FRANKFURT: Volkswagen Group plans to invest €160bil or about US$186bil through 2030, its chief executive officer (CEO) Oliver Blume says, reflecting belt-tightening as Europe’s top automaker faces a major crisis in its two key markets, China and the United States.
Total spending, updated annually as part of Volkswagen’s rolling five-year investment plan, compares with €165bil for the 2025 to 2029 period and €180bil for 2024 to 2028, with 2024 being touted as a peak year.
Since then, Volkswagen, which includes the Porsche and Audi brands, has been squeezed by tariffs on US imports and fierce competition in China, hurting profits most notably at the Porsche brand, which sells around half its cars in just these two markets.
Blume told the weekly Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung that the focus in the latest spending plan was “on Germany and Europe”, including in products, technology and infrastructure.
Blume said considerations around a potential US plant for Audi depended on possible substantial financial support by Washington.
While its Porsche brand was not expected to grow in China, he said localising production in the wider Volkswagen group was possible and a Porsche model specifically made for the Chinese market could make sense one day. — Reuters
