Volkswagen wants to build more electric cars in eastern Germany and backs a Tesla-style expansion of charging stations in the city of Dresden, evidence of efforts to reshape its business after a diesel emissions scandal.
VW, which has regained the status of the world's largest carmaker, is pursuing a multi-billion-euro investment in battery-powered cars and new mobility services as Europe and China seek to encourage sales of plug-in cars and regulators tighten emissions rules.
VW's glass-walled factory in the eastern city of Dresden embodies the company's post-dieselgate transformation better than any of its 120 plants world-wide.
Before the scandal broke in September 2015, VW's smallest plant built the 12-cylinder Phaeton saloon, the brand's most expensive model which was dropped last March. Now it will instead produce a version of the all-electric e-Golf from April. "We want to play a major role when it comes to launching further electric vehicles," said Kai Siedlatzek, finance chief at Volkswagen Sachsen GmbH, which employs 10,000 workers in Dresden, Zwickau and Chemnitz in eastern Germany.
The Zwickau factory will use a new modular platform for electric vehicles (EVs) to build the I.D. hatchback from 2019.
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