The worrying sign is that in March, the decline was even higher - by 31.4% year-over-year to 655,800. According to the German manufacturer, the main reason for that is bottlenecks for semiconductors and wire harnesses.

Volkswagen Group BEV sales - Q1 2022

In the case of all-electric vehicle sales, the group reports sales of 99,100 units in Q1, which is 65% more than a year ago. It's also 5.2% of the total global volume.

The bad news is that the BEV output is significantly constrained on the production side and the Q1 result is lower than in the previous four quarters.

If only the group would be able to produce more electric cars, it would be able to easily sell them, as the order bank has increased to around 300,000 vehicles in Western Europe alone.

Hildegard Wortmann, Group Board Member Sales:

 

“Demand for our all- electric vehicles is very high worldwide and our order books are thus well filled. The increase in BEV deliveries would have been significantly higher had it not been for the current supply bottlenecks. We are counting on additional highly attractive models and a successive improvement of the semiconductor situation to provide additional tailwind as the year progresses. We continue to have our sights firmly set on a BEV share of 7 to 8 percent for the full year.”

The question is whether the Volkswagen Group will be able to maintain growth in Q2?

Volkswagen Group sales:

• BEVs: about 99,100 (up 65.2% year-over-year)

• PHEVs: N/A

Info about plug-in hybrid sales was not provided this time.

 

For reference, in 2021, the Volkswagen Group sold a record number of roughly 762,400 plug-in electric vehicles (up 80.6% compared to 422,000 plug-ins in 2020), which is 8.6% (new high) of the total volume (9,305,000; down 4.5%).

The company was able to nearly double the all-electric vehicle sales to a new record of 452,900 and 5.1% of the total volume (compared to 2.5% in 2020). The plug-in hybrid sales expanded by about 61% to nearly 310,000:

• BEVs: about 452,900 (up 95.5% year-over-year) and 5.1% share

• PHEVs: about 309,500 (up 61% year-over-year) and 3.5% share

• Total: about 762,400 (up 81% year-over-year) and 8.6% share

Volkswagen Group BEV sales by markets - Q1 2022

Volkswagen Group's BEV sales increased in all major markets, but the fastest rate of growth was noted in China - by 360.5% year-over-year (compared to a slow start of ID. sales in Q1 2021).

Europe remains the largest market for the group's electric vehicles with a 59% share, compared to 29% in China and 8% in the US.

• Europe: 58,400 (up 33.5%)

• US: 7,900 (up 16.2%)

• China: 28,800 (up 360.5%)

• Rest of the world: 4,000 (up 26.9%)

• Total: 99,100 (up 65.2% year-over-year)

Volkswagen Group BEV sales by brands - Q1 2022

The Volkswagen brand was responsible for the majority of the all-electric sales, with a substantial contribution from Audi, Skoda and Porsche:

• Volkswagen (cars): 53,400 (up 73.7%)

• Audi: 24,200 (up 66.2%)

• Skoda: 8,800 (up 259.7%)

• SEAT/Cupra: 2,200 (down 1.4%)

• Porsche: 9,500 (up 4.4%)

• Volkswagen (commercial vehicles): 700 (up 7.3%)

• other (MAN): 200 (up 7.0%)

• Total: 99,100 (up 65.2% year-over-year)

Top all-electric models - Q1 2022

The Volkswagen ID.4 continues to be the top-selling model in the group, followed by the Volkswagen ID.3. The new Audi Q4 e-tron is now slightly ahead of the Audi e-tron. An interesting thing is that the Porsche Taycan family outsold other models, including some mainstream and very popular.

• Volkswagen ID.4 - 30,300

• Volkswagen ID.3 - 13,000

• Audi Q4 e-tron (incl. Sportback) - 10,700

• Audi e-tron (incl. Sportback) - 10,300

• Porsche Taycan (incl. Cross Turismo) - 9,500