Volkswagen Invests $27 Billion in Core Brand

Volkswagen revealed its plans of investing 22.8 billion euros ($26.9 billion) in its core brand starting on 2018 till 2022. The plan came only a day after it announced a spending program that focuses on e-mobility and modularization.

Volkswagen chief executive Matthias Mueller said that they will be “reinventing the car”. The statement was made after a meeting held with the group’s supervisory board at its Wolfsburg headquarters.

The spending program plan announced by Volkswagen amounted to 347 billion euros aimed at strengthening its position as an electric carmaker.

As the company’s investment being in its core brand, Volkswagen will be focusing on Germany. It will also give more attention on the further development of modular production as well as the continuation of the model offensive and more orientation towards e-mobility.

Volkswagen said that about 14 billion euros of the sum will be spent in Germany alone. It also said that one of the key measures will have a 1 billion euro injection that will turn the carmaker’s Zwickau plant into a pure e-mobility facility.

“The investment package which has now been adopted will give a decisive boost to the largest product and technology offensive in the history of the brand,” said Herbert Diess, Chief Executive of the Volkswagen brand and a VW management board member.

The investments revealed on Saturday were part of Volkswagen’s 72 billion euro spending plan for 2018-2022 which was announced on Friday.

UK Invests Billions to ‘Industries of Future’

UK Prime Minister Theresa May said on Monday that they will be allotting 4 billion pounds on research and development as well as regional growth strategies, making plans to assist the economy grow after Brexit.

During hard international competition, Britain is readying to fill in a new global role as leader in “industries of the future”, meaning those of artificial intelligence, and driverless cars after exiting the European Union by March 2019.

After obtaining great damage from a botched snap election as well as Brexit talks dragging longer than anticipated, May is now looking for a way to raise economic optimism which could help her fragile minority government get through Britain’s most uncertain period since WWII.

As part of the run-up to finance Minister Philip Hammond’s budget on Wednesday, May announced on Monday a 1.7 billion pound fund to help cities renew and a 2.3 billion pound boost to research and development spending which will be due in 2021 or 2022.

Further details of the funding were not immediately available.

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