Volkswagen Plans New North American Electric Vehicle Plant

By Alexandria Sage

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Volkswagen is deciding where to install a new plant in North America to build electric vehicles for the US market, said Wednesday the new head of the German manufacturer for the Americas.

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Scott Keogh, the new CEO of Volkswagen Group of America, said that a new factory was needed to build a vehicle to be unveiled under the Volkswagen brand, priced between $ 30,000 and $ 40,000 (US). $ 23,000 to 31,381 to 31,175 pounds), scheduled for 2020.

"We are 100% committed to the process of" We will need an electric car factory in North America, "and we are holding these discussions now," Keogh told reporters at the trade show. 39, Los Angeles automobile.

An electric car that could face Tesla Inc. of Silicon Valley is part of the massive investment in electric vehicles that the largest European automaker plans to achieve.

Volkswagen announced earlier this month that it would spend nearly 44 billion euros (20 billion USD) in the development of electric cars, autonomous driving and new mobility services from here. 2023, while exploring areas of cooperation with the US automaker Ford Motor Co .

In order to meet the production schedule for 2020, the new electric car will initially be purchased outside the United States, Keogh said, before being produced at the newly chosen site.

The existing US Volkswagen plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee, where the Passat and Atlas are built, may be an option, as there is enough space in this facility, but it will not necessarily be chosen, Keogh said. .

Tesla has so far captured the largest share of the US electric vehicle market, but a host of new models will arrive from German and other manufacturers over the next two years.

For Volkswagen, although it is behind Tesla, it is not necessarily too late to conquer a US market that presents a "huge opportunity," said Keogh.

"The timing of the market is actually quite perfect," he said. "You must have the following intersection:" Can you reduce costs enough to be able to produce a car at that price, earn enough money, have the technological capabilities that make us a car that we would like to put in the market, and have the market acceptance? & # 39; "he said.

"And when all these things intersect, it's ideally when you want to throw the dart."

(Report by Alexandria Sage, edited by Leslie Adler)