When talking about the VW Group and emissions, the elephant that is dieselgate will immediately spring to mind. That was so many years ago though and VW have done a complete u-turn since then by committing their future to EVs.
But even that couldn’t help them as VW failed to hit their 2020 European Union CO2 emission targets. The VW brands (Audi, Seat, Skoda and Porsche) cut their emissions by 20% last year to 99.8 grams per km. The figure is a mere 0.5 grams per km above their 2020 EU target. Believe me VW, I know what it’s like to miss out by such a small margin…
Anyway, the fact that VW were oh so close means that their fines will only be “a very low triple digit amount” according to the CEO who heaped some blame on COVID for affecting sales. The CEO went on to provide some more hope for this year as the major VAG brands look to release more EVs in 2021. And before you blame Bentley or Lamborghini for costing VW that fine, don’t because they are niche brands and are not included in that calculation!
Thanks to the EU’s stringent targets, VW aim to convert 60% of their fleet to hybrid/electric vehicle by 2030! That’s less than a decade away folks. With Skoda ready to release their first EV and VW bringing out more EVs this year, they look on track to reach those goals!
Thanks for reading!
Words by Matthew D’souza. Pictures courtesy of VW Media.
