German car giant Volkswagen has chosen Canada to build its first battery plant outside Europe to localize its electric vehicle production chain in the region.

Volkswagen plans to invest 180 billion euros ($192.76 billion) over the next five years in areas including battery production and its North American operations, it said on Tuesday (March 14), with spending on combustion engines to fall from 2025.

Porsche CEO Oliver Blume has begun his dual role as the head of Volkswagen. Blume is taking over at a sensitive time for the German carmaker, as it tries to pull off a shift to electric vehicles.

Diess will be succeeded in his role by Porsche boss Oliver Blume, according to the carmaker.

The German car giant has claimed its presence in Xinjiang has a positive impact despite reports of ongoing human rights abuses. VW is also facing accusations of using slave labor in Brazil under the former dictatorship.

Owners of VW cars in the Netherlands will be entitled to compensation of between €1,500 and €3,000 over the diesel emissions scandal, an Amsterdam court ruled.

The German automobile giant has now set a timeline for its exit from combustion engine cars. The changes will affect Europe first, with the US and China to follow "a little later."

The auto group says past executives breached their "duty of care." Both ex-Volkswagen and Audi CEOs, Martin Winterkorn and Rupert Stadler, have rejected the accusations.

The German automobile maker has expressed grave concerns over the use of Nazi imagery by a Mexican distributor. Volkswagen said it "strongly" disapproved of showing such images at affiliated facilities.

Nearly 50 hours of secretly recorded conversations appear to show Volkswagen engaging in legally dubious behavior in a dispute with a supplier. Now the carmaker is investigating who released them to the media.

VW is under pressure for working with the Chinese government in Xinjiang after evidence of human rights abuses against Uighurs in the region. Meanwhile, the German and US governments urged China to uphold human rights.

German carmakers Daimler, BMW and Volkswagen have been ordered to pay €100 million for forming a cartel to fix steel prices. Germany's competition watchdog has zeroed in the steel industry in recent years.