$7.1 billion is a whole lot of money. To put that in perspective, if you had $7.1 billion, you could buy roughly 2,100 record-breaking Bugatti Chiron hypercars. Recently, that's exactly how much VW invested in, well, a lot of things. By and large, the massive sum is designed to help VW hit its target of 55% of its US sales being fully electric models like the just-revealed Volkswagen ID. Buzz.

But the Volkswagen Auto Group has just announced it has earmarked that money for more than just pushing its electric cars to the forefront of customers' minds. The money will be invested over the next five years into the North American region per Scott Keogh, CEO of VW America, to "boost its product portfolio," as well as regional R&D and manufacturing capabilities like factories.

VW says it will hit that 55% target through a number of methods. It hopes that by locally integrating its combustion engine and electric vehicle assembly (meaning building them all in the same places), further developing its EV's batteries, and continuing to develop better and smarter software, it can push buyers into VW-branded EVs like the ID.4 or aforementioned ID. Buzz. With that EV-centric push, Volkswagen also plans to phase out combustion vehicles. By 2030, VW plans to have more than 25 new EVs on offer for customers.

VW is also keen on pointing out the importance of the North American region in this plan. As of today, more than 90% of VW's North American cars are produced inNorth America. A big part of that is the brand's plant in Chattanooga, Tenessee, which builds models like the Atlas. But the brand's investment in North America goes further than building cars. VW also plans to bring design and engineering research into NA by 2030.

Clearly, the idea here is that Volkswagen increases its presence in North America on all fronts. We wouldn't be surprised to see a VW model taken from paper to sheet metal entirely within NA within the next 8-10 years. As the electric vehicle market heats up, it won't be long before other brands match VW's move, if they haven't already. Clearly, VW has spent that $7.1 billion in a much better way, investing in itself rather than going out and buying 2,000 Chirons.