Automotive News Europe - Talk From The Top Supplement - December 2019 - 40

AUTOMOTIVE NEWS EUROPE

TALK FROM THE TOP

Architect of change
VW Group strategist maps out automaker's engine-less future

Meet the strategy boss
❚ NAME: Michael Jost
❚ TITLE: Head of VW Group Prod-

uct Strategy; VW brand Chief
Strategy Officer

❚ AGE: 57
❚ MAIN CHALLENGE:

Decarbonizing the automaker's
massive vehicle fleet.

Our engineers are already working

olkswagen Group's product strategy
today on our final
head, Michael Jost, is the architect
and visionary behind the automaker's uncombustion engine architecture.
precedented rollout of electric vehicles.
One of his biggest accomplishments was
convincing German trade unionists in
Emden, the longtime production home of
the Passat midsize car, to agree to a risky If you count backward, that means the models. We will work hard to be CO2
transformation that will make it the third last combustion engine car has an SOP compliant and we are pretty sure we will
VW plant in Germany to switch entirely to [start of production] around 2033. If you reach all the goals set for the passenger
making members of the brand's ID fam- assume that is the second generation on cars. By 2022, the situation will be quite
ily. Jost spoke about this and more with a platform, then this platform has its SOP relaxed. We also don't foresee any probAutomotive News Europe Correspondent in or around 2026. Given the long devel- lems in the subsequent years.
Christiaan Hetzner.
opment lead times, you can say that our
What about when the CO2 target gets
engineers are already working today on
Could you outline the VW Group's delowered again and Euro 7 rules come
our final combustion engine architecture.
carbonization strategy?
into effect?
We want to reduce the global CO2 foot- In the immediate future, VW Group By 2024 we will have the next wave of
print of Volkswagen Group passenger needs to comply with new EU emis- combustion engine and e-models, incars to net zero by 2050. That means sions reduction targets starting next cluding an entry-level MEB car about the
we need to produce the last combus- year. Analyst PA Consulting estimates size of a VW T-Cross capable of going
tion engine car around 2040, although the group may have to pay up to 1.4 bil- 200 km to 250 km on one charge and
there could still be some markets where lion euros in fines for missing its man- priced below 20,000 euros. At that point
we might have to sell a small number of datory target. Is this true?
we think society's shift toward electrocars with combustion engines, maybe in Next year and 2021 might be challeng- mobility will largely be complete and we
the lower single-digit percentage range. ing since we will be ramping up our EV will not need to push these volumes.

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Automotive News Europe - Talk From The Top Supplement - December 2019

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