Volkswagen Group's Electric Vehicle Sales Double in Q3, YTD Sales Are Up 138% Compared to 2020

author: FutureCar Staff    

The fully-electric Volkswagen ID.4 is one of many new electrified models in the works.

Automaker Volkswagen reported strong electric vehicle sales in the third quarter of 2021, despite dealing with the auto industry's chip shortage since the beginning of the year.

The company reported that 122,100 battery-electric vehicles (BEVs) were delivered to customers from July 1 to Sept 30, an increase of 109% compared with the same period in 2020.

The BEV share of VW's total global deliveries rose to over 6% in Q3. Globally, VW delivered a total of 293,100 EVs in Q3, representing a 138% increase from Q3 2020. 

A significant portion of Volkswagen's EVs sales were in China, which is the world's biggest auto market. The automaker delivered 28,900 BEVs in Q3 in China compared with 18,300 in the first half of the year.  YTD sales in China reached 47,200 BEVs as of the end of September, which accounts for 16% percent of the Group's global BEV deliveries.

"As planned, we significantly accelerated the BEV market ramp-up in China in the third quarter, and we are on track to meeting our target for the year of delivering 80,000 to 100,000 vehicles of the ID. model family," said Christian Dahlheim, Head of VW Group Sales.

The automaker also reported increased demand for its plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs). A total of 246,000 PHEVs were delivered in the first nine months, more than twice as many as in the prior-year period.

Although BEV sales in China are on the rise, the majority of VW's PHEV and BEV sales were in Europe. The automaker delivered 209,800 vehicles in Q3, representing 72% of all of its electrified vehicle sales.

In the U.S., the Volkswagen Group delivered 27,300 BEVs in Q3, accounting for around 9% of its global BEV deliveries.

"Our global electric offensive continues to run at full speed; we are clearly the number one for all-electric vehicles in Europe, and the number 2 in the USA," said Dahlheim. "In China, we really took off in the third quarter, with deliveries of BEVs almost 60% higher than in the entire first half of the year. The strong demand for our global target for the year of one million electrified vehicles (BEVs+PHEVs) is definitely there."

Since the beginning of the year, the Volkswagen Group delivered 167,800 Volkswagen-branded BEVs to customers, including 72,700 ID.4 SUVs and 52,700 ID.3s.

The Group's luxury division Audi delivered 52,800 vehicles YTD, representing 18% of the company's BEV sales in 2021. VW reported sales of 36,100 Audi e-tron models YTD in 2021, including the new Sportback.

VW's performance brand Porsche delivered 28,600 BEVs vehicles accounting for 10% of the Group's sales in 2021. All of these models were the fully-electric Porsche Taycan sedan, which is the brand's sole electric model. The Porsche Taycan also outsold the iconic gas-powered 911 sports car in 2021, with 27,972 units sold YTD.

VW Group's growing EV sales mark the beginning of the automaker's eventual shift to producing significantly more electric vehicles.

Earlier this year, the automaker shared its updated "ACCELERATE" strategy, which includes an updated timeline for new electric vehicles.  The company originally planned for 35% of its European models to be battery-powered by 2030, but the VW Group doubled its target to 70% of its model lineup. In the U.S. and China, Volkswagen plans for 50% of its vehicles to be fully-electric by 2030.

In the interim, VW's existing internal combustion engine (ICE) models like the Golf, Tiguan and Passat, will also be updated to more efficient hybrid powertrains in parallel to the development of new EVs.

FutureCar Staff