Volkswagen is now trying to emulate Toyota with a series of new hybrid engines. The first should be ready in September.
According to British Autocar, Volkswagen plans to develop a new hybrid system that mimics Toyota's approach to hybrid technology.
The Japanese are building cars that can travel a certain distance solely on electricity that the car itself produces.
This marks a clear shift in Volkswagen's strategy, which has previously focused on mild hybrids and plug-in hybrids.
The next generation of the Volkswagen T-Roc SUV, expected to be presented in September, will be the first model with the new full hybrid system.
Volkswagen is said to have made the decision because sales of electric cars are significantly lower than what management in Wolfsburg had expected.
The combustion engine alone cannot save Volkswagen
To meet market needs – and gigantic deficits in the economy – engineers are now experimenting with alternative solutions that can meet the real demand at retailers.
With the new hybrid system, the Volkswagen T-Roc positions itself as a competitor to cars like the Toyota Corolla Cross.
In the longer term, it is likely that the system will also become available in other Volkswagen models such as the Volkswagen Golf and the Skoda Octavia sedan.
The technical details of the new hybrid system have not yet been announced, but it is speculated that the car will be equipped with a 1.5-liter four-cylinder gasoline engine that both drives the wheels and charges the battery.
Volkswagen has to do something, at least. And very quickly. Because the brand is struggling with massive debt that the CFO believes could close the entire group.Read more about it here .
One of the things that will bring the debt down is layoffs and factory closures. 35,000 jobs will be cut over the next few years. The same will be done at three factories in Germany.
However, the arms manufacturer Rheinmetall is so busy getting production started for several European countries that it has floated the idea of buying one of the factories threatened with closure. Namely the one in Osnabrück.
Here, the VW Group currently assembles both the Volkswagen T-Roc Cabriolet and parts for the Porsche 718 Boxster.
However, Volkswagen is not the only brand in the VW Group that needs to save money and make drastic cuts.
Skoda will be cutting 8,000 jobs, Porsche will be cutting 4,500, and Audi will be cutting 7,500 jobs as soon as possible.
At the same time, Mercedes' competitors will give employees millions of kroner to resign. Find this and many other stories on Booosted.dk – every day!
