Volkswagen increases global EV sales by 45 percent
At the latest after Volkswagen plans to cut hundreds of jobs at its electric car factory in Zwickau due to the market situation, there are concerns about the market position of Germany’s largest carmaker. The figures now presented on global electric car sales show slight progress, but this must be viewed in a differentiated manner: For the group’s brands are developing quite differently.
Volkswagen increased its deliveries of electric cars by 45 per cent to 531,500 vehicles worldwide in the first nine months of 2023. Let’s remember: in the H1 data, the figure was 321,600 units. In the third quarter, ergo, 209,900 were added.
The BEV share of total deliveries rose to 7.9 per cent between January and September, up from 6.1 per cent in the same period last year. In the third quarter, the BEV share climbed to 9.0 per cent, compared to 6.8 per cent a year ago.
Volkswagen’s statistics also differentiate territorially: 64 per cent of the group’s BEV deliveries were in Europe, followed by China with 22 per cent, the USA with ten per cent and four per cent in other markets. The Wolfsburg-based company explains that Europe remains the main driver of its own electrification strategy – with an increase of 61 per cent to 341,100 BEVs in the first nine months of the year. For the USA, the manufacturer recorded 74 per cent (from 28,900 to 50,300 BEVs) for China plus 4 per cent (from 112,700 to 117,100 BEVs).
If we focus on the performance of the various Group brands, the following picture emerges: the Volkswagen Passenger Cars brand delivered 273,000 fully electric vehicles by the end of September, just over half of all the Group’s BEVs. It is followed by Audi with 123,000 vehicles (Group share 23 per cent), Skoda with 54,400 vehicles (10 per cent), Seat/Cupra with 32,300 vehicles (6 per cent), Porsche with 27,900 vehicles (5 per cent) and Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles with 19,600 vehicles (4 per cent).
The following table shows that the sales growth of the brands is developing quite differently. Seat/Cupra and Audi and VW Commercial Vehicles have developed more strongly in terms of the 45 percent average growth in the first nine months of the year. VW Passenger Cars and Porsche, on the other hand, performed below average. Skoda is almost exactly on average with 47.6 per cent. If we zoom in on the third quarter with 40 per cent more BEVs sold across the group (compared to Q3/2022), Porsche, Skoda and Audi show improved figures, Seat/Cupra loses a little, VW Passenger Cars is only at 18.7 per cent sales growth. The increase at VW Commercial Vehicles, whose BEV quarterly sales were still in triple digits last year, is remarkable. This is reflected in the premiere of the ID. Buzz – with an increase of almost 1,000 per cent in EV deliveries.
The Wolfsburg-based company also highlights the most successful BEV models in the first nine months of 2023. These were the Volkswagen ID.4/ID.5 (162,100 units sold), the Volkswagen ID.3 (90,500), the Audi Q4 e-tron (incl. Sportback, 77,900), the Skoda Enyaq iV (incl. Coupé, 54,400), the Cupra Born (32,300) and the Audi Q8 e-tron (incl. Sportback, 21,800). Volkswagen does not report any other models.
The known half-year figures do not allow Volkswagen to publish a separate model ranking for the third quarter. The VW ID.4/ID.5 sold 60,900 units, the ID.3 40,700, the Audi Q4 e-tron (incl. Sportback) 29,900, its sister model the Skoda Enyaq (incl. Coupé) 23,100 and the Audi Q8 e-tron (incl. Sportback) 2,300. The Cupra Born was not among the top 5 at the half-year point, which is why its Q3 sales cannot be reconstructed.
Hildegard Wortmann, Member of the Extended Executive Board for Sales, comments on the result as follows: “We showed a good overall performance in our all-electric deliveries with a global increase of 45 percent in the first nine months. Despite the current general reluctance in the European market to buy battery-powered vehicles, we gained market share and remained market leader in this segment. However, our order intake is below our ambitious targets due to the lower than expected overall market trend.”
0 Comments