Volkswagen brand CEO Thomas Schäfer has warned that Europe, and Germany in particular, is beginning to rapidly lose competitiveness as it lags behind in the transition to cleaner energy production. He emphasises that Europe is currently losing out in competition due to high energy prices, as well as facing supply chain problems.

Germany and the entire European Union are currently facing record-high energy prices linked to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Germany was hit particularly hard, as the country was heavily dependent on Russian natural gas. Volkswagen has been forced to implement various compulsory energy-saving measures to combat these issues.