June 4, 2026 – Volkswagen board member Martin Sander, who oversees sales, marketing, and after-sales operations, has made a bold claim: electric vehicles will soon be seen as the obvious choice — not because of regulations, but because consumers will simply realize they’re better.
Drawing a comparison between the shift from horse-drawn travel to the internal combustion engine, Sander argued that today’s car buyers face a similar inflection point. “You can still buy a horse today, but nobody does — because a car is more comfortable, more convenient, safer, and cheaper. EVs will follow the exact same path. People will choose them naturally, not because a law tells them to.”
Sander also highlighted how Volkswagen’s hard-won experience in China is now feeding back into its European strategy. “Everything we’ve learned in China helps us build more competitive products elsewhere, because we’re competing with Chinese manufacturers in those markets too,” he said. “For us, it comes down to scale, efficiency, and cost. We have no alternative but to be competitive.”
On the topic of powertrains, Sander was equally definitive: extended-range electric vehicles (EREVs) are not coming to Europe. Volkswagen already offers hybrid, plug-in hybrid, and full battery-electric models, he noted, and while the EREV segment exists in China, he sees no comparable demand in Germany or the broader European market — at least not yet.
