Volkswagen Ag VWAGY CEO Herbert Diess on Saturday praised Elon Musk-led rival automaker Tesla Inc’s TSLA ability to quickly address semiconductor shortage as impressive.
What Happened: In a LinkedIn post, Diess said transformation at the company level could be achieved with “full power” and cited Tesla’s example of powering through the chip shortage “really well” as they developed their own software.
“Within just 2-3 weeks they had a new software which allows to use different chips. Impressive.” Diess wrote in the note.
On Diess' invitation, Musk on Saturday addressed 200 top Volkswagen managers via a video call at a three-day company event held at Alpbach, Austria, meant to spur the German legacy automaker’s quick transformation to electric vehicles.
Diess said even Tesla, which is Volkswagen's “biggest competitor,” believes the legacy automaker would “succeed the transition if we drive the transformation with full power.”
The Competition And The Transformation: Diess added that Volkswagen needs a new mindset — faster decisions, less bureaucracy and more responsibility — to take on new competition in what is going to be the German automaker’s biggest transformation ever.
“We have everything we need to tackle the challenges. Right strategy, right competencies, right management team. We can do it – but we have to deliver now.”
Why It Matters: Earlier this month, Tesla revealed it delivered a record number of electric vehicles globally in the third quarter despite the chip crisis that seems to have hit legacy automakers more.
Tesla is also waiting for final approvals and plans to start rolling off cars from the production lines at its new $6.8 billion Giga Berlin site as early as next month.
In March, Volkswagen said it would build six battery factories in Europe, each with a capacity of 40 gigawatt-hours. All of the factories will be in operation by 2030, with the first one up and running by 2023.
Price Action: Tesla shares closed 3.02% higher at $843.03 a share on Friday. Volkswagen shares closed 0.38% lower at $31.73 a share.
Photo: Courtesy of Steve Jurvetson via Flickr
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