Volkswagen is leaving open the option of an IPO for its battery division PowerCo.

The company announced on Tuesday in response to a query that the financing plan for the division remains in place; this also includes being ready for investors from 2024. Investor interest is high. "An IPO is an option for the future." However, VW also has the resources and expertise to finance PowerCo within the Group.

With PowerCo, Volkswagen is reducing its dependence on suppliers and improving its negotiating position with third parties, the statement continued. The company is currently building three battery plants in Germany, Spain and Canada, which are due to go into operation from 2025. With the single cell and a standardized production concept, the foundation for competitive battery cell production has been laid, PowerCo announced. "We are on the way to achieving our goal of reducing costs by up to 50 percent."

The Bloomberg agency had previously reported, citing insiders, that an IPO or the sale of shares to an investor would no longer be a priority this year or next. However, VW could push ahead with the plans again if the situation on the capital market improves. It was only on Monday that French car manufacturer Renault halted its IPO plans for its electric car division Ampere.

(Report by Victoria Waldersee and Christina Amann. Edited by Olaf Brenner. If you have any questions, please contact our editorial team at Berlin.Newsroom@thomsonreuters.com (for politics and the economy) or Frankfurt.Newsroom@thomsonreuters.com (for companies and markets)