”
“This. config. text. ariaFermé”
By Edward Taylor, Jan Schwartz and Ilona Wissenbach
WOLFSBURG, Germany (Reuters) – Volkswagen is in the long run of its high-performance brands Lamborghini, Bugatti and Ducati as a component of a broader search for economies of scale as it moves towards mass production of electric cars, executives told Reuters.
Volkswagen’s board and managers will review the car manufacturer’s strategy at an assembly in November and put the company on a new to-do list as the company tries to double its price to two hundred billion euros ($235 billion), an executive said.
The review can lead to generation partnerships for high-performance sports car and superbike brands, restructuring or other features until adding registration or sale, two executives said, who declined to be identified.
They said Volkswagen, which also owns VW, Audi, Porsche, Seat and Skoda, is investigating whether it has the resources to expand the power platforms for its smaller brands at a time when it is investing billions in its cars in the mainstream. .
Volkswagen’s complicated selection comes when CHIEF Herbert Diess seeks new tactics to lose cash to finance his abandonment of combustion engines after tough union leaders blocked a cost-cutting crusade in Germany.
In an interview with Reuters, Diess refused to comment on high-performance brands, but stated that Volkswagen, which also owns a truck team, needed to reinvent itself for an era of electric and autonomous cars.
“We are constantly looking for our brand portfolio, this is especially true in the basic phase of replacing our industry. In the face of market disruption, we want to concentrate and wonder what transformation means for the other parts of the group. “Diess told Reuters.
“Brands want to measure the face of new requirements. By electrification, by range, by digitization and connectivity of the vehicle. There’s a new margin and every logo has to locate its new place,” he said.
“ASPIRATIONAL OBJECTIVE”
In addition to building the non-unusual electric car architecture that will underpin many of its major brands, Volkswagen will have to lose cash to expand the generation of connected and autonomous vehicles and the new bureaucracy of mobility services.
Last year, Volkswagen sold 4,554 Lamborghinis, which start at about $200,000 and charge millions for special editions. It has sold 82 Bugattis, which have seven-digit labels, and just over 53,000 Ducati motorcycles.
But some corporate experts wonder if it’s worth investing limited resources to produce silent electrical versions if they don’t attract enthusiasts of noisy, high-octane brands.
Unlike many U. S. corporations that can leverage more liquid and deep money markets to increase the budget for investment purposes, Volkswagen relies more on the money from sales of combustion-engined cars to finance their transfer to battery-fired vehicles.
“We are a great conglomerate and we have to fight at a low discount and with a conglomerate. But we’re doing something about it,” Diess said, highlighting the sale of engine manufacturer Renk and restructuring the MAN truck brand.
Diess believes the company’s valuation will increase once the market understands the profitability of its electric vehicles, but faces a short-term investment adjustment after European lawmakers proposed 50% relief on carbon dioxide emissions until 2030.
He told Reuters that the goal of raising Volkswagen’s market price to two hundred billion euros by 2025 remains relevant.
“We have formulated the company’s valuation of two hundred billion euros as an ambitious goal,” Diess said.
“Volkswagen is seriously undervalued when you look at its technological competence, its global positioning and also when you see that, compared to the competition, we have the most productive prerequisites in terms of technology. “
INTELLIGENT VEHICLES
Today, Volkswagen is worth 78 billion euros, well below its rival Toyota’s $187 billion valuation, even though it sold more cars than the Japanese company last year. Volkswagen sold 10. 96 million, the largest number of automakers in the world, while Toyota got 10. 74 million here.
Analysts say it’s because Volkswagen has more brands, is less effective, and has higher costs. The Volkswagen Group had 671,205 workers by the end of 2019, well above Toyota’s 359542 workers at the end of its last fiscal year.
Bankers are putting their hopes on investors’ enthusiasm for corporations advocating sustainable transportation and supporting union leaders for monetary transactions, which Volkswagen may increase the investment budget.
“The thing now is to manage the transition to electromobility. This is by far the biggest lever for us at this stage,” Diess said. “Individual mobility will replace radically. Electrification represents only 10-20% of this substitution. The momentum will come from the expanding intelligence of vehicles. “
A new software stack for the company’s 10 million cars might not be released until 2023 or 2024, Diess said, making it difficult for investors to recognize VW’s potential now.
Tesla has risen to more than $400 billion this year, as investors have subsidized the American pioneer to use the electric vehicle revolution.
‘THE RIGHT ADDRESS’
Although analysts say radical surgery is needed to increase Volkswagens’ percentage price, winning their supervisory board, where staff are part of the seats, is arguably the hardest part.
“The company’s strategy is good. He has already planned for it to be here and there,” He told Reuters Hans Dieter Poetsch, chairman of the Volkswagen Group’s supervisory board, referring to some of the disinvestments already announced.
Volkswagen does not target the Porsche or Audi directory, and other projects will only be heard if they have long-term work, according to IG Metall, Germany’s largest trade union.
His boss, Joerg Hofmann, told Reuters that he does not fundamentally oppose the board or division division.
“We have never opposed a company’s plans to finance stock market expansion,” he said. “But if the purpose is to dismantle a company to get a higher valuation or separate the “bad industry,” then we say no,” Hofmann said.
Instead of shying away from underperforming assets, the company has a duty to invest in the long-term of its workers and sites, he said.
“I Diess is on the right track, ” said Hofmann.
After several clashes with tough VW leader Bernd Osterloh, Diess said he had replaced his approach.
“For the last five years, I’ve learned a lot here. In Wolfsburg, we have our own culture and also special force structures. This requires a very integrative control style. With my conflicting approach, I have reached my limits, that and adapt to it. “
(1 USD – 0. 8534 euros)
(Report through Edward Taylor, Jan Schwartz and Ilona Wissenbach; Editing through David Clarke)