SAN FANCISCO: Herbert Diess, the current chairman of the board of management of the German motor vehicle manufacturer Volkswagen (VW) Group, has said the carmaker will take the lead over Elon Musk’s Tesla by 2025.

During a meeting at the company’s headquarters in Germany, Diess said Tesla will lose its strength trying to ramp up two gigafactories one in Austin, Texas and the other in Grunheide, Germany, a media report said. He sees this as an opportunity to take the lead, as Volkswagen is running at full capacity.

“Elon must simultaneously ramp up two highly complex factories in Austin and Grunheide - and expand production in Shanghai. That will cost him strength,” he told workers on Tuesday, as was reported. “We have to seize this opportunity and catch up quickly - by 2025 we can be in the lead,” he added.

Diess has had his sights set on Tesla for quite some time - earlier this year he said VW is capable of selling more electric vehicles than its rival by 2025.

During the presentation, Diess also said Tesla is weakening and then presented a slide with a meme that showed actor Jason Momoa representing VW creeping up behind fellow actor Henry Cavill cast as Tesla.

Diess and Musk are friendly outside of the EV race, but the German executive continually notes Tesla as Volkswagen’s biggest rival. VW sold 4,52,900 electric vehicles worldwide in 2021, while Tesla sold 9,30,422. It is listed fourth when it comes to electric car companies and fifth among the largest EV companies.

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