German automaker Volkswagen has said it’ll stop selling combustion engine cars in the whole of Europe by 2035 as it turns its attention towards electric vehicles. The statement came from a board member of the company speaking to the local Muenchner Merkur newspaper.

• The board member in person was Klaus Zellmer, previously the head of Porsche Cars North America. He said Volkswagen will stop selling combustion-engine vehicles in Europe between 2033 and 2035, with the US and China to come “a little later”.

• The stated plan falls in line with European countries working hard to phase out the sale of combustion-engine vehicles to meet climate targets. Some like the UK have banned the sale of gasoline cars by 2030.

• This is not the first time we’ll hear commitments towards electrification from Volkswagen. The German carmaker has said it plans to launch around 70 all-electric car models by 2030, backed up by tens of billions of dollars of investment.

• Volkswagen has its eyes set on the electric car markets globally, beginning with Europe, the US, and China. Like many automakers, it’s apparently seen the writing on the wall that the transition towards electric vehicles is irreversible.

• As it’s transitioning towards electric cars, Volkswagen faces tough rivalry from legacy automakers like itself and newer ones like Tesla and a handful of startups cropping up in the market, especially in China.

• In 2020, Volkswagen sold 212k plug-in electric cars, up 158% from the previous year. But then, that made up just 2.5% of its car sales for the year, implying that it has a very long way to go to meet its targets.

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