Volkswagen Passenger Cars has reported that its global car sales during the fourth quarter of 2023 amounted to nearly 1.4 million units, which is a 13% increase year-over-year. The total volume for 2023 was 4.87 million, marking a 6.7% year-over-year increase.
In 2023, the company also notably increased its all-electric car sales, although the growth rate recently weakened to just a few percent.
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Volkswagen BEV’s sales growth disappoints
In 2023, the Volkswagen brand sold approximately 394,000 all-electric passenger cars globally, which is a 21% increase from the previous year and represented 8% of the total volume. However, the company has recently faced challenges in increasing BEV sales, especially in Europe.
In Q4, Volkswagen sold about 121,000 all-electric cars (calculated as the difference between the annual result and the previous quarters), setting a new quarterly record. However, compared to Q4 2022, the brand only improved BEV sales by 2.5% year-over-year.
Additionally, the share of BEVs out of the total volume was 8.7%, noticeably less than a year ago (9.6%), which is a warning sign.
In a separate report later this month, we will also take a look at the broader Volkswagen Group BEV sales and some of the other brands within the group, depending on the data availability.
The brand does not report detailed sales results of the particular models.
Volkswagen Passenger Cars BEV sales in Q4 2023:
In 2023, the Volkswagen brand sold roughly 394,000 all-electric cars globally, representing a 21% increase from the previous year and an 8.1% share of the total volume.
Volkswagen Passenger Cars BEV sales in Q1-Q4 2023:
- Total: 394,000 (up 21% year-over-year) and 8.1% share
For reference, in 2022, 325,100 Volkswagen BEVs were sold globally, marking a 23.5% year-over-year increase, which at the time was 7.1% of the total volume.
The Volkswagen brand reveals that its largest BEV markets—in absolute figures—were “China, Germany, the US, the UK, Sweden, France, Norway, and Belgium”.
Notably, in China, the Volkswagen ID.3 model saw over 75,000 sales in 2023, marking over a 200% year-over-year increase. Other highlights include about 30,000 Volkswagen ID.4 sales in Germany (up 62.9%) and approximately 38,000 ID.4 sales in the U.S. (up 82.2%).
However, the growth rate is now significantly lower than in the case of many other OEMs:
