Volkswagen Has Enough - Sets Out To Dominate The EV Segment And Put Telsa In It's Place

From a North American perspective, I believe Volkswagen is facing an uphill battle just to restore consumer confidence in the brand, and to increase unit sales of any and all vehicles, vere mind EVs. VW hasn't exactly been a hot seller in the US for decades.

Typo: "vere mind" (huh?) -> "not just"

I agree with you. Prior to dieselgate, TDI was all VW really had to brag about given how behind-the-times their models were. People were buying VWs for an engine not because the Passat or Jetta it was bolted into was so compelling.

As for VW putting Tesla in its place, that's pretty laughable given that Tesla is premium-ish in customer perception and VW is entry-level in customer perception.

Now factor in how lackluster the Atlas and Tiguan appear and VW has a LONG way to go because it still does not understand what buyers want or worse they stubbornly refuse to comply.

Elon would laugh at this headline and for good reason.

Matt - the question is - did they mean VW as a brand - or VW as a company. VW does have Audi. and Porsche - that can easily compete with and beat Tesla - simply based on their dealer network alone. The model 3 might also bring Tesla down a notch too.

@TomM VW may wish and dream for dominance but their lack of management has always kept them 10 years too late the the party with class trailing designs. The Prius is coming up on two decades of being on sale and VW has yet to produce ONE competent hybrid. The Jetta hybrid was a laughable joke.

The only thing that kept me from getting the Jetta Hybrid over the Passat TDI was the terrible radio the Hybrid had (RNS-315). They finally changed it for 2016, but those models never even hit my state. Personally, I was very impressed with the Jetta Hybrid.

Battery-gate.

Can't beat them? Join them.

The Tesla cars, and upcoming Trucks and Buses are all a proof of concept for EVs. Battery technology is to the present era as semi conductors were in the 80s and 90s. There will be rapid advances in the technology both in capacity and price. Tesla is at the forefront of developing denser and cheaper batteries, and this is where their value lies...once EVs take off they may keep a few high end models (ie. a new roadster, model S, X) but the vast majority of their business will be the much higher margin one of selling battery technology to OEMs. This is the explanation for the sky high valuation of Tesla vs the traditional automakers.

"Does Tesla really research and develop anything?"

Guess someone has never heard of google?

https://www.forbes.com/sites/innovatorsdna/2016/08/24/teslas-innovations-are-transforming-the-auto-industry/#5034968019f7

https://www.quora.com/What-are-some-of-Tesla-Motors-major-innovations

^^^ The river of denial runs deep

At least VW is at a point where they have to drastically reimage the company, not something that others have reached, mentally at least. VW group can do it, the question is are they ready and willing. This is their chance.

GM had that chance back in 2009, a new start with support from the gov't and wasted it. Bob Lutz chickened out. Had they given Tesla a run for their mojo back then we would have a different automotive landscape today. Now Tesla is on its way to become the new GM (oh joy) and without true competition this is not good for anyone, even Tesla.

Arguably, other manufacturers don't have to reimagine themselves because they have not f'ed themselves over like VW has.