Employees work light armored tactical reconnaissance vehicles on the maintenance line at a plant in Garchizy, France. (Nathan Laine/Bloomberg)
Volkswagen AG is prepared to support the ramp-up of Europe’s defense capacity as the region’s decades-long military alliance with the U.S. becomes increasingly brittle under President Donald Trump.
No concrete discussions have so far taken place, but the German carmaker is ready to advise other manufacturers on the development and production of armed vehicles, Chief Executive Officer Oliver Blume said Tuesday during the company’s annual media conference in Wolfsburg.
“We have automotive expertise and are also available to provide advice, but at the moment everything is completely open,” Blume said.
European leaders have pledged to boost defense spending to shore up support for Ukraine after Trump halted military aid and stopped sharing some intelligence with Kyiv’s forces.
Europe’s largest carmaker has a history in defense. Beyond producing armed vehicles for the Nazis in World War II, the company developed and manufactured the Volkswagen Type 181 for the West German Army and then for civilian customers in the UK and the U.S., where the model was better known as The Thing.
Volkswagen already has a role in the defense industry via a joint venture between its MAN Truck & Bus brand and Rheinmetall AG, which makes military vehicles.
The defense spending initiatives from the EU and Germany’s fledgling government coalition “are exactly right, given the geopolitical situation we are in,” Blume said. “We simply have to invest more again in order to position ourselves with greater security.”
