Volkswagen is driving forward the shift to electric vehicle manufacturing with its 'Accelerate' strategy

volts wagen The German giant is driving forward the shift to electric vehicle manufacturing

The ID.5 from Volkswagen

January 30 2022 02:30 AM

Volkswagen is driving forward the shift to electric vehicle manufacturing with its Accelerate strategy.

This week’s official start of production of the ID.5 and ID.5 GTX2 marks the completion of Volkswagen’s successful transformation of its Zwickau plant into a dedicated electric vehicle production facility.

The long-established site in western Saxony is the first large scale facility of any volume manufacturer worldwide to switch over all production from internal combustion engine vehicles to electric vehicles.

Six models from the Volkswagen, Audi and CUPRA brands will now be manufactured in Zwickau based on the modular electric drive matrix (MEB). Brand The plants in Emden, Hanover and Chattanooga (USA) will be added to the electric vehicle production network this year.

The Volkswagen brand has thus laid the foundations for building 1.2 million all-electric-vehicles at its sites in Europe, the USA and China in 2022 based on the MEB. Dr. Christian Vollmer, member of the board of management of Volkswagen responsible for production, said: “Volkswagen will continue to increase the pace of e-mobility in 2022 with its Accelerate strategy and the expansion of the model portfolio.

“The Zwickau production plant has paved the way for the group to do this with six ramp-ups from three brands in just 26 months.

“The knowledge and experience gained will help us to continue to electrify our production network quickly and efficiently.”

Dr. Stefan Loth, chairman of the board of Volkswagen Saxony, said: “After Gläserne Manufaktur Dresden, we have now converted a second Volkswagen factory in Saxony to dedicated electric vehicle production.

“The start of production of the ID.5 and ID.5 GTX marks the successful transformation of Zwickau plant on the product side. This year we aim to exceed the 180,000 vehicles Volkswagen Saxony built in 2021.”