Volkswagen execs have been talking some smack about Tesla. “Anything Tesla can do, we can surpass,” CEO Herbert Diess said in May.

VW is working on its first native EV (that is, the first one not adapted from an ICE vehicle), code-named the ID Concept, and it has released specs comparable to those of Tesla’s Model 3. It plans to launch the vehicle in Europe in 2019.

At the recent Automobil Forum in Germany (via Electrek), Volkswagen Chief Strategist Thomas Sedran said that the company hopes to sell the new vehicle for about $7,000 to $8,000 less than the price of a Model 3.

“We are confident that in this new world we will become a market leader. [Tesla] is a competitor we take seriously,” said Mr Diess. “Tesla comes from a high-priced segment, however they are moving down. It’s our ambition, with our new architecture, to stop them there, to rein them in.”

Source: Electrek