VW Takes Push Into Electric Cars Global With Plans for New SUV

(Bloomberg) --

Volkswagen AG unveiled a prototype for a battery-powered SUV to flank its ID.3 hatchback later this year and play a key role in strengthening the German manufacturer's global push into electric cars.

The marque's first fully-electric SUV - dubbed ID.4 - is set to help take output of battery-powered vehicles to as many as 1.5 million cars by 2025, the company said Tuesday in a statement. That's more than three times as many as electric-car leader Tesla Inc. sold worldwide last year.

“We will produce and sell the ID.4 in Europe, China and the U.S.,” VW brand Chief Operating Officer Ralf Brandstaetter said in the statement.

The world's largest automaker has a lot riding on its lineup of battery-powered vehicles, all based on new, dedicated underpinnings and reliant on customers making the switch to recoup unprecedented investment of 33 billion euros ($37 billion) across the group through 2024.

The plan to roll out the German-built ID.3 hatchback this summer still stands, VW said, pushing back against recent media reports that suggested the car could be delayed by about a year. The ID.3 targets mainly European buyers.

To contact the reporter on this story: Christoph Rauwald in Frankfurt at crauwald@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Anthony Palazzo at apalazzo@bloomberg.net, Tara Patel

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