Volkswagen Halts Production at Two German Factories Due to Slow EV Demand
cross-posted from: https://lemmy.zip/post/49598995
Both factories manufacture only electric cars.
https://swedenherald.com/article/volkswagen-halts-production-at-two-german-factories-due-to-slow-ev-demandOpen linkView original on lemmy.zip
This is not limited to Volkswagen. China's BYD, the world's largest EV maker, slowed production at its China factories back in June, cancelled night shifts and production at some factories by at least a third of capacity, and suspended some plans to set up new production lines.
People dont have money to spend on 20-50k€ toys when they can just use public transport or cycle to work. I assume the same is happening with the expensive fossil fuel cars.
That is not the problem.
It is far more simple than that.
We are in a recession, people simply don't have the money to buy a new car, when they can get a used car with a far better value.
Thats literally what i wrote lol...
People dont have money, so they will use cheaper alternatives. Thats why i wrote "expensive fossil fuel cars" because its about the price, not the technology. If there were cheap EVs then this wouldnt be happening.
There are 13 EV models in EU under €25K.
Thats cool, but most people dont even have 5k in their bank account.
Most people just have the exact money of their salary every month in the bank. No extra.
Where I live people have more than enough, but they don't care for these ridiculous electric SUVs. Make sane cars whose price is justified.
Yeah, I hate the current SUV and crossover style infecting every car model.
This is about EV demand slowing down.
But if you can use public transport or cycle to work, you shouldn't drive a car anyway, EV nor combustion engine. We need less cars in our cities and more public transport imho.
EV sales are 27% higher in Europe 2025 over 2024. There are no sales in US because of tariffs and disinterest in the environment.
https://www.best-selling-cars.com/europe/2025-august-europe-car-sales-and-market-analysis/
BYD got stomped on by tariff. The only pattern is the fact that the oil barons are waging a war against electric vehicles and winning.
How is range a non issue?
That's true, but when people pay a fuck ton of money to buy a car, the expectation is that it will be able to handle longer trips as well. Sure, your every day may be to the supermarket and back, but you also want to load up the skis and go to the local mountain on the weekend, or to the beach in summer, meaning many hours driving in potentially very hot or cold weather - which affects the battery.
Doesn't matter how good the EV infrastructure is, imho a car needs good range otherwise you might as well use public transport or ride a bike.
There's overcapacity for cars in the world because the Chinese are fighting an internal price war due to overcapacity..., while at the same time no one has money to buy more expensive cars.
There is also just lower demand for cars.
They had the moment of a lifetime when Musk redoubled his efforts to make Tesla unpopular...... and they completely failed to grasp it.
VW went from 6.5% of the European EV market last year to 11.4% this year. funnily enough Tesla was at 11.4% last year and is at 6.1% now. The other brands of the Volkswagen group also did well in that period.
I'm not doubting any of that, that VW is doing currently better in the market than Tesla. I'm saying that they could've totally swept the floor with Tesla because of the idiocies of Musk but failed to do that.
Looking at my crystal ball, I'm guessing that unless VW dramatically and very quickly improves the quality of their cars (and especially the software) the end result of this will be that Tesla will bounce back.
Great to hear. The ID7 may be the game changer for VW after all
I think you might have misunderstood the headline.
Depends on the price. 120? Lol no
55? Aight
German electric car driver here.
VW has a bad reputation regarding EVs. Their butchered woke of their models so much, they went up in flames.
Other EVs seem to go better. BMW dominates the market for German EV I think
Just for context
Volkswagen Group captures 8 of Germany’s 10 best-selling EVs in the first half of 2025
In the entire year of 2024, Volkswagen was also the largest electric car brand in Germany.
I have seen a view ID. 7 on the streets, yew. But mostly:
At work two colleagues became an electricial Audi. Both of them got toed to the next shop within the first two weeks because something just broke.
Are you saying your personal experiences in your friend circle are more valid than the statistics posted?
And I see mostly ID. 4, ID. 5 and various Tesla models (look all the same to me), the people I know who drive electric cars drive ID. 4 and ID. Buzz, it's all anecdotal.
VW has been the best or second best selling EV on the Swedish market for a year or so.
I have a VW ID.7 myself and find it awesome. Had a Tesla Model 3 before.