Close Menu
TechCentralTechCentral

    Subscribe to the newsletter

    Get the best South African technology news and analysis delivered to your e-mail inbox every morning.

    Facebook X (Twitter) YouTube LinkedIn
    WhatsApp Facebook X (Twitter) LinkedIn YouTube
    TechCentralTechCentral
    • News

      MultiChoice is working on a wholesale overhaul of DStv

      10 July 2025

      Spam call epidemic: operators say their hands are tied

      10 July 2025

      Britehouse unit breaks free from NTT Data

      10 July 2025

      Samsung’s bet on folding phones faces major test

      10 July 2025

      OpenAI to launch web browser in direct challenge to Google Chrome

      10 July 2025
    • World

      Grok 4 arrives with bold claims and fresh controversy

      10 July 2025

      Bitcoin pushes higher into record territory

      10 July 2025

      Cupertino vs Brussels: Apple challenges Big Tech crackdown

      7 July 2025

      Grammarly acquires e-mail start-up Superhuman

      1 July 2025

      Apple considers ditching its own AI in Siri overhaul

      1 July 2025
    • In-depth

      Siemens is battling Big Tech for AI supremacy in factories

      24 June 2025

      The algorithm will sing now: why musicians should be worried about AI

      20 June 2025

      Meta bets $72-billion on AI – and investors love it

      17 June 2025

      MultiChoice may unbundle SuperSport from DStv

      12 June 2025

      Grok promised bias-free chat. Then came the edits

      2 June 2025
    • TCS

      TCS | Connecting Saffas – Renier Lombard on The Lekker Network

      7 July 2025

      TechCentral Nexus S0E4: Takealot’s big Post Office jobs plan

      4 July 2025

      TCS | Tech, townships and tenacity: Spar’s plan to win with Spar2U

      3 July 2025

      TCS+ | First Distribution on the latest and greatest cloud technologies

      27 June 2025

      TCS+ | First Distribution on data governance in hybrid cloud environments

      27 June 2025
    • Opinion

      In defence of equity alternatives for BEE

      30 June 2025

      E-commerce in ICT distribution: enabler or disruptor?

      30 June 2025

      South Africa pioneered drone laws a decade ago – now it must catch up

      17 June 2025

      AI and the future of ICT distribution

      16 June 2025

      Singapore soared – why can’t we? Lessons South Africa refuses to learn

      13 June 2025
    • Company Hubs
      • Africa Data Centres
      • AfriGIS
      • Altron Digital Business
      • Altron Document Solutions
      • Altron Group
      • Arctic Wolf
      • AvertITD
      • Braintree
      • CallMiner
      • CambriLearn
      • CYBER1 Solutions
      • Digicloud Africa
      • Digimune
      • Domains.co.za
      • ESET
      • Euphoria Telecom
      • Incredible Business
      • iONLINE
      • Iris Network Systems
      • LSD Open
      • NEC XON
      • Network Platforms
      • Next DLP
      • Ovations
      • Paracon
      • Paratus
      • Q-KON
      • SevenC
      • SkyWire
      • Solid8 Technologies
      • Telit Cinterion
      • Tenable
      • Vertiv
      • Videri Digital
      • Wipro
      • Workday
    • Sections
      • AI and machine learning
      • Banking
      • Broadcasting and Media
      • Cloud services
      • Contact centres and CX
      • Cryptocurrencies
      • Education and skills
      • Electronics and hardware
      • Energy and sustainability
      • Enterprise software
      • Fintech
      • Information security
      • Internet and connectivity
      • Internet of Things
      • Investment
      • IT services
      • Lifestyle
      • Motoring
      • Public sector
      • Retail and e-commerce
      • Science
      • SMEs and start-ups
      • Social media
      • Talent and leadership
      • Telecoms
    • Events
    • Advertise
    TechCentralTechCentral
    Home » In-depth » Elon Musk has a serious rival: VW’s TechnoKaiser

    Elon Musk has a serious rival: VW’s TechnoKaiser

    By Agency Staff17 March 2021
    Twitter LinkedIn Facebook WhatsApp Email Telegram Copy Link
    News Alerts
    WhatsApp
    VW CEO Herbert Diess

    Volkswagen’s boss, Herbert Diess, is realistic about the threat posed by software-savvy and richly valued rivals such as Tesla, but he’s adamant that VW can prevail. On current form, he may be right.

    The German car giant has added almost €45-billion of market value so far this year and its shares are at their highest since 2015, when the diesel emissions scandal abruptly steered the company down a dark road. VW’s more widely traded preferred shares have climbed 36% since the start of January, far outstripping Tesla — which has declined slightly since then, having risen more than 700% in 2020.

    VW’s €125-billion market capitalisation is still barely a fifth of Tesla’s, and the German group’s investors still don’t ascribe full value to cash-generative premium brands like Porsche and a leading market position in China. Nevertheless, VW has the wind at its back suddenly. So, what’s changed?

    Thanks to new battery-powered models such as the VW ID.3, Audi e-tron and Porsche Taycan, VW’s electric vehicle plan has become a lot more credible

    Hints that the valuable Porsche franchise might get a separate stock market listing have helped, even though VW’s management gave the impression this week that it’s not an immediate priority. The rotation in equity markets away from scarcely profitable growth stocks towards those likely to benefit most from the post-pandemic recovery has also played a role. Analysts expect VW to generate a whopping €16-billion of operating profit this year.

    Another big difference is that VW has become far more adept at highlighting its hugely ambitious electric vehicle strategy. Diess has taken Musk’s self-promotional routine, hewn off the rough edges, and thrown it back at him.

    Catch-up with Tesla

    Thanks to new battery-powered models such as the VW ID.3, Audi e-tron and Porsche Taycan, VW’s electric vehicle plan has become a lot more credible. The group is already the largest seller of battery vehicles in Europe, and globally it could draw level with Tesla in electric car sales within a couple of years.

    By 2030, about half of the group’s new car sales will be electric vehicles. To meet that demand it has outlined plans to build half a dozen battery plants in Europe together with external partners. VW’s investment in early-stage battery company QuantumScape has paid off, too, at least on paper. VW booked a €1.4-billion gain on the investment in its 2020 accounts.

    VW still lags behind Tesla in vital areas like over-the-air vehicle software updates and autonomous driving but it has a credible plan to catch up. VW will develop its own “software stack” rather than rely on Google or any other Silicon Valley import, an effort that will cost billions of euros. If, at the end, VW is valued more like a software company than a metal basher, the money will have been well spent.

    For those who fear Europe is destined to lose its industrial edge to the US and China, this is very encouraging. Few could afford to take such risks but VW has €27-billion of net liquidity and analysts expect it to keep generating heaps more cash.

    In the past, VW’s heavy spending seemed to benefit its engineers more than it did investors. The company has 670 000 employees — a potential future problem given that making an electric vehicle is less labour intensive than producing one powered by a combustion engine.

    The company’s sheer size can become an advantage, Diess insists: The more vehicles that incorporate its hardware and software, the more easily it can amortise those investments. In a sop to number-crunching analysts, he has promised to slash fixed costs by 5% by 2023.

    Amateur investors respond to different cues and VW is no longer too proud to borrow some crowd-pleasing ideas from Musk

    Retail investors have been the ones setting the direction of the stock market lately — and may have been behind the surge in VW’s less-traded ordinary shares on Tuesday. These amateur investors respond to different cues and VW is no longer too proud to borrow some crowd-pleasing ideas from Musk.

    The company held a livestreamed “Power Day” event this week to showcase its battery activities, which shamelessly copied Tesla’s battery and autonomy events. VW spoke about building a network of “gigafactories”, using Musk’s sexy terminology for battery production facilities. Though less at home with meme culture and cryptocurrencies than his rival, Diess also uses social media to push the message that VW should be valued like a tech company.

    One thing he hasn’t done yet is given himself an amusing new title like the Technoking of Tesla. But if Diess keeps this up, his anointment as TechnoKaiser can’t be far off.  — By Chris Bryant, (c) 2021 Bloomberg LP



    Elon Musk Herbert Diess Tesla top Volkswagen VW
    Subscribe to TechCentral Subscribe to TechCentral
    Share. Facebook Twitter LinkedIn WhatsApp Telegram Email Copy Link
    Previous ArticleSamsung warns of severe chip crunch
    Next Article Shoprite to join Pick n Pay in launching an MVNO

    Related Posts

    Grok 4 arrives with bold claims and fresh controversy

    10 July 2025

    The satellite broadband operators taking on Starlink

    9 July 2025

    Yaccarino out: Musk’s handpicked CEO quits X suddenly

    9 July 2025
    Company News

    AI in project management: a new era of efficiency and transformation

    10 July 2025

    Samsung unfolds the future with thinnest, lightest Galaxy Z Fold yet

    9 July 2025

    Huawei supercharges South African SMEs with over 20 new eKit products

    9 July 2025
    Opinion

    In defence of equity alternatives for BEE

    30 June 2025

    E-commerce in ICT distribution: enabler or disruptor?

    30 June 2025

    South Africa pioneered drone laws a decade ago – now it must catch up

    17 June 2025

    Subscribe to Updates

    Get the best South African technology news and analysis delivered to your e-mail inbox every morning.

    © 2009 - 2025 NewsCentral Media

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.