VW increases electric car sales - but still lags far behind Tesla and BYD

The Volkswagen brand significantly increased its deliveries last year: around 4.87 million vehicles were handed over worldwide. Delivery numbers in all regions exceeded the previous year's levels, according to a statement from the Wolfsburg company. Overall, the delivery increase amounts to 6.7 percent. The demand for electric mobility also rose, with around 394,000 fully electric vehicles sold worldwide in 2023, representing an increase of 21.1 percent compared to the previous year. Nevertheless, the company does not sell as many electric cars in a single quarter as its distant competitors Tesla and BYD do: for the first time in a quarter, the Chinese electric car and battery manufacturer sold more electric vehicles than the Californian industry pioneer. In the last quarter of 2023, the Chinese sold 526,409 pure electric vehicles, while Tesla, despite setting a new sales record of 484,507 cars, had to let the Far East competitor pull ahead. However, the Californians lead for the year as a whole, and the Musk brand fulfilled its promise of delivering over 1.8 million vehicles.

“The delivery figures show that we as a brand are on the right track and that our cars are well received by our customers. In 2024, we expect a continued challenging market environment. But with our revised and attractive product portfolio, we are well-positioned," said Imelda Labbé, Volkswagen Board Member for Sales, Marketing, and After Sales.

Increased demand for fully electric ID. models worldwide

The core brand of the group was able to increase sales of fully electric vehicles by 21.1 percent to around 394,000 units in 2023. The largest markets for fully electric vehicles for the Volkswagen brand were – in absolute terms – China, Germany, the USA, the UK, Sweden, France, Norway, and Belgium. For instance, in Germany, around 30,000 units of the ID.4 were delivered (+ 62.9 percent). The first fully electric world car from Volkswagen is also doing well in the USA: around 38,000 ID.4s were delivered to customers, an increase of 84.2 percent compared to 2022. In China, the ID.3 was particularly in demand: more than 75,000 units of the fully electric compact car were delivered in 2023 – an increase of more than 200 percent compared to the previous year.