FT reported on Volkswagen's halving of costs for the development of electric vehicles

Volkswagen will be able to reduce the cost of developing electric vehicles by 50% if the concern completely relocates production to China. This was reported on November 25 by the Financial Times newspaper.

According to the company itself, the cost reduction is achieved due to "the efficiency of the Chinese supply chain, including the purchase of batteries, shorter development time and lower labor costs."

Thomas Ulbrich, VW's technical director in China, noted that the new development center in Hefei provides "a whole new level of integration."

"We can run software, hardware, and vehicle verification processes in parallel, shorten decision cycles, and innovate much faster," he said.

According to the company, the development cycle of new models for the Chinese market has been reduced by 30%. Since the end of 2022, the group has invested almost €4 billion in China, including an innovation center in Hefei, investments in Horizon Robotics and a partnership with Xpeng. VW intends to bring about 30 new electric models to the market within five years.

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Volkswagen AG CEO Oliver Blume announced on May 30 that the company is in critical condition, as production has not taken into account the dynamic development of the modern world. Among the problems, he highlighted the attitude of modern Germans to work. Blume noted that previous generations worked six days a week. Currently, according to the head of the company, it is impossible to achieve achievements with a 20-hour work week and remote work.

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