Volkswagen will be out of combustion car business in Europe by 2035

Volkswagen will say goodbye to combustion motor vehicles in Europe between 2033 and 2035, said one of the company’s board members. He plans to do the same thing in the United States and China a little later and in South America and Africa further afield.

In an interview with the German outlet Merkur.de published this weekend, the director of Volkswagen’s sales council, Klaus Zellmer, presented the company’s roadmap for the withdrawal of the combustion engine in several regions. Zellmer said that, as a volume manufacturer, the company’s timeline for phasing out combustion technology was based on the different processing speeds in the individual regions, according to a Google translation of the interview.

Zellmer explained that competitors selling cars in Europe, for example, will have to deal with less complexity when it comes to processing because of clear policy guidelines.

“We have set very clear targets and milestones. We will make our entire fleet CO2 neutral by 2050 at the latest,” Zellmer said. “In Europe, we will leave the activity of combustion engine vehicles between 2033 and 2035, in the US and China shortly thereafter. In South America and Africa, due to the lack of political framework conditions and infrastructure, it will take a little longer. “

In April, u European Union announced that it was increasing its carbon emission reduction target to 55% from 40% by 2030 compared to it and aiming at zero net emissions by 2050.

Despite the company’s plans to exit the activities of combustion engines, Zellmer told Merkur.de that combustion technology will be needed for a few more years. He added that the company will continue to invest in optimizing its shares, which include diesel. Zellmer said diesel is a particular challenge, but that there have been driving profiles for which diesel was still in high demand, such as customers with high mileage.

In terms of battery-powered electric vehicles, Zellmer said Volkswagen aims to increase its share of total sales to 70% by 2030 in Europe.

The announcement is the latest of the car manufacturers making changes to their products in light of the dire situation facing our planet. Ford, for example, said it will sells only electric vehicles in Europe by 2030, and what it will spend $ 1 billion to transform its factory in Cologne, Germany into its first European center for the manufacture of electric vehicles. General Motors keep up which will eliminate the production of light gas vehicles by 2035 and is expected to be neutral carbon by 2040. And Honda says it will stops selling gas vehicles in 2040.

Gizmodo contacted Volkswagen to comment on Zellmer’s interview but received no response from the time of publication. We will make sure to update this blog if we feel like it again.