By Kim Richters

Volkswagen AG said Friday that it is increasing spending on electric and hybrid vehicles and digitalization, earmarking investment of about 73 billion euros ($86.17 billion) for the next five years.

The German car maker said that around EUR35 billion of the total is for battery-electric vehicles alone, while around EUR11 billion will be for the development of hybrid vehicles of existing models.

"In the coming years, it will be crucial to also reach a leading position in car software in order to meet people's needs for individual, sustainable and fully connected mobility in the future," Chief Executive Herbert Diess said.

The company plans to double investments in digitalization to EUR27 billion by the middle of the decade.

The overall EUR73 billion sum represents about 50% of the company's investments in property, plant and equipment and all research and development costs during the planning period.

The company is also working on optimizing its product portfolio to increase efficiency and cut down its complexity, it said.

Write to Kim Richters at kim.richters@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

November 13, 2020 08:09 ET (13:09 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2020 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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