New tones from Wolfsburg: Volkswagen CEO Oliver Blume is committed to a technology-neutral approach – which means that, depending on the segment and customer demand, not only electric drives but also other concepts are possible.
In an interview with the trade magazine “Auto, Motor und Sport”, Blume, who also heads the Porsche brand, commented on drive strategies and synthetic fuels. In the future, Porsche wants to “offer a combustion engine, a hybrid and an electric sports car in every segment,” says the manager. Classically powered models continue to be “very popular in many regions of the world.”
This does not make them a climate problem: the VW CEO points out that petrol engines with e-fuels can be operated “almost CO2-neutrally”. In this way, according to Blume, “all vehicles can do their part to reduce CO2 – regardless of the type of drive”. He also advocates the technically problem-free addition to fossil fuels: “Every percent of the addition is a contribution to climate protection.”
These are completely different tones from Wolfsburg than before. In March 2019, Blume’s predecessor Herbert Diess touted electromobility as a panacea at a press conference: Openness to technology was a “wrong slogan”, one would “focus all forces on one goal”. And he asked the assembled journalists: “Let’s stop arguing and criticizing.”
Under Blume, the competition for the technically best and most climate-friendly technologies should now pick up speed once more. The VW Group is thus approaching the attitude of companies such as BMW and Toyota, which also rely on various technical solutions. (aum/jm)
