Volkswagen Battery EV Sales Could Surpass Tesla Next Year, Says Deutsche Bank

Volkswagen has been boldly climbing the battery electric vehicle (BEV) ladder, with its shares up over 50% this year.

On Monday, Deutsche Bank analysts raised their price target on Volkswagen from €185 ($220 USD) to €250 ($298 USD), led by analyst Tim Rokossa, reports Market Watch. The news, which was shared in a note to clients, shows high confidence from the analyst in Volkswagen, with them even expecting the company to surpass Tesla as soon as next year.

Rokossa thinks Volkswagen should come “very close to Tesla’s BEV sales” this year, especially with the company’s current target of selling 1 million EVs this year.

Rokossa continued, “Moreover, with the global rollout of the ID.4 we see a good chance that VW could surpass Tesla’s BEV sales as soon as next year, which should increase the credit given to its EV strategy.” said Rokossa.

Volkswagen’s ID.4 5-seater compact crossover SUV is expected to start hitting dealerships this spring. The company also announced plans in recent weeks to build six EV battery factories across Europe, directly rivalling Tesla’s currently under-construction Gigafactory Berlin.

Last month, Volkswagen CEO Herbert Diess announced that the company is “not afraid” of the upcoming autonomous Apple Car, shortly after VW released plans to partner with Microsoft on the development of a self-driving platform.