The biggest European carmaker, Volkswagen, said Monday that electric car sales should represent three percent of all sales by 2018, five years after the launch of its first production series.
“The goal is to become the market leader in E-mobility by the year 2018,” boss Martin Winterkorn said in a statement, the same year it hopes to become the world’s leading car maker, ahead of Japanese rival Toyota.
“We want to attain an electric vehicle market share of three percent within our entire range of products,” he added.
VW has trailed behind Toyota in the launch of hybrid and electric cars but now plans to market the all electric E-UP model in 2013, the statement said.
In the coming months, VW will test vehicles with a range of up to 150 kilometres (94 miles), “in key strategic markets of Europe, North America and China,” it added.
VW will begin to market a hybrid version of the Jetta in the United States in 2012.
“Starting in 2013, the high-volume Golf and Jetta models of the Volkswagen brand are expected to dominate the hybrid and electric vehicle market,” the statement said.
VW’s luxury brand Audi said Monday it would launch a hybrid version of its Q5 auto either late this year or in early 2011, followed by a limited introduction of the electric e-tron in 2012.
