Volkswagen Records Increase in Electric Car Sales, but Faces the Challenge of Decreasing Orders, How Come?

JAKARTA - The Volkswagen Group recorded an increase in sales of all its electric cars during the first nine months of this year, but this was inversely proportional to a decrease in the number of orders.

This reflects a broader decline in demand for new electric vehicles, which is also being experienced by many other car manufacturers, quoted from the Carscoops page, Tuesday, October 31.

According to company reports, during the first nine months of 2023, the VW Group successfully delivered approximately 531,500 battery-electric vehicles worldwide, recording an increase of 40 percent compared to the previous year.

Europe remained the company's most important market for battery electric vehicles with shipments increasing by 61 percent, reaching 341,100 units. Meanwhile in the United States market, the number of deliveries also increased by 74 percent, reaching 50,300 units.

On the other hand, sales of VW Group battery electric vehicles in China also increased by 4 percent, reaching 117,100 units, with estimates of the increase continuing to reach 8-10 percent until the end of the year.

Despite the positive sales results, Volkswagen Chief Financial Officer & Chief Operating Officer, Arno Antlitz, noted that orders for battery electric vehicles had decreased to 150,000 units at the end of Q3, down significantly from 300,000 units in the previous year.

"Current orders are below the ambitious target as the overall market trend is lower than expected," said Hildehard Wortmann, VW's head of marketing and sales.

In more detail, Volkswagen's best-selling EV during the January to September period was the twin models ID.4 and ID.5, which sold 162,100 units. Meanwhile, the ID.3 is in second place with 90,500 units, followed by other models.