Volkswagen Group’s electric sales are in decline

The results are not good. At the end of the first quarter of 2024, the Volkswagen group saw its global sales of electric vehicles decline by 3.3%, to 136,400 units.

The situation is particularly worrying in Europe, where filings decreased by 24.3% (74,400 units), and to a lesser extent in the United States (-16.2%) where filings did not start at all (13,200 units).

Strong growth in China (+91.2%, 41,000 units) and in the rest of the world (+40.6%, 7,800 units) is not enough for the German group to achieve balance.

160,000 EV on cover

Volkswagen executives are trying to offset this poor performance by announcing a massive inventory of 160,000 electric vehicles. Order intake has even more than doubled (+154%) in Western Europe.

“The increase in BEV order intake in Europe suggests future growth in this segment throughout the year, whether in our historical market or globally.“, analyze Hildegard Wortmannmember of the group’s extended executive committee in charge of sales.

Read also: Volkswagen will make a comeback in 2023 but remains cautious for 2024

The manufacturer is also counting on the launch of several electric models in the coming months to turn the tide. Volkswagen will be able to rely on the ID.7 Tourer and ID.Buzz with an extended wheelbase, Cupra on the Tavascan, Audi on the Q6 e-tron and Porsche on the Macan Electric.

The good news for the VW group in the quarter is the good performance of hot car sales (+4%). This allows to finish the green period, with the start of 2.10 million, an amount of 3.1%.

Audi and Porsche in decline

It was Western Europe where sales were highest, with 790,100 units, but the results are not good as the group shows a decrease of 0.7%. In China (693,600, +7.6%), North America (227,100, +4.8%), Latin America (118,500, +14.4%), Eastern Europe (116,600, +2.3%) and the Middle East/Africa (87,200, +6.8%) ), the situation is better.

As for the brand, Volkswagen recorded an increase of 5.7% in the quarter, to 1,079,700 units. Skoda (+5.2%, 220,500), Seat/Cupra (+10.6%, 138,600), and VW VU (+7.8%, 104,800) also performed well.

The division of payments, on the other hand, is stuck. With 396,900 registrations, Audi posted a 4.5% decrease. Porsche is not much better with 77,600 units and a decrease of 3.9% compared to the first quarter of 2023.