Mumbai: German auto giant Volkswagen said on November 16 it will invest 44 billion euros by 2023 in the smarter, greener cars of the future as it ramps up efforts to shake off the “diesel gate” emissions cheating scandal.

The carmaker also plans to increase the productivity of its factories by 30 per cent by 2025, by building more vehicles with different brands on the same production line, it said

Volkswagen Chief Executive Herbert Diess on Friday said he expected the multi-brand carmaking group to be the most profitable manufacturer of electric cars thanks to economies of scale.

First generation vehicles are expected to make a positive contribution to Volkswagen Group

Even first generation vehicles, which start rolling off production lines next year, are expected to make a positive contribution to Volkswagen Group’s automotive margin, Diess said.

Diess further said the management board would make a strategic decision about the future of its autonomous driving programme in the first quarter of next year.

Ford and Volkswagen are in talks about potential cooperation in several areas, including on how to share the cost of developing autonomous cars, Diess said.

Looking further ahead, VW said it was still “exploring the potential” of manufacturing its own batteries for electric cars as concern grows in Europe about the Asian dominance in battery cell production.

Volkswagen had installed cheating software in 11 million diesel vehicles

Volkswagen’s pivot towards e-cars has in part been spurred by efforts to shake off its ongoing “dieselgate” scandal.

The group was forced to admit in 2015 that it had installed cheating software in 11 million diesel vehicles designed to dupe pollution tests.

Suspicions of trickery later spread to other carmakers too, badly hurting the industry’s reputation.

The saga also fuelled a backlash against diesel, with a string of German cities now facing driving bans for the oldest, most polluting diesel cars.