Amir's visit to Germany represents opportunity for new partnerships: Chairman of Volkswagen

Chairman of the Group Board of Management of Volkswagen Group Dr Oliver Blume said that the visit of His Highness the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani to Germany proves the depth of relations between the two countries, noting that it provides a chance to discuss new partnerships.

In an interview with Qatar News Agency (QNA), Dr Oliver Blume said that Qatar is of strategic importance to the Volkswagen Group, which gives the Group a great marketing and investment power. "We are every happy about this partnership and are looking forward for many more years of successful collaboration," he said.

He added that, "The visit of His Highness the Amir shows the interest of Qatar to further strengthen the relationships with German authorities and companies. It also provides the chance to discuss how German companies and Qatar can further collaborate, most notably Volkswagen, which has enjoyed very strong relations for many years." On discussing the establishment of new partnerships during the visit of His Highness the Amir, Dr Blume indicated that collaboration with Qatar is of strategic importance to the Volkswagen Group, especially at a time where the automotive industry is facing many challenges, which is why the Group is keen to enhance collaboration by concluding new partnerships with a strong investment partner like Qatar to achieve further success.

Regarding ways through which the Volkswagen Group can benefit from investment opportunities in Qatar to expand business in the Gulf region, Dr Blume said Qatar is more than ever playing a central role in this region, that is why we have an ambitious plan to expand investments in Qatar to be a launching point for enhancing and increasing investments in the region, adding, "Qatar and most of the countries in the Middle East region are growing at a fast pace.

He added: "Qatar is a very important, strategic partner for the Volkswagen Group, which gives the Group a great marketing and investment power. We are very happy with this partnership and we look forward to many years of collaboration." On Volkswagen's aspiration to co-operate with Qatar to support environmental initiatives, Chairman of Volkswagen said, "our global electrification has already started to be implemented in Qatar. From the product side, we focus on offering our latest products in Qatar." "We have already successfully launched several fully electric vehicles, like our Audi Q8 e-tron, Audi e-tron GT and the Porsche Taycan. Customers' response to the cars has been very positive," he added.

He also revealed that, "the new Audi Q6 e-tron will follow early in 2025," noting, "we believe in making future mobility as efficient and as clean as possible." "We have also decided to expand our footprint in the Middle East by introducing one more brand of our portfolio in the region. In addition to Volkswagen, Audi, Porsche, Lamborghini and Bentley, we are now in the launch phase of Skoda in the Middle East," he said, indicating that, "the first market response is very promising." Chairman of Volkswagen commended the State of Qatar's efforts in adopting environmentally friendly modern technology in the field of transport, saying, "Qatar is very proactive in looking at new technologies around mobility." "Volkswagen Group Middle East is in frequent contact with Qatar authorities and business regarding this," he continued.

On supporting infrastructure projects, Dr Blume said, "on the infrastructure side, our sales company Volkswagen Group Middle East, together with our local partner Q-Auto and Siemens Middle East, have started to deploy high speech charging stations in Doha." "The most recent chargers have been inaugurated on The Pearl, allowing our customer to easily charge their vehicles," he added.

In regard to cooperation in research and development, Dr Blume said, "our presence in Qatar allows us to discuss and exchange about this long-term vision and potentially identify collaboration fields," noting that, "discussions about road infrastructure and of the available technologies in the cars, for example, help to better anticipate the required regulations before autonomous cars hit the road." "We keep the discussion open and help to identify further opportunities for co-operation in the future," he continued.

On cooperation opportunities in the field of training and education, he pointed out, "We are also further exploring cooperation in the education field, not only for technicians and workers, but also to develop management skills in our dealerships." Chairman of Volkswagen Group concluded his interview with QNA by saying, "the Volkswagen Group is strongly believing in the co-operation with Qatar, and we are looking forward to many more years of collaboration."