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13 March 2018 By Liam Proud Follow @liamwardproud

The carmaker’s shares are priced at a 20 pct discount to German rivals Daimler and BMW. That’s despite fast growth, a rising operating margin and scale that gives it an edge in electric vehicles. Cost cuts and a full year without unexpected diesel provisions would help close the gap.

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Volkswagen on March 13 said it had selected partners to provide battery cells and related technologies worth around 20 billion euros for its electric-vehicle projects in Europe and China.

Europe's largest automaker said on Tuesday it will expand EV production to 16 factories worldwide through the end of 2022.

VW has a goal to launch 80 new electric cars across the group by 2025 and offer an electric version of each of its 300 group models by 2030.

The German group’s revenue last year was 230.7 billion euros, up 6.2 percent from the previous year. Operating profit, excluding special items such as higher provisions for costs from its historic diesel crisis, was 17 billion euros. That implies an operating margin of 7.4 percent, compared with 6.7 percent in 2016.

The group expects revenue growth of as much as 5 percent this year, and an operating margin of between 6.5 and 7.5 percent.

VW’s shares were up 0.3 percent to 159.08 euros at 1150 GMT.

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