In the current race to be number two in the electric vehicle world, Volkswagen Group (XETRA:VOW) has hit a big bump in the road, saying it has “sold out” of battery-powered cars in the US and Europe.
In the first quarter of 2022 the German carmaker, which last year was second to Tesla in electric vehicle sales volumes, said it sold under 100,000 electric models worldwide, of which around 28,000 were in China.
This compared to the 310,048 delivered by Tesla Inc, which expects to deliver up to 1.5mln vehicles this year.
VW said supply chain issues were dogging its production efforts, including a shortage of semiconductors being faced by all sector rivals, but also wiring harnesses made in Ukraine.
Chief executive Herber Diess said the company had an order backlog in western Europe of 300,000 electric cars but that anyone placing EV orders in Europe and the US would not receive them before 2023.
“We are basically sold out on electric vehicles in Europe and in the United States. And in China, it’s really picking up,” Diess said.
EV sales in China were four times higher than a year ago, but this makes it hard to reach its target of 140,000 in China for 2022.
However, chief financial officer Arno Antlitz said the group anticipates a "constantly growing battery electric vehicle volume and share in every quarter of 2022".