Volkswagen expects to become the most profitable manufacturer of electric cars thanks to a multi-billion euro expansion plan to mass produce battery driven vehicles, Chief Executive Herbert Diess said on Friday. VW will spend almost 44 billion euros ($50 billion) on developing electric cars, autonomous driving and new mobility services by 2023 and explore further areas of cooperation with U.S. automaker Ford.

Diess said he hoped to have an outline agreement on cooperation with Ford fleshed out by the end of the year, with the initial focus on commercial vehicles. He added that a merger with Ford was not on the agenda and also said there were no plans to take a stake in the American company.

Mass producing electric cars will help the carmaker reduce the cost to the same level as current diesel vehicles, Diess said at a news conference in Wolfsburg, VW’s home town, according to Reuters.

“Very emotional vehicles, high economies of scale, I think we will be the most profitable company in electric vehicles,” Diess said, responding to a question in English.

The supervisory board of Europe’s largest carmaker voted on far reaching capital spending plans to begin mass production of electric vehicles in Europe, the most radical strategy shift since VW’s diesel cheating scandal in 2015.