German automaker Volkswagen officially started the production of its first self-branded fully-electric compact sport utility vehicle (SUV), the Volkswagen ID.4. The company announced on Thursday that its plant in Zwickau, Germany officially began its operations after months of retooling and renovations.
Volkswagen reportedly spent more than $1.4 billion to retool its Zwickau facility to manufacture its latest electric model. The facility is expected to have a production capacity of around 300,000 vehicles per year. The kickoff of the production of its latest vehicle marks an important milestone for the brand and its wider efforts to shift into greener products.
The automaker expects that the new ID.4 model should catapult it into the global electric vehicle market leader board, where it will be taking on competitors such as Tesla. The ID.4 will be directly competing with Tesla's recently launched Model Y compact electric SUV in terms of both pricing and performance.
While the ID.4 may not be the company's first electric model, it is the first to sport the Volkswagen brand. Volkswagen already produces an electric SUV called the E-Tron under its Audi luxury car brand. The E-Tron, which is produced at the company's facility in Brussels, Belgium, has been available in the market since late 2018.
Volkswagen brand head Ralf Brandstätter said in a statement that the ID.4 should help accelerate the brand's wide electrification efforts in its various markets worldwide. He added that the vehicle will initially be sold in Europe and China but the company does have plans to make it available in other markets.
Brandstätter revealed that the company is planning to also manufacture the ID.4 in the United States when its factory in Chattanooga, Tennessee goes online in 2022. The Volkswagen ID.4, which has a range of up to 500 kilometers (310 miles) on a single charge, is expected to hit showrooms in September.
Since it announced that it was going to be shifting to greener powertrains, Volkswagen has spent billions of dollars in forging new partnerships and developing new technologies. The company, which owns high-end car brands such as Lamborghini, Bugatti and Porsche, stated that it plans to spend an additional $39 billion on its further electrification through 2024. The investment is part of the company's ambitions of producing at least 1.5 million electric cars by 2025.
