Reports say that VW’s electric vehicle supply for 2022 has been sold out.
Volkswagen CEO Herbert Deiss announced that the automaker has “basically sold out of electric vehicles in Europe and the United States.”—according to The Verge. This includes brands such as Porsche, Audi and Škoda.
Anyone who wants to purchase an EV from VW and the group’s other brands may have to wait until 2023 as the company faces chip shortage and production issues from COVID shutdowns in China.
Last quarter, VW sold more than 99,000 electric vehicles globally, as it was hit by a shortage of semiconductors and wiring harnesses made in Ukraine. In contrast, Tesla, sold around 310,000 units during the same period.
Deiss said that the company has an order backlog of 300,000 electric cars in Europe. He said: “We have very high order books and intake on electric vehicles.”
“That accounts for all of our models from ID.3, ID.4, the Audi models, (all) are extremely well received in the markets, Škoda models are also very well received in Europe,” Deiss added.
Volkswagen is aiming for at least 700,000 electric vehicle sales for 2022, attempting to catch up with EV market-dominant Tesla. However, production is hampered, particularly in VW’s largest market, China, where they sold 28,800 electric cars during Q1 amidst the COVID-19 lockdowns.
However, Chief Financial Officer Arno Antlitz said he remained confident that VW’s electric business would pick up the pace. “From where we are now, we anticipate a constantly growing battery electric vehicle volume and share in every quarter of 2022.”
