BERLIN: Volkswagen has raised its planned investment on digital and electric vehicle technologies to €73 billion over the next five years as it seeks to hold onto its crown as the world's largest carmaker in a new green era.
A global clampdown on emissions, partly triggered by VW's diesel pollution scandal in 2015, has forced carmakers to accelerate the development of low-emission technology, even for their low-margin mainstream models. Volkswagen has said the European Union's more stringent emissions targets will force it to boost the proportion of hybrid and electric vehicles in its European car sales to 60 per cent by 2030, up from a previous target of 40 per cent.