One of the most influential members of Volkswagen’s management believes that cars with internal combustion engines could one day become as rare as horses are today.
As reported by Auto Express, Martin SanderVolkswagen’s board member in charge of sales, marketing and after-sales services, argues that automakers need to do more to promote the benefits of electric vehicles, rather than focusing the debate on banning internal combustion engines.
“I look out the window today and I don’t see many horses, it’s mostly cars. That’s why I don’t like the debate about banning internal combustion engines. That’s all they’re talking about. How are you going to convince customers to accept new technology if you’re just talking about a date after which they won’t be allowed to use the vehicles they’ve been used to for decades,” Sanders asks.
According to him, a larger number of customers could opt for electric cars if obstacles such as underdeveloped charging infrastructure and high energy costs are removed. He also believes that interest in cars with internal combustion engines could drop significantly over the next decade, if, of course, conditions related primarily to infrastructure are met. Moreover, Sander claims that by 2035, only 3 to 5 percent of buyers will be interested in buying vehicles with classic engines.
However, it is interesting that, despite accelerated electrification in Europe, Volkswagen does not yet plan to bring electric vehicles with range extenders to the European market (range extender) which is already selling in China. The company believes that the demand for such a drive system in Europe will not be high enough.