EV Trends Are Not Stable, VW Will Increase PHEV Models In The Next Few Years

Photo: Doc. Volkswagen

JAKARTA - In the midst of declining demand for electric vehicles (EVs) globally, Volkswagen (VW) will invest in Plug-In Hybrid (PHEV) technology in the coming years.

According to the company, this is the right step in bridging towards complete electrification. Currently, VW sells a number of models with this technology consisting of Golf, Passat, and Tiguan.

Volkswagen CEO Thomas Schafer, said the PHEV system could launch and increase production given the current EV demand instability.

When we said we would offer Tiguan, Golf, Passat and so on, many questioned it. Now, we are happy to have done so and may be extending it soon," Schafer was quoted as saying by Autocar, Thursday, May 9.

Despite betting on PHEV, Schafer explained that the future of mobility is electric and hybrid acting as a bridge towards the final phase of complete electrification.

Schafer also added that his party will issue a number of products with the same drivetrains such as Golf, Passat, and Tiguan. This is done for the sake of producing vehicles to be more effective in order to expand the PHEV market.

"We will continue to develop it, but is it necessary to create a completely new drivetrain? I don't think so," said Schafer.

So far, PHEV technology from VW is one of the furthest on the market. According to the company's claims, PHEV versions of Golf, Passat, and Tiguan can cover a distance of up to 100 km with pure power.

This achievement surpassed industrial credit growth which grew by 12.4 percent on an annual basis at the end of March 2024.

Bank Mandiri also prioritizes the principle of prudence, including carrying out various initiatives and service innovations for all customers and stakeholders to achieve sustainable business growth.

This effort also bore fruit, as seen from Bank Mandiri's better asset quality position, compared to five large banks. It was noted that Gross bank only's non-performing loan ratio (NPL) which was maintained to 1.02 percent as of March 2024, fell 68 basis points (bps) from the same period last year which was 1.7 percent.

At the same time, Bank Mandiri is also very prudent and conservative in setting credit reserves, as reflected in the coverage ratio of bank only which is at the level of 368 percent. Improvements in terms of credit quality are also reflected in credit or cost of credit (CoC) costs which are maintained at a low level of 0.99 percent as of the end of March 2024.

The growth in financial performance was also driven by a series of Bank Mandiri's innovations and digital strategies. One of them is through Super App Livin' by Mandiri which has been able to manage 846 million transactions in the first quarter of 2024, an increase of 41.7 percent yoy with the number of users reaching 24.4 million, up 40 percent yoy.

Meanwhile, the value of Livin' by Mandiri transactions in the first quarter of 2024 has reached Rp921 trillion, which also grew by 27.4 percent when compared to the same period as last year.

The presence of Livin' by Mandiri has contributed to the company's non-interest income growth, which is reflected in Livin' (FBI) by Mandiri's fee-based income of IDR 557 billion, an increase of 25.5 percent YoY.

As for the Wholesale Digital Super Platform Kopra by Mandiri service, it has consistently succeeded in becoming a market leader for digital wholesale transactions by managing IDR 4,773 trillion transactions until the first quarter of 2024.

In addition, the growth of Kopra by Mandiri users has also more than doubled in the past year to 200 thousand users as of the end of March 2024, of which 93 percent of the giro are contributed by Kopra by Mandiri users.

This digital optimization also contributed to the growth of Bank Mandiri's consolidated third party funds (DPK) which reached 13 percent yoy from Rp1,391 trillion in the first quarter of 2023 to Rp1,572 trillion at the end of the first quarter of 2024. This growth was driven by savings which rose 10.6 percent yoy to Rp607 trillion on a consolidated basis.

In addition to recording positive financial performance, as an agent of development, Bank Mandiri also continues to be committed to contributing to national development that supports a sustainable ecosystem. This commitment is realized by implementing environmental, social and governance principles or environmental, social and governance (ESG) of Bank Mandiri.

So that in total, Bank Mandiri's sustainable portfolio managed to grow 14 percent from March 2023 to IDR 264 trillion at the end of March 2024. This amount is equivalent to 24 percent of Bank Mandiri's total credit portfolio.