Tesla this year opened its first European factory, near Berlin, challenging VW as well as peers BMW and Mercedes-Benz on their home turf, while Diess said he expected Tesla’s ramp-up to be challenging.
Diess said he still saw a chance that VW could manage to overtake Tesla and become the world’s No.1 by 2025, pointing to its bigger product offering covering luxury and premium cars as well as volume brands.
Turning to the U.S. market, where VW aims to more than double its market share to 10 percent, Diess said this would require an additional plant as well as local battery production, but dismissed the move was due to being over-exposed to China.
