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* VW plans to convert factories to build electric cars – source
* VW's move comes as two German cities ban diesel
* VW plans to transfer production to Ford's plant in Turkey (details on the possible timing of alliance with Ford)
FRANKFURT, Nov. 8 (Reuters) – Volkswagen plans to sell electric cars for less than 20,000 euros and protect German jobs by converting three factories to become Tesla rivals, according to a source close to the projects.
VW and other manufacturers are struggling to adapt quickly enough to the stringent rules introduced after the automaker discovered diesel emission tests, and its managing director, Herbert Diess, warned last month that the German auto sector was endangered.
Plans for VW's electric car, known as "MEB entry" and with a production volume of 200,000 vehicles, are to be discussed at a meeting of the Supervisory Board on November 16, said the source.
Another vehicle, the I.D. Aero will be built in a factory currently manufacturing the VW Passat, a mid-size sedan, the source said.
The Wolfsburg-based automaker, who declined to comment on the plans, is also expected to discuss large-scale alliances with battery cell maker SK Innovation and rival Ford, the source said.
The November 16 strategy meeting will focus on Volkswagen's transformation plan to move from Europe's leading manufacturer of combustion-engine vehicles to a mass-market electric car manufacturer, another source familiar with the debate said.
VW's shift in strategy comes as cities begin to ban diesel vehicles, forcing automakers to consider new ways to preserve 600,000 German industrial jobs, including 436,000 in automakers and their suppliers.
An electric van, the Buzz ID, is to be built in the VW factory in Hannover, where its T6 van is being manufactured, the source said.
To release Hanover's electric car production capacity, VW's cargo vans could be produced in a Ford factory in Turkey, if the German unions, which hold half of the seats on VW's board of directors, are in agreement, added the source.
EXPLORATORY TALKS
VW and Ford are in "exploratory talks" about an alliance to develop autonomous and electric vehicles and to complete their global production and sales footprints, Reuters reported last month.
Ford's sales and profits in the US are strong thanks to its exposure to the lucrative van segment, while Volkswagen dominates the passenger car market in Europe.
The two companies plan to conclude cooperation agreements in the fields of commercial, electric and autonomous vehicles, although a final agreement is probably not announced at the strategic meeting of 16 November in Volkswagen, said the second source .
The details of a cooperation agreement with Ford could take until the end of the year to be finalized, said the second source.
The German automaker will focus mainly on the merits of converting its VW plants in Emden, Zwickau and Hanover, all of which build combustion-engine cars, into electric cars according to the plans of the board of directors, said the source.
German automakers have agreed Thursday to spend up to 3,000 euros ($ 3,430) per vehicle to add more efficient exhaust gas filtering systems to reduce diesel emissions, but will not be able to reduce diesel emissions. have not prevented the ban on diesel vehicles from Cologne and Bonn.
EU lawmakers have agreed to seek a 35% reduction in car emissions by 2030 after a US report called for dramatic measures to slow global warming.
According to Diess, to reduce the average carbon dioxide emissions from its car fleet by 30% by 2030 in Europe, VW needs to increase its share of fully electric vehicles to 30% of new car sales.
The switch from combustion engines to electric cars would also cost 14,000 VW jobs by 2020, as the construction of an electric car takes less time than a conventional car and the jobs will be transferred abroad to the manufacturers. batteries.
In Europe, about 126 plants manufacture combustion engines and employ 112,000 people. The largest plant of this type in Europe is VW in Kassel. (1 dollar = 0.8758 euro) (Report by Jan Schwartz edited by Edward Taylor and Alexander Smith)
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