VW lacks a cheap electric car. The company wants to follow suit and is planning to work with Renault. The works council should delay the project.
Wolfsburg – Volkswagen is lagging behind when it comes to cheap electric cars. The previous models on the market are relatively expensive. The brand has nothing to offer in the price range of just under 20,000 euros when it comes to electrically powered vehicles. Until now. CEO Oliver Blume and VW brand boss Thomas Schäfer want to change that.
Under the “Amsterdam” project, they want to build a joint electric car with the French manufacturer Renault at a price of 20,000 euros. Renault was supposed to provide the architecture, VW the electric drive. Finally, the construction of the inexpensive car should again be left to the French manufacturer. The project was “negotiated through”, reports
Manager Magazin
. However, the plans are delayed.
Lack of approval from works council boss Cavallo should block cheap electric cars from VW
The reason is the lack of consent from VW works council chairwoman Daniela Cavallo, according to the
Manager Magazine
report . She saw herself integrated into the alliance unreasonably late. She also has fundamental concerns.
In principle, it seemed to make sense to develop an electric car together with a partner cheaper and faster than going it alone. The fact that Renault was supposed to build the car while VW had several underutilized plants in Europe sounded threatening from the employees' point of view. The VW Group works council, of which Cavallo is the boss, did not want to comment on
Manager Magazin
's presentation when asked by
IPPEN.MEDIA
.
VW works council boss calls for cheap electric cars, but urges production at domestic locations
In principle, Cavallo welcomes the development of an affordable electric vehicle. “We actually lack offers in the entry-level segment,” the IG Metall union told
Spiegel
at the end of March . “In order to really reach all groups of buyers,” VW needs an electric car with a starting price of 20,000 euros. “Unfortunately, there is still no clarity here and the vehicle is still in the concept phase,” Cavallo said on March 23.
In the same interview, Cavallo warned that we had to be careful “that we develop such future technologies in Germany.” She pointed out, for example, that the VW Group is building a new battery plant in Canada. It is significantly cheaper to produce battery cells there and import them to Europe instead of manufacturing them here. “This is a dangerous development,” said Cavallo. This also explains the suspected concerns that the works council boss
has about working with Renault, according to
Manager Magazin .
VW wants to convince the works council about Renault producing electric cars – according to the report
Volkswagen is now said to be examining several collaboration scenarios for the cheaper electric car, including its own project. According to an “unofficial version”, the management wants to prove to the works council with well-founded figures why it is smart to have the new cheap electric cars built by Renault, reports Manager
Magazin
. Novo Mesto in Slovenia is mentioned as a possible location.
It's also about speed; you can't have a new model on the road until 2029. The group works council did not want to comment on this when asked by
IPPEN.MEDIA
. (ms)