“In the first quarter, we were able to continue the dynamic development of the previous year without any interruption,” said Dr. Herbert Diess, CEO of the Volkswagen brand, who is now also CEO of the Volkswagen Group. “Our new models are being outstandingly well-received by customers, our efficiency measures are taking effect and we are on the way to gaining new strength in the regions. Our long-term goal is clear: we want to make Volkswagen fit for the future of mobility. We are making good progress in these efforts in line with our plans.”

Model offensive and cost discipline are the earnings drivers

The upward trend is broad-based. In the first three months of the year, Volkswagen was able to deliver significantly more vehicles than in the previous year in all regions of the world. In Brazil, deliveries rose by 4 percent, in China by 8.6 percent and in the USA by as much as 10 percent. Deliveries also grew in Germany. In its domestic market, Volkswagen boosted deliveries by 7.3 percent and regained market shares in key segments. Especially the newly introduced SUV’s are making for extremely dynamic developments throughout the world. With the T-Roc, the Tiguan Allspace, the Teramont and the Atlas, the brand now offers four new SUVs that were not available a year ago.

The growing volume of deliveries also had a positive effect on the sales revenue and operating result of the brand. In addition, Volkswagen was able to further improve product costs. Despite the ongoing model offensive, fixed costs remained largely stable in the first quarter of 2018 compared with the previous year. On the other hand, the improvement in the result was offset by growing expenditure for the upcoming electric offensive. The brand forged ahead with the implementation of this offensive in the first three months of the year.

Dr. Arno Antlitz, Member of the Board of Management of the Volkswagen brand responsible for Finance, said: “The Volkswagen brand started the new year with a healthy result. We are keeping costs under control and making good progress with improving productivity. We will pursue this approach consistently over the next few months. At the same time, we will continue to invest strongly in the future of the brand, especially in the major model and innovation offensive.”

Sustained positive business developments expected

Over the next few months, the brand expects positive business developments to continue. In the 2018 financial year, deliveries, sales revenue and the operating result will continue to rise, among other things as a result of the further implementation of the pact for the future and the turnaround programs in the regions. Volkswagen confirmed its return forecast unchanged. Despite significantly higher expenditure in areas including the changeover to the new WTLP consumption standard, the achievement of the CO2 fleet targets and the run-up stage of the electric offensive, an operating return in the target corridor between 4.0 and 5.0 percent is aimed for in the current financial year.

The brand continues to step up the pace of its major model and innovation offensive. With the new Tourag and the Jetta for the USA, Volkswagen has already presented two new models which are to be launched in the near future. In addition, the new mid-size sedan Virtus was launched recently in Brazil and has attracted considerable attention from customers. At the end of the year, Volkswagen will enter an entirely new segment with the T-Cross. In addition, four new SUVs especially for the Chinese market are planned this year.

In the course of its TRANSFORM 2025+ strategy, the brand will renew its entire model range by 2020 as well as expanding it in key segments. From 2020, the newly developed I.D. family will start the brand’s major electric offensive.

Article source: www.volkswagen-media-services.com

“Volkswagen’s goal is to reach the pinnacle of electromobility with the I.D. family. As such, Volkswagen’s involvement on Pikes Peak not only sets the trend for our future in motorsport, but is also of great symbolic significance in the truest sense,” said Volkswagen Member of the Board of Management with responsibility for Development, Dr. Frank Welsch. “Customers have always benefitted from the findings made in motorsport, and we expect to take these findings and use them as a valuable impetus for the development of future I.D. models. The hill climb on Pikes Peak will definitely be a real acid test for the electric drive.”

“The car looks fantastic and has already been attracting a lot of interest from the media and on social media channels for a few weeks,” said Jürgen Stackmann, Member of the Board of Management of the Volkswagen Passenger Cars brand with responsibility for 'Sales, Marketing and After Sales'. “This project shows once again that Volkswagen is on the right track with its major E-mobility strategy and the introduction of the I.D. family. The I.D. R Pikes Peak and the start at the most iconic hill climb in the world offers Volkswagen the magnificent opportunity to charge the topic of E-mobility, both emotionally and from a sporting perspective.” 

The top goal when developing the Volkswagen I.D. R Pikes Peak was to find the ideal balance between energy capacity and weight. The focus was not, as is usually the case with racing cars, on maximum performance. Volkswagen’s prototype for Pikes Peak justifiably bears two quality seals in its name. The “R”, which is synonymous with performance cars. And the “I.D. – the symbol of Volkswagen’s smart E-technology.

“As with the Volkswagen brand’s production vehicles, fully-electric racing cars will also play an increasingly important role for us in the future,” said Sven Smeets, Volkswagen Motorsport Director. “The cooperation within the group really helped us, particularly given the tight schedule. For example, we received support from the Volkswagen battery plant in Braunschweig and worked together with the technical development department in Wolfsburg.”

As with the sensational twin-engine Golf that took on the Pikes Peak challenge in 1985, 1986 and 1987, the engineers have opted for a solution with two power units. The I.D. R Pikes Peak features two electric engines, generating a system capacity of 500 kW (680 hp).

As in production vehicles with electric drive, lithium-ion batteries are used as the energy storage system. There is great demand on the battery cells: Their power density is the crucial factor for the system when producing high voltage. Unlike in the manufacturing of production vehicles, the goal of the motorsport engineers was not maximum range, but the highest possible power output on the way to the Pikes Peak summit.

Roughly 20 percent of the electric energy required is generated during the 20-kilometre drive. The key here is energy recovery: When braking, the electric engines, which in this case operate as generators, convert some of the braking energy into electricity and feed this into the battery.

It is one of the peculiar challenges on Pikes Peak: Testing on the 19.99-kilometre route of the hill climb in Colorado Springs is only very limited, and only possible on certain sections. For this reason, the bulk of the testing is not done on the actual route, but at racetracks. Volkswagen’s Pikes Peak programme enters the next phase with the unveiling of the car in Alès.

World-class driver and defending Pikes Peak champion, Romain Dumas, will be at the wheel of the Volkswagen I.D. R Pikes Peak for the attempt to break the existing record for electric cars. The 39-year-old Frenchman loves this kind of challenge: As well as three victories on Pikes Peak, he has also won the 24 Hours of Le Mans twice. Incidentally, Dumas, who names motorsport legend Jacky Ickx as his idol, was born in Alès. 

Start at 2,862 metres above sea level, 1,440 vertical metres of climbing, 156 corners, 100 percent asphalt, and just one single attempt – not only must the technology and driver be on top form as they attempt to set a new record for electric cars on 24 June 2018, but the external conditions must also play ball. It is not unheard of for the 4,302-metre summit of Pikes Peak, which also represents the finish, to experience temperatures below freezing point at the end of June.

Article source: www.volkswagen-media-services.com