VW is having some incredible success on the stock market reminiscent of Tesla and its EV strategy.
For a long time, Volkswagen has been considered a blue-chip stock, though it went through some significant struggles around 2015 following the Dieselgate scandal.
It always was one of the biggest and most valuable automakers trailing only behind Toyota until Tesla surpassed everyone.
Some other companies, like GM and Ford, started to have some success on the stock market after announcing acceleration of their respective EV plans.
Now it’s Volkswagen’s turn, with the stock growing over 100% over the last six months, and most of that growth coming over the last month alone:
The bulk of the increase comes after VW held its “Power Day,” which was compared to Tesla’s “Battery Day,” and the announcement of serious investments in battery cell production.
The stock is up 25% today alone, which is a massive swing for a company like VW.
Products like the VW ID.3 and ID.4 have also been well-received but people want to see volumes. Luckily VW is executing and it looks like it is starting to happen this year.
VW also surprised Korean battery makers LG and SK this week by informing them they’d be using their own batteries going forward, a strategy pioneered by Tesla.
The decision by the world’s second largest automaker to move the bulk of its cars to a different battery cell in two years came as a shock to LG Energy Solution and SK Innovation, three people with knowledge of the situation told Reuters.
Electrek’s Take
Full disclosure: Both Seth, Electrek‘s publisher, and I are investors in Volkswagen.
We think that VW is going to come out a winner in the electric transition through heavy investments that came relatively early after the Dieselgate mess and the leadership of Herbert Diess.
I often say that if automakers want a successful EV strategy, they simply have to copy Tesla.
By that, I mean to act like you don’t have a legacy business of selling gasoline to preserve. It’s hard thing to do when most of your assets are attached to that, but I saw a willingness from VW to quickly invest in converting entire factories to produce EVs instead of ICE cars.
Now with their battery strategy also resembling Tesla’s, I think that they are in a great position to become one of the main winners of the electric transition.
What do you think? Let us know in the comment section below.
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Author: Fred Lambert
Source: Electrek
