The U.S. stock-market craze for all things to do with electric vehicles is showing its first signs of crossing the Atlantic.
Volkswagen ’s preference stock, the form of VW equity traded by most investors, has risen 16% this week to a six-year high. The company, which vies with Toyota for the title of world’s largest auto maker by sales, unveiled Monday a new battery strategy resembling that of Tesla. On Tuesday, Chief Executive Herbert Diess pledged to harness VW’s scale by standardizing batteries, software, production and services across its brands, which include Audi and Porsche as well as VW itself.
