German luxury carmaker Audi is setting ambitious sales targets when it comes to electric vehicles, with the goal of one quarter the cars it sells being EVs by 2025.
That is according to a Reuters report that cites company sources about the decision, which comes in the wake of the emissions scandal at parent company Volkswagen.
According to the report, Audi will now utilize a third of its research budget on electric vehicles, autonomous driving and digital services.
Audi sold 1.8 million vehicles last year, so a quarter of that figure would represent 450,000 vehicles around the world.
That would set up Audi as a serious challenger to Tesla, which wants to sell half a million EVs by 2020.
The details of Audi's strategy shift, which has also been reported by German business newspaper Handelsblatt, will be revealed to company managers on Wednesday, Reuters says.
The source told the news agency that Audi would cut back on its research into conventional combustion engines to free up cash for the EV program.
The Audi plans follow on the news last month that Volkswagen would also spend billions of dollars toward research for electric cars, automated driving and ride hailing in a move to become a leader of green transport by 2025.
In North America, Audi currently sells the A3 Sportback e-tron, a plug-in hybrid version of the A3. The company also has the Q5 hybrid and the Q7 e-tron 3.0 TDI
