Volkswagen AG’s new orders for its electric vehicles failed to meet the company’s targets in the third quarter, amid weaker global demand and European customers’ reluctance to buy battery-powered cars.
(Bloomberg) — Volkswagen AG’s new orders for its electric vehicles failed to meet the company’s targets in the third quarter, amid weaker global demand and European customers’ reluctance to buy battery-powered cars.
“Our order intake is below our ambitious targets due to the lower than expected overall market trend,” Hildegard Wortmann, who oversees sales for the carmaker, said Friday.
Shares declined as much as 2.6% after the company released the results, which included a 5.8% drop in deliveries in China.
Europe’s largest carmaker is aiming for EV sales to make up between 8% and 10% of total sales this year, down from an earlier target of 11%. With demand faltering, the company has been forced to lay off temporary workers and cut shifts at its German factories in recent weeks.
To compete with Tesla Inc.’s cars and the rise of less expensive Chinese EVs, Chief Executive Officer Oliver Blume has tasked management and labor representatives with finding ways to rein in bloated costs and inefficiencies at its struggling namesake brand. The company still faces a massive transition as it pursues its goal for EVs to make up half of all sales by 2030.
Overall sales in Europe and North America helped offset a drop in China during the three months through September. VW China head Ralf Brandstaetter said the launch of the all-electric ID.7 in the second half of the year should help sales in Asia in the coming months.
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