Federal Minister of Economics Robert Habeck calls on Volkswagen to make affordable electric cars quickly.

There must be offers for around 20,000 euros that everyone can afford, said the Green Party candidate for chancellor at a Handelsblatt event in Berlin on Friday. "Your name is Volkswagen and not luxury cars." Germany must be careful that Chinese companies and the US company Tesla do not dominate the market of the future.

Habeck said that Germany could do more to boost the market. He made suggestions on Thursday: a charging credit of 1000 euros when buying used or new e-cars and tax incentives for small and medium-sized incomes.

(Report by Christian Krämer, edited by Christian Rüttger. 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).