VW Stock Revs Higher, Sparked By CEO’s Boast to Grab ‘Pole Position’ from Tesla in EV Market
Shares of Volkswagen AG climbed about 9% in intraday trading Wednesday as the iconic German carmaker continued to get a boost from its ambitious plan to cut into Tesla’s lead in the global electric vehicle market.
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As reported by Business Insider, VW said during its first “Power Day” on Monday that it would build six electric vehicle battery factories across Europe and produce mostly electric vehicles by 2030. The company made no secret of its desire to roar past Tesla as the world’s top manufacturer of electric cars.
“Our goal is to secure a pole position,” Volkswagen CEO Herbert Diess said.
That message hit the right note with investors. VW’s stock price soared to about 227 euros on Wednesday after starting the day at 208 euros. Shares are up 19% so far this week and have risen by more than half since the beginning of the year.
VW also used Power Day to discuss its plans to significantly lower battery production costs – which should lead to cheaper EV retail prices – and said it would put money into building an EV software infrastructure to be used across all of its brands.
An article on Yahoo Finance noted that Diess has borrowed from Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s playbook by being active on social media to get Volkswagen’s message across, and by orchestrating high-profile events to grab the attention of investors.
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In a Wednesday note, RBC Capital Markets analyst Tom Narayan said VW’s Power Day “was a watershed event in the company’s history.” Narayan raised his price target on the stock by about one-third, adding that VW’s battery-electric vehicles “should enable shares to re-rate higher given improved profitability.”
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