VW to take on Tesla with electric SUV

Volkswagen plans to build a fully electric sports utility vehicle (SUV) for China from 2021, taking on the Chinese market leader Tesla’s Model X as the German carmaker ramps up production of zero emissions cars.

The planned new SUV is the latest move in VW’s aggressive growth strategy in China, where electric cars are given preferential treatment by authorities.

VW said its ID Roommzz, which it presented in Shanghai on Sunday, will have three rows of seats and an operating range of up to 450km. CEO Herbert Diess said the ID Roommzz will be the flagship electric car to be launched by VW in China.

“We plan to produce more than 22-million electric cars in the next 10 years,” Diess said, adding that about half of VW’s engineers were working on products destined for China.

Diess said the ID Roommzz would eventually be rolled out to other markets. To enhance VW Group’s capabilities, VW and its premium brand Audi will combine their research and development operations in China.

VW brand ’ s head of e-mobility, Thomas Ulbrich, said the carmaker will start ramping up production of 33 electric cars by mid-2023, using the group’s modular electric car platform to build electric cars for the Skoda, Seat, Audi and VW brands.

Ulbrich said VW Group is converting 16 factories worldwide to enable mass production of electric vehicles.

Separately, Daimler CEO Dieter Zetsche, at an event in Shanghai on Monday, unveiled what he called a concept for a compact Mercedes GLB, saying the carmaker plans to add the new SUV to its line-up later in 2019.

Zetsche promised the unveiling of a production version of the GLB with seating for seven by this summer.