E-car: VW is already sold out for 2022

First came the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and then a war has been raging in Ukraine since February 24, 2022. Both factors have a massive influence on the production of goods, as the example from the car industry vividly demonstrates. According to a report by the Financial Times, the CEO of the VW Group, Herbert Diess, has stated that all brands in the VW Group will no longer be able to buy new electric cars this year. It doesn’t matter whether it’s at VW, Audi, Porsche, Skoda or Cupra, for that calendar year one is practically sold out, as far as e-cars for Europe and the USA are concerned. In the first three months of 2022, the VW Group sold more than 99,000 electric cars worldwide. Tesla, on the other hand, sold almost 310,000 electric cars in the same period. According to Diess, VW currently has an order backlog of almost 300,000 vehicles that cannot be produced.

Corona virus pandemic, semiconductor shortage & Ukraine war burden the auto industry

The brands of the VW Group are already keeping waiting lists with people interested in ordering new e-cars if a customer of an ordered car cancels the purchase. As a result of the global COVID-19 pandemic, the group is struggling with the global shortage of semiconductors, which also affects the production of the new Playstation 5, Xbox Series X|S & Co. As some chip manufacturers recently explained, the chip crisis should last until 2024 – at least. Another factor that comes into play when it comes to car production is the raging Ukraine war. In order to save costs, the credo has been in place for years that the cheapest supplier is always awarded the contract and is allowed to supply cables for cars, for example. Companies such as Leoni moved their production to the Ukraine years ago for cost reasons, but nothing can currently be manufactured there. The third factor is the current lockdowns in Asia. Many car manufacturers obtain their battery cells for their electric cars and hybrid cars from China at low cost. However, there are always lockdowns there as a result of new variants of SARS-Cov-2, so that production comes to a standstill or the shipment of goods to Europe is affected.

As a result, there are currently delivery times for electric cars that are more than a year. Some car manufacturers, e.g. B. Opel, have not given any delivery dates for a few days. In order to have taxpayer money ready for other things, the federal government will completely eliminate the previous funding for plug-in hybrids from 2023. From January 2023, customers of a new electric car will probably only get an environmental bonus of 4,000 euros from the state, the previous manufacturer’s share of 3,570 euros will no longer apply because the car manufacturers are dissatisfied with the government. Anyone who wants the currently possible 9,570 euros e-car bonus must have registered their new electric car by December 31, 2022. Existing vehicles with a new owner can also receive the subsidy if the previous owner had not yet applied for the subsidy for this electric car and the car is no more than 12 months old. In order to comply with the CO2 fleet limit in the EU, which is determined individually for each car manufacturer, large-scale manufacturers must produce a certain number of electric cars or plug-in hybrids per calendar year, otherwise Brussels will ask VW & Co. to pay. So far, the problems have not had any impact on car manufacturers’ profits – on the contrary. After all, there are no longer any discounts for many brands for new car buyers, so that the companies speak of high price enforcement and correspondingly high margins.

Also worth reading: Shortage of semiconductors: Chip machines are also affected

Collection on the current situation in the automotive industry:

• As the CEO of VW, Herbert Diess explained, there are no new electric cars from the VW Group to buy this calendar year.
• The consequences of the coronavirus pandemic, such as a lack of semiconductors, continue to cause uncertainty and too few chips. The Ukraine war also hit the car industry, since cables, for example, were manufactured there as cheaply as possible.
• As a result, there are currently delivery times for electric cars that are over a year. Some car manufacturers, e.g. B. Opel, have not given any delivery dates for a few days.

Source: Financial Times