Volkswagen predicts that between 6% and 8% of its global sales in 2021 will correspond to electric models. This increase compared to the 3% achieved in 2020 would allow the German giant to get closer to Tesla’s numbers, even closing the gap that currently separates both car manufacturers.
Despite the crisis suffered by the auto industry in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, Volkswagen delivered more than 9.3 million cars throughout 2020. Even if sales do not pick up this year (which is unlikely), the multinational could reach an electric car sales share of 8%, this would be equivalent to about 750,000 units.
For its part, Tesla manufactured just over 500,000 electric cars in all of 2020 and estimates that it will increase its capacity by “more than 50%” by this year. In other words, by 2021, the young American company should be able to exceed 750,000 units, which would keep it at the top of the market by a narrow margin.
The main vehicles responsible for increasing the volume of electric car sales of the Volkswagen Group will be the new ID.3 and ID.4 (which will be sold in China, the United States, and Europe, regions where it will directly rival the Tesla Model Y).
However, we cannot lose sight of the arrival of other models that will also boost the company’s sales: the Audi e-Tron GT and Q4 e-Tron, the CUPRA el-Born, the Porsche Taycan Cross Turismo, the Skoda Enyaq iV…all of them will collaborate to a greater or lesser extent to expand the presence of the Volkswagen Group in the increasingly competitive electric car sector.
For its part, Tesla should see its figures reinforced thanks precisely to the Model Y, whose commercialization in China began just a few weeks ago. Also, we must not forget that it will also be launched in Europe in the middle of the year thanks to the launch of Giga Berlin, the first Tesla factory in the old continent.