VW has been a global powerhouse for decades, but the German manufacturer is struggling with the shift to electric cars.

VW has been a global powerhouse for decades, but the German manufacturer is struggling with the shift to electric cars.

Photographers: Paolo Koch/Gamma-Rapho/Getty Images, Matt Cardy/Getty Images,National Motor Museum/Heritage Images/Getty Images, Pierre Bessard/REA/Redux, Jochen Eckel/ Bloomberg, Krisztian Bocsi/Bloomberg
 

The Big Take

Tesla and China Risk Leaving Volkswagen on a Road to Nowhere

Automotive powerhouse is under pressure to step up its electric-vehicle strategy, and fast.

Shortly after taking the most important job in German industry, Volkswagen AG Chief Executive Officer Oliver Blume got some bad news.

A top executive had been dispatched to China to review the competitive landscape and his assessment was grim. At the company’s headquarters in Wolfsburg — a sprawling factory complex the size of Monaco — he told his new boss that Europe’s largest carmaker was losing the electric-vehicle race in its most important market and had no prospect of catching up on its own.