BERLIN, (Reuters) – Volkswagen (ETR) said Thursday that its electric vehicle division will soon be as profitable and as efficient as the fossil fuel-burning ones. Herbert Diess was speaking at Volkswagen’s Annual Shareholder Meeting.

Volkswagen was previously expecting to be able to equal its profit margins for combustion engine vehicles by selling electric cars within two or three years. Diess explained that Volkswagen is still in a solid financial position in spite of the challenging economic environment.

Diess indicated that “we expect the e–mobility business to be as profitable than the combustion engine company sooner than we had planned.” We are financially strong and resilient because of our crisis management.

Volkswagen’s goal is to surpass Tesla (NASDAQ) by 2025 and be the number one electric car maker in the world. This will happen through its larger product range that includes premium and luxury cars, as well as volumes brands.

Volkswagen produced 452,000 batteries-electric cars globally in 2013 and plans to have half its worldwide output all-electric by 2030.

Tesla has stated it hopes to have 20 million cars on the roads by 2010, having produced 936,000 vehicles last year.