2023 Volkswagen Group Electric Car Deliveries Up 34% Over 2022

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You know how the press if full of stories about how the EV revolution is slowing down? Don’t believe it. Reports from the actual world, as opposed to the self reinforcing echo chamber known as social media (it would be more accurate to call it anti-social media) show what it truly happening out there in the real world. A case in point is the announcement by Volkswagen Group on January 12, 2024 that its deliveries of electric vehicles increased by a healthy 34 percent in 2023 compared to the prior year.

“We are pleased with the market success of our strong brands and models. It is positive that all major brands and all regions are growing. We are resolutely driving forward the transformation. In 2023, we delivered 35 percent more all-electric vehicles to customers. We are also well positioned this year with numerous attractive new products despite ongoing challenges,” said Oliver Blume, CEO of the Volkswagen Group.

Hildegard Wortmann, a member of the Executive Committee for Sales, added, “We achieved a solid delivery performance last year given the geopolitical and macroeconomic situation. We grew faster than the total market and slightly extended our global market share. We would like to thank our customers and retail partners as well as the entire global team for this success.”

Volkswagen Deliveries By Region

In Europe, deliveries of Volkswagen Group vehicles rose by 19.7 percent to 3,774,500 vehicles. Of those, 472,400 vehicles had an all-electric drive, an increase of 34.2 percent compared to the previous year. The BEV share of total deliveries thus rose to 12.5 percent, compared to 11.2 percent in 2022, which helped the Group to be a market leader in the electric car segment and gain market share in Europe as a whole.

In Western Europe, growth was even more pronounced at 20.6 percent with 3,271,000 customers taking delivery of a vehicle manufactured by the Volkswagen Group. In Germany deliveries rose by 15.1 percent to 1,185,100 vehicles. In Central and Eastern Europe, 503,500 vehicles were handed over which corresponds to a growth of 13.9 percent.

In North America, the Volkswagen Group also significantly increased its deliveries by 17.9 percent to 993,100 vehicles. At 713,100 vehicles, deliveries in the US increased 13 percent compared to the previous year. Sales of battery electric vehicles in North America  totaled 71,000 vehicles, up 60.8 percent compared to the prior year. Electric vehicles accounted for 10 percent of Group deliveries in the US and Canada, up significantly from 7 percent the year before.

In South America, Volkswagen Group sold a total of 518,200 cars — up 9.4 percent from the previous year. Sales in Brazil were a big part of those numbers. 398,300 vehicles were delivered in that country alone — an increase of 18.0 percent compared to the previous year.

The Asia-Pacific region recorded an overall increase in deliveries of 2.3 percent to 3,594,500 vehicles. In its largest single market — China — Volkswagen Group achieved growth of 1.6 percent to 3,236,100 vehicles despite a challenging market environment. The all-electric models were also a growth driver in China, with sales up by 23.2 percent to 191,800 vehicles — enough to give the company a 5.9 percent market share in China versus 4.9 percent in 2022. A total of 75,700 Volkswagen ID.3 cars were sold to customers in China, making it one of the best selling electric cars in the world’s largest automotive market. A total of 61,700 Volkswagen ID.4 vehicles were delivered in China in 2023, making it one of the top 5 electric compact SUV models.

The most successful all-electric Group models worldwide in 2023 were:

• Volkswagen ID.4/ID.5 223,100
• Volkswagen ID.3 140,800
• Audi Q4 e-tron (incl. Sportback) 111,700
• ŠKODA Enyaq iV (incl. Coupé) 81,700
• Audi Q8 e-tron (incl. Sportback) 49,000
• CUPRA Born 45,300
• Porsche Taycan (incl. Turismo) 40,600
• Volkswagen ID. Buzz (incl. Cargo) 28,600

In 2024, the Volkswagen Group will launch numerous attractive new models on the market, including many all-electric vehicles such as the Volkswagen ID.7 Tourer and the long wheelbase ID. Buzz, the CUPRA Tavascan, the Audi Q6 e-tron, and the Porsche e-Macan.

The Takeaway

Volkswagen suffered some setbacks in 2023. It ran short of its new higher output electric motors and had to suspend ID.3 production for a while because of that. Problems at Cariad, the division of Volkswagen responsible for software development, continued to bedevil the company. Supply chain issues interrupted production from time to time. Yet through it all, Volkswagen Group managed to increase its electric car sales and market penetration in places like China, where competition from a slew of new car companies is fierce.

Sometime before the end of this decade, a few well known car companies are going to disappear from the world stage. Volkswagen could be one of them but it is not going down without a fight. It is still introducing compelling new models like the ID.7 and the battery electric Porsche Macan with more to come. That’s no guarantee it will survive the transition to electric cars but if it continues to increase market share and set new sales records for its EV lineup, it just might hang on to see the next decade when some other companies won’t.