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VW Brand Chief Sees 3-4 Years of Restructuring Ahead

Herbert Diess, who heads Volkswagen Group’s VW brand, says the unit will won’t finish restructuring and recovering from its diesel emission cheating scandal until about 2020.

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Herbert Diess, who heads Volkswagen Group’s VW brand, says the unit will won’t finish restructuring and recovering from its diesel emission cheating scandal until about 2020. Still, he claims the brand already is "getting back on track."

Global VW brand sales this year through the first eight months were flat at 3.83 million units. But the debut of redesigned Tiguan crossover vehicle and Touran MPV helped boost volume 5% in August.

The brand is scrambling to streamline production, simplify its product lineup and grant more autonomy to regional markets. Part of the relaunch is a massive shift in product focus from diesels to hybrid and all-electric vehicles.

Diess says the latter move is personified by the I.D. concept that VW unveiled at the Paris auto show this week. The 167-hp electric hatchback, which will go into production in 2020, promises a range of 300-400 km (190-250 miles).

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