Hanover, Germany (dpa) – German carmaker Volkswagen wants to increase the number of electric and hybrid cars in its own fleet of vehicles, according to a report in newspaper Die Welt on Sunday.
The proportion of electric models used by the company’s own staff will “significantly increase” in the coming years, the report said, and will already be more than 10 per cent in 2019.
Volkswagen has about 20,000 company cars in Germany. Chief executive Herbert Diess wants to change company policy so that managers entitled to a company car will switch to battery-powered cars in future.
Detailed plans for a new company car scheme are currently being prepared and will be discussed in detail “in the coming weeks and months,” Volkswagen said.
The company wants to implement the new system in the second half of 2019 with plug-in hybrids and pure electric cars.
From the beginning of 2020, when Volkswagen launches its first all-electric ID model, the proportion of electric vehicles in the company car fleet will once again increase significantly.
“Volkswagen’s electric offensive will pick up speed in 2020,” Volkswagen HR director Gunnar Kilian was cited as saying. “With the launch of our ID model family, we’re taking the next step.”