Volkswagen has had a rough few years as far as internal combustion engines go. It has been hard at work coming up with electric concepts and spending money like crazy to distance itself from the stink of Dieselgate, and now it's ready to take the most significant leap yet by eliminating all non-carbon-neutral vehicles after the next generation, according to a report by Bloomberg Tuesday.
If that sounds like a pretty radical step to take, it is, particularly when you consider that Volkswagen hasn't really had any serious production electric vehicles to date, with the e-Golf being the exception.
"Our colleagues are working on the last platform for vehicles that aren't CO2 neutral," said Michael Jost, strategy chief for Volkswagen, at an industry conference in Germany. "We're gradually fading out combustion engines to the absolute minimum."
The VW group is investing vast sums of money, north of $50 billion to revolutionize its entire product lineup. In fact, Audi just announced that it was spending $16 billion to launch 20 new electric models by 2023 and Porsche is on the verge of launching its Taycan electric grand touring car to the public.
So, if you've got to have a brand new GTI, you better start socking away your couch change. You're likely not going to get many more chances to buy one that's not lugging around a big battery pack.
cnet
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