VW's Diess is coming for Musk's EV market share

Tesla Inc. plans to expand its product portfolio in the next few years and cement its status as the world's leading electric vehicle maker, but Volkswagen Group has designs on Tesla's crown.

Volkswagen, under CEO Herbert Diess, wants to overtake Tesla to become the world's largest seller of EVs by 2025 — and analyst firm LMC Automotive says it's on track to do so.

It plans to launch about 70 battery-powered models globally by 2030 and has said it soon will reveal plans for a more aggressive U.S. strategy following the Biden administration's recent EV goals.

The Volkswagen brand sells the electric ID4 here and by mid-decade is expected to add the ID Buzz Microbus and the ID Aero sedan.

Tesla, meanwhile, plans to continue churning out the hot-selling Model 3 sedan and Model Y crossover and says it expects 50 percent average annual volume growth. Its global production should get a boost when new plants in Germany and Texas come online, potentially this year.

The California company will attempt to break in to the popular — and profitable — U.S. pickup market with the unique-looking Cybertruck, launching late next year, and could further expand its portfolio to include an inexpensive compact vehicle and a van.

If there was any doubt about VW's ambitions, it was settled when Diess joined Twitter early this year and used his first tweet to call out Tesla CEO and social media aficionado Elon Musk.

"Hello, @Twitter!" he wrote. "I'm here to make an impact with @VWGroup, especially on political issues. And, of course, to get some of your market shares, @elonmusk — after all, our ID.3 and e-tron have won the first markets in Europe. Looking forward to productive discussions!"