Volkswagen could claim leading brand status in the electric vehicle (EV) market from Tesla as soon as 2024, according to new research compiled by Bloomberg Intelligence (BI).

The German OEM, which counts brands including Audi, Cupra, Seat, Skoda and VW among its portfolio, is already launching a flurry of zero-emission models and Bloomberg believes that Elon Musk’s pioneering brand now has just 18 months remaining at top spot.

Last month AM reported that VW Group chief executive Herbert Deiss had conceded that the race with Tesla to become the world’s leading EV producer by 2025 would be “tight”.

Addressing the Financial Times’ Future of the Car Summit, Diess said: “I didn’t expect our main US competitor’s growth to be so fast.”

But BI’s ‘Battery Electric Vehicles Report – Automakers Race to the Top’ found that VW is on track to overtake Tesla's EV volume in 2024 as global EV demand more than doubles in the period to 2025.