The new Volkswagen Brand Board of Management is beginning to publicly talk about its plans for the future - and how they've changed.

VW says as soon as possible it will start equipping all its diesel cars in Europe and North America with AdBlue technology and selective catalytic reduction. Though, it adds difficulty and expense - $5,000 to $8,000 per car - but it eliminates 70 to 90 percent of NOx emissions.

Giving impetus to plug-in hybrids and electric vehicles, the company announced the next-generation Volkswagen Phaeton this week. The first Phaeton was an engineering genius that became one of the finest executive sedans ever created.

The company says, "The Volkswagen Phaeton has embodied the brand's technological competence and brand ambition from the first generation onward. It intends to make the new Phaeton "the flagship for the brand's profile over the next decade."

Along with electric drive, VW promises the Phaeton will deliver "an emotional design."

This is not an easy transition to make. Till now, the pure electric vehicle market has been divided in two, with the roughly $100,000, 265-mile range Tesla on one side, and more reasonable, 85-mile range city cars on the other.

It is hard to believe how VW can bring out a fully electric large sedan with a realistic price tag anytime soon.