Volkswagen triples sales of electric battery cars in 2020
January 13, 2021
Carmaker Volkswagen announced it has tripled sales of its electric battery-only cars in 2020. This is promising as the deadline for tough new European Union limits on auto emissions is on the horizon.
The increase in market share is promising for the German automaker. This is especially true in its home country, as Germany had been behind many other European countries when it came to electric vehicle adoption. However, the country saw more people buying electric cars in December than diesel vehicles.
“2020 was a turning point for Volkswagen and marked a breakthrough in electric mobility,” said Ralf Brandstätter, CEO of Volkswagen Passenger Cars in a statement.
Volkswagen said its namesake brand sold 134,000 battery-powered cars last year, up from 45,000 in 2019. If you include hybrids this expands to 212,000, up from 82,000 in 2019.
This was bolstered by the release of nine new electric and plug-in hybrid models in 2020, including the ID.3. This brought the share of BEV and hybrid vehicles in Europe up to 12.4% of the brand’s total deliveries – after 2.3% in 2019.
This increase is forecasted to continue as more people are buying electric cars to avoid being stuck when the EU regulations come into force. In addition, the German government has provided incentives for electric vehicles as part of the government stimulus package during the COVID-19 recession.
Volkswagen plans to follow up in 2021 with a second all-electric model, the ID.404. It is the brand’s first all-electric world car and as an SUV is also right in line with customer trends, according to the company.
Picture: Volkswagen
