San Francisco, Jun 30 (IANS): Herbert Diess, the current chairman of the board of management of the German motor vehicle manufacturer Volkswagen Group, has said that the carmaker will take the lead over Elon Musk's Tesla by 2025.

During a meeting at the company's headquarters in Germany, Diess said that Tesla will lose its strength trying to ramp up two gigafactories -- one in Austin, Texas and the other in Grunheide, Germany, reports the Daily Mail.

He sees this as an opportunity to take the lead, as Volkswagen is running at full capacity.

"Elon must simultaneously ramp up two highly complex factories in Austin and Grunheide -- and expand production in Shanghai. That will cost him strength," he told workers on Tuesday, as first reported by Financial Times.

"We have to seize this opportunity and catch up quickly -- by 2025 we can be in the lead," he added.

Diess has had his sights set on Tesla for quite some time -- earlier this year he said Volkswagen is capable of selling more electric vehicles than its rival by 2025.

During the presentation, Diess also mentioned that Tesla is weakening and then presented a slide with a meme that showed actor Jason Momoa representing Volkswagen creeping up behind fellow actor Henry Cavill cast as Tesla.

Diess and Musk are friendly outside of the EV race, but the German executive continually notes Tesla as Volkswagen's biggest rival.

Volkswagen sold 4,52,900 electric vehicles worldwide in 2021, while Tesla sold 9,30,422. It is listed fourth when it comes to electric car companies and fifth among the largest EV companies.