Volkswagen and Audi start to challenge Tesla

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Volkswagen (VLKAF) sold 231,600 battery-electric vehicles in 2020, according to figures released by the company on Wednesday. Although it is still less than half of the number of sales You’re here (TSLA) achieved, it represents an increase of 214% over the previous year and shows that the huge German auto industry is starting to face a challenge for the leader in electric cars.

“We are on track to achieve our goal of becoming the market leader in battery-electric vehicles,” said Ralf Brandstätter, CEO of Volkswagen Passenger Cars on Tuesday.

Volkswagen’s most popular battery-electric vehicle was the new ID.3, which sold 56,500 units. Sales of the compact e-Golf and the even smaller e-up! were 41,300 and 22,200 respectively. Audi, the group’s luxury brand, sold 47,300 SUV and Sportback e-tron models, while customers bought 20,000 electric Porsche Taycans.

Sales of hybrid vehicles, powered by electricity and conventional fuels, also increased. Volkswagen sold 190,500 plug-in hybrids last year, a 175% jump from 2019.

“2020 was a turning point for Volkswagen and marked a breakthrough in electric mobility,” said Brandstätter.

However, Tesla still poses a formidable challenge. The company headed by Elon Musk has reached its goal of building 500,000 cars by 2020, she reported earlier this month. Production and deliveries were up more than a third from 2019 levels, an impressive gain, especially since the company’s Fremont, Calif., Plant was shut down for nearly two months in due to the pandemic. He is building a factory in Germany after opening another in China in 2019.
Investors rewarded Tesla by making it one of the most valuable companies in the world. At $ 805 billion, Tesla’s market value is more than eight times that of Volkswagen, even though the German company makes around 19 times as many vehicles.

Volkswagen has announced plans to invest 35 billion euros ($ 43 billion) in electric vehicles by 2025, and sales figures for 2020 suggest customers are starting to react. The manufacturing giant intends to launch around 70 pure electric models by 2030 as it races to catch up with Tesla.

Trains with electric vehicles stand in front of the Volkswagen plant in Zwickau. The company produces its first electric SUV in the factory.
Other German manufacturers are joining the race. Bmw (BMWYY) sold 44,530 battery-electric vehicles in 2020, a 13% increase from the previous year, and more than 148,000 plug-in hybrids. Daimler (DMLRY) Mercedes-Benz sold more than 160,000 plug-in hybrids and pure-electric vehicles last year.

The electricity boom happened even as the pandemic was pushing overall industry sales upside down. The Volkswagen Group sold 9.3 million cars in 2020, down 15% from the previous year, but said deliveries fell only 3.2% in December, with demand having rebounded.

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Volkswagen is trying to prove that an automaker who just a few years ago tricked regulators into selling polluting diesel engines can produce electric vehicles that people want to buy and that policymakers will embrace when they tackle the climate crisis.

It is making significant inroads in certain markets. In Norway, where financial incentives make most EV models cheaper to buy than similar gasoline models, the Audi e-tron was the 2020 sales leader, outperforming Tesla’s Model 3.

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